The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
Modesty could very well be his second name. Seventy-one check dams, 55 percolation tanks, 33 ponds, 22 nullahs and 60 gully plugging - 241 rainwater harvesting projects in just nine months. But Pramukh Swami Maharaj is humility personified. His refrain: "This is not enough. We can do more." The mantle …
Village Hatiyaniki. Fifteen-odd people have gathered to discuss water harvesting activities in the vicinity. But there's just one face among the crowd, which is conspicuous enough to attract attention. Bereft of tact, his often-blunt interjections are received by a smirk from the other like-minded participants. But being unconventional only comes …
A recent advertisement by a popular mobile phone manufacturer has raised hackles among the medical fraternity. And with reason. The advertisement shows an expectant mother holding the cell-phone to her body, to enable the would-be father hear the pre-natal cooings of the little one. Great advertisement, one might think. But …
Smoking has been banned in Seoul's primary and secondary schools. To ensure that the ban is effectively implemented, teachers and students are being imparted more anti-smoking education by the authorities concerned. Says You In-jong, superintendent of the Seoul education board, "We plan to declare war on smoking and wage an …
January 1, 2002, saw the capital of Bangladesh nearly purged of polythene bags. This deadline was set by the government to ban the production, marketing and use of less than 20 micron, wafer-thin polybags in Dhaka. The country's environment and forests minister, Shahjahan Siraj, also made an impassioned plea to …
for years the rainforests of Assam have suffered the ignominy of isolation and neglect. Attempts are now underway to conserve this national heritage with active public participation. As a measure of this enterprise, a three-day festival rejoicing the cultural and spiritual links between these rainforests and the local communities was …
The Bangladesh-run Water Resource Planning Organisation (WARPO) recently put forward an updated guideline for environmental impact assessment (EIA) for flood control and drainage structures. This guideline is a modified one with particular focus on flood protection and drainage projects. Director general of environment department Hedayetul Islam Chowdhury says flood control …
An emergency fund to pay for forest protection is in the pipeline in China. According to the Chinese government, the first stage will involve a one-billion-yuan package supplied by the Finance Ministry for maintaining 13.3 million hectares of forests in 11 provinces this year. Logging has been banned in ecosensitive …
In the next 60 minutes, around 600 persons will add to the growing number of people infected by the deadly HIV virus. Worse, more than 60 children will die due to the infection. This has been stated by a World Health Organisation (WHO) report released recently. The report revealed that …
a national-level permanent board to monitor the promotion of organic farming in the country has been mooted by a task force on organic farming. According to the recommendations of the task force, the government ought to highlight the sustainability of the concept. Tax incentives for ventures in vermicompost, compost, press …
The prestigious Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, US , has admitted that one of its researchers used patients at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Kerala as human guinea pigs to test experimental cancer drugs. The internal investigation conducted by the varsity has found that its faculty member carried …
Shimoga, a small city in Karnataka celebrated car free day on October 6, 2001. This is the first instance that any Indian city has celebrated car free day, which has been taken up as an initiative in several European cities to reduce car use and thus reduce vehicular air pollution …
few realise that behind the colourful contemporary folk art of Mithila paintings is a powerful message of conservation and an indication of the region's rich biodiversity. Traditionally done in the Madhubani region of north Bihar, the paintings were originally made by women as
At least 20 endangered sarus cranes were recently killed and eaten by villagers of the Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia. "The birds ate many rice plants and, therefore, the villagers hunted them,' said Thach Khorn, the provincial governor. Sun Hean, a wildlife department official, opines that such incidences are the …
To put it in a nutshell, the factors that have contributed to the lack of development of organic market in India include low awareness about the perils of chemically farmed products, high prices of organic produce, lack of consumer confidence in organic food standards and their erratic supply. Smritee Singh, …
The government's interventions have focused on promoting certified organic production, missing out the challenge of using the organic route to reward traditional, marginal farmers. This misplaced priority seems to be changing. A master plan for the production of organic coffee is almost ready. Formulated by the coffee board, the plan …
A national Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning, India's first facility to test for lead poisoning, has come up in Bangalore. The St John's National Academy of Health Sciences and The George Foundation (tgf) of Bangalore have jointly set up the centre. The facility would provide simple, accurate and inexpensive tests …
the world's six leading publishers of medical journals have agreed to give researchers in developing countries online access to their publications free of cost or at greatly reduced prices. The agreement covers about 1,000 of the world's top 1,240 medical journals. The World Health Organisation ( who ) had urged …
