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 …
A new procedure for conducting environmental impact assessment (eia), introduced in September 2006, is suffering from teething trouble. The September 2006 notification putting the new procedure in place was severely criticised by environmental groups for being a far more diluted version of the 1994 notification. The regulatory authorities, both at …
on february 2, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc) released its much awaited Fourth Assessment Report. With an unprecedented confidence of 90 per cent, it asserted that climate change is result of human activities. The panel's 2001 Third Assessment Report had put the probability of climate change resulting from …
Water-related disasters include flood, windstorms, drought, water epidemics, famine and landslides. These combine with other water-related hazards such as pollution and chemical spills, aquifer depletion, land subsidence, salinisation of arable land, marine intrusions, sea and storm surges, coastal flooding and water-borne diseases to affect ecosystems and food and livelihood security …
poisonous smoke from the burning of a dump of batteries in Ghaziabad spread on January 8, 2007. One woman succumbed due to the smoke, others complained of nausea, headache, coughing and vomiting. Fifty were admitted to a hospital in Delhi. A few others were taken to private nursing homes. Residents …
RELIGIOUS gatherings such as the Ardh Kumbh at Allahabad always test the organisational mettle of local administrative bodies. This event happens once in six years at the sangam (confluence) of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati (see map: Sacred waters are dirty). This year, as in the past, the …
There is a great push to make panchayats the fulcrum of rural development in India. But 16 years after the third tier of government was created, it has not got its due. RAMESH Singh Yadav is much sought after. Especially among creditors and moneylenders, to whom he owes a total …
TWO years after the Asian tsunami, as the images of devastation fade off from global public memory, the disaster persists for villages along the coastline of Sri Lanka's Southern Province. Survivors here have new houses, boats, fishing nets and roads, but face a severe scarcity of drinking water. Unlike flooded …
despite petrol's benzene content being lowered from 3 per cent to 1 per cent in 2000-2001, there has been no significant effect on the current ambient levels of this carcinogenic chemical. Benzene levels in air continue to be high according to two recent studies: Central Pollution Control Board's (cpcb's) Highlights …
people from Uttaranchal's Rudraprayag district have revived 16 drying springs in their valleys with innovative research. Using the isoptope technique (see box: Nature's mystery), they tracked the origin and natural recharge zones of the streams, and accordingly, built rainwater harvesting structures to augment the discharge of springs and raise the …
The west Asian crisis, rising prices and global warming are pushing large oil users to rethink energy alternatives and biofuel has become the buzzword. Various options are being tried out to produce ethanol in laboratories as well as in industry The US with 5 per cent of global population and …
For the past 15 years or so, Rabindranath Das has been watching the ground slip away from beneath his feet. Back in the 1990s, his family had about 3.5 hectares (ha) of paddy fields along Ghoramara island's northwestern shores. But every year, especially during the monsoons, the Hooghly's strong undercurrents …
GUARANTEES for social services have been kicking in of late. After guarantees for rural employment and education, people will find it easier to get an anganwadi on demand. On December 13, 2006, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to set up 8 lakh more anganwadi centres in the next …
on december 14, 2006, the state environment appellate authority stayed an order of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board directing Mumbai Port Trust (mbpt) to stop handling of coal at its Haji Bunder jetty on environmental grounds. This is the second time that the appellate authority has put a stay on …
Vindhyan region is very rich in plant biodiversity because of its variety of geology, land shapes like plateau, plane, valley and hill areas. There are variety of climate and altitudinal variations compiled with varied ecological habitants. Because of various known and unknown reasons biodiversity of the area has been declining …
A presentation on need for improvement of agricultural statistics by Vijay Kumar, Adviser, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture.
This study on bamboo was developed by FAO and INBAR jointly in the framework of FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 (FRA 2005), with the aim of filling the gap in global information and providing a first, comprehensive assessment of the world’s bamboo resources.
This booklet is a quick source for national and trade statistics of WTO members and countries which are in the process of negotiating WTO membership. These trade profiles combine information on trade flows and trade policy measures of Members, Observers and other selected economies. The information is retrieved from various …
Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals has been publishing from time to time various statistical tables and data fact sheets pertaining to Chemicals and Petrochemical in non-SSI sector for easy accessibility and wider use by other departments, industry and interested users. This issue is a further step in the same direction …
