Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "2 killed in blast at illegal cracker unit in Thanjavur appearing in The Hindu dated 19.05.2025". The application is registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled 2 killed in blast at illegal cracker unit …
THREE-and-a-half centuries after the rest of the world, the Catholic church has finally discovered the sun does not revolve around it, or even around the earth. The result is the rehabilitation of Pisan astronomer and pioneer of modern physical science Galileo Galilei by Pope John Paul on November 1, in …
THE BLUE Danube lost much of its magic when on August 1 Slovakia started dumping concrete blocks weighing several tonnes into the river. By October 20, these had narrowed the Danube from 400 metres to 160 metres. Slovakia was at the time given permission by the Danube Commission, the association …
THE INDIAN government has initiated a national project to develop alternatives to ozone-depleting chemicals. Four national laboratories -- Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, Industrial Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC) in Lucknow and Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) in Dehra Dun -- are …
THE PROPOSED establishment of the Commission for Sustainable Development (SDC), hailed as "one of the quiet victories" of the Rio conference, is becoming a source of North-South contention that is expected to peak at the 47th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Among the issues to be …
THE BRITISH government is finding it easier to preach than practice. After lecturing developing countries in Rio on the importance of controlling global warming, it has now been forced by a nationwide protest to rescind its decision to close British Coal's 31 pits and lay off three-fifths -- some 30,000 …
Some of the important suggestions made by the Ministry of Industry are: 1. 100 per cent conversion to HCFC-22, a transitional substitute, by 2000. 2. 50 per cent phase-out of CFC-12 by l999 or 2000 in all those applications where HCFC-22 conversion is not possible. 3. 100 per cent phase-out …
NORTHERN donors are being forced to rethink their basics after the Rio conference. Prominent among these are the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with developing countries (SAREC) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), both of whom fund research projects in the developing world. Before they can get on with …
When does a person die? When the heart stops beating, when respiration ceases or when the brain is so badly damaged that the person will never recover? Traditionally, cessation of heartbeats has been the guiding criterion for determining the moment of death, largely because it is the easiest to determine. …
Information on the African rainforest elephant, whose survival is threatened, is trickling in now via satellite, thanks to a new technology. Wildlife biologists of the New York Zoological Society have put collars that emit ultra-high-frequency signals on a forest elephant in Korup National Park, Cameroon, and on a savannah elephant …
SCIENTIFIC research in America is under pressure to perform better -- economically. Despite the yield of Nobel prizes, "smart" weapons and electronic consumer goods after the government's $76-billion annual investment in scientific research, the US has been unable to stop countries like Japan from obtaining the commercial gains. Lasers and …
THE WATERS may be calm, but the bridge has been certainly troubled. After 18 months and much controversy the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), approved the 17-km long, 50-feet high skyway, proposed by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA). The Sindh government also has passed the project following the Canadian report. …
* "Brain-stem death" -- a person whose brain stem is permanently damaged can be declared dead. * The Centre and the states have to set up appropriate authorities to implement the Act. * Donors empowered to authorise organ removal in writing. * Failing this, the nearest relative OR the custodian …
US manufacturers are marketing plastic containers that are labelled recyclable but have to be exported on the sly to developing countries for disposal. The environmental group Greenpeace pointed out the American plastics industry thus satisfies its environmentally conscious consumers by presenting a "green" image, while dumping potentially hazardous material in …
AS MANY as 58 nuclear reactors in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe will be run to near full capacity to meet electricity shortages this winter, despite safety hazards. This follows the countries' failure in getting a firm commitment from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at …
THE TRAGEDY of Somalia, whose people are starving to death by the hundreds each day, is being worsened by pitiless warlords who have reportedly signed multimillion-dollar contracts with Swiss and Italian firms to use the East African country as a dumping ground for vast quantities of toxic wastes. The UN …
SOME interesting programmes on indigenous science and technology are lined up in the coming months in various parts of the country. The Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha-92, inaugurated in New Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti (Oct 2), will continue till National Science Day, February 28. The objective is to involve voluntary groups, …
IN EUROPE, a ban on toxic waste movement between countries has led to a hot debate on free trade. Concerned by a legal ruling stating European Community (EC) legislation which bars governments from imposing prohibitions on trans-border passage of merchandise, many states have announced bans specifically relating to wastes. These …
Babu Lala Sharma, Chairperson, Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha 92, United Newspapers, 4 Windsor Place, New Delhi 110 001 G N A Nayar, Chairman, M N Sreedharan Nair, General Convenor, Exhibition Committee, Swadeshi Science Expo - 92 Amba, Pongumoodu, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011 C N Krishnan Patriotic and Pupil-oriented Science and …
IN THIS "throwaway" age the Germans are trying to be difficult. Their stringent waste laws are creating a rift in the European Commission (EC) which wants lower and more flexible standards. Germany has a law, popularly known as the "Topfer Law" -- after Klaus Topfer, Germany's environment minister -- which …
IT IS POSSIBLE today to make a CFC-free domestic refrigerator. Yet, eco-friendly fridges are not found on shop floors. As the 2000 AD, CFC-free, Montreal Protocal deadline approaches, reports from the European Chemical-makers Association show the European Community's (EC) refrigeration sector increased its CFC use by 4 per cent between …
