In 2023, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded a total of 399 disasters related to natural hazards. These events resulted in 86,473 fatalities and affected 93.1 million people. The economic losses amounted to US$202.7 billion. The 2023 earthquake in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic was the most catastrophic event …
>> By 2007, one-half of the world's population will live in urban areas compared to little more than one-third in 1972. By the end of 2002 some 70 per cent of the world's urban population will be living in Africa, Asia or Latin America >> 1,200 million more people in …
Procuring food still takes away much of the income. > Indian villagers spend 59.4 per cent of their total expenditure on food. Urban India spends 48.1 per cent Basic necessities become luxuries. > Only one in ten people in rural India have access to sanitation. > Half of rural India …
At last, after years of resistance, the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas has relented. On March 20 this year, Union minister Ram Naik announced in Parliament that toxic oxygenates
The data is so old it is almost obsolete. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has brought out its report on the incidence of cancer five years too late. For all that it is worth, the "Consolidated Report of the Population Based Cancer Registries' provides information on the incidence …
it is convoluted logic. While the world talks of lowering vehicular pollution and encouraging non-polluting vehicles, the Indian finance minister goes ahead and increases excise duty on cng, the green fuel and yes, the humble bicycle, the most economical and non-polluting mode of travel. Four major bicycle manufacturers, United Cycle …
THIS much-awaited report highlights the plight of the poor in these countries. The disparity between haves and have-nots have been documented in detail. The statistics are well highlighted. Take for example the painful fact that approximately 40 per cent of the population in India, Lesotho, Gambia, Tanzania, and several countries …
PACKED off. A stunning US study has clinched the battle of evidence on what tiny particles in the air, mostly emitted by the combustion of fossil fuels do to human health. The industry had refused to admit the mounting scientific evidence that had emerged till now. But this study has …
FINE KILL The health effect of ULTRAFINE particles - smaller than 0.1 micron in diameter - on human health was never properly studied. Epidemiological studies done till now only linked the effects of these particles on respiratory diseases not death. A German study sponsored by the Health Effects Institute has …
A study shows that 7.5-10 per cent of males in Delhi suffer from various respiratory diseases. Another says that 10 per cent suffer from breathlessness and their lung function is way below the expected levels. One study from Bangalore records the shooting up of asthma in tune with vehicular population …
the final countdown has begun. Yet again, the Pacific is all set. Its depths are surging as it braces to deliver nature’s most troublesome ‘little one’. The birth pangs are driving the world into frenzy. Yes, El Niño
it could be termed as heart rending. According to a recent report, more than 28 million children under age five suffer from the debilitating effects of malnutrition in developing countries. At least 10 million die due to
Smug and surging If the annual plastic consumption in India rose by as little as one kilogramme per capita, the total demand would increase by about one million tonnes. The plastic industry looks forward to encashing this market potential. High profits and increasing demand ensure it grows exponentially "It took …
While the Indian government appeases the plastic industry, other countries have gone ahead and seen to it that the plastic industry owns up responsibility for its products. They have ably used extended producer responsibility (epr) to get the industry to clean up its act. A select group of countries have …
"WE are aware of the sad plight of most of our towns and cities. This needs to be changed if they have to act as engines of growth, and if they are to provide a healthy environment for our citizens. Hence, we can no longer afford to delay reforms in …
A constructive critique should consider desirable consequences, intended or otherwise. The Bush administration's climate change plan, us Climate Change Strategy: A New Approach , obviously deserves the same treatment, particularly in the light of the numerous domestic initiatives that have recently sprung up in the us , and their potential …
WHILE attending the Stockholm Water Symposium a few years ago, my colleague, Anil Agarwal, and I were invited to a banquet by the king of Sweden. But instead of dining in splendour we were checking out toilets in some remote parts of the city. I was not too convinced of …
"Don't flush." M K Malhotra, a resident of Delhi's Vasant Kunj, has put this instruction on his toilet. Six members of his family use this toilet at least three times a day and ten litres of water goes down the drain with every flush. In a water-scarce locality, Malhotra can …
IT IS time to go back to basics and examine what toilets and sewerage systems are supposed to do. The point of all these systems is the safe disposal of human waste matter. Flush toilets and sewerage transfer the problem elsewhere; they are complicated ways of spreading pathogens away from …
india has again shown its willingness to be led by the West to commit euthanasia. It has adopted the draft technical guidelines for managing plastic waste prepared by the technical working group of the Basel Convention on January 14-15, 2002, in Geneva. About 100 countries, all signatories to the Basel …
