The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
In a landmark decision, the SC directed the Punjab government to expeditiously construct the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to give effect to the Eradi Commission Award on sharing of river water between states. The SC ordered the Union government to take steps to construct the canal if the Punjab government …
The closure of tunnels T3 and T4 comes even as a vast majority of people displaced remain to be rehabilitatedeven as recommendations of the Union government appointed Hanumantha Rao Committee remain to beimplementedeven as the Prime Minister appointed Murli Manohar Joshi committee is yet to submit its report and even …
Our penchant for setting up yet-another committee never seems to end. But when all they do is endorse the position of the government, with little thought of public interest, what purpose do they serve, one often wonders. Take the Ranganath Mishra committee on plastic waste management or the R A …
As we have often said before, the Indian automobile industry has come of age. But in terms of environmental management, even the giants prefer to remain greenhorns. This is reflected in the last auto fair that took place in the capital. Ostensibly, they talked about "going green'. Yet none of …
Unmasking the dragon Two and three wheeler population is exploding in Asia. The health implications are scary: they emit dangerous pollutants that have gone unnoticed till now ASIANS are riding high on dragons that they cannot get off. The dragons are small but far too many. Consider this: About 85 …
THE residents of 122 villages straddling Chilika lake in Orissa have been fishing in troubled waters for the past two decades. Ironically, the draft Bill - cleared by the state cabinet in December 2001 - to provide succour to them has sent their hackles rising. The legislation, when enacted, will …
A year has passed. But Gujarat remains shaky in more ways than one. Metaphorically, its residents are struggling to come to grips with the devastation caused by the January 26, 2001, earthquake. In a literal sense, too, the ground beneath their feet is anything but terra firma. Sample this. Junagarh …
there's an old belief in the coastal fish-eating state of Goa: if you don't want to spoil your holiday, beware of what you eat. Now, the state health department has issued a similar warning. Goans, particularly those from the southernmost taluka of Canacona, have been cautioned not to consume any …
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (icg) recently indicated that exploitation of Indonesia's vast natural resources was spinning out of control. And in a bid to check overexploitation of tin and coal, Indonesia's mines and energy minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has asked the government to make tin and coal strategic commodities. It …
jammu and Kashmir is reeling under a drought-like situation that has wrought havoc with crop yields in the Valley. While it had taken its toll on paddy earlier, the dry spell has led to the failure of saffron crop now. The state's farmers have suffered heavy losses with almost 60 …
In a bid to stop mahogony trade, a Brazilian government decree has suspended all forest management plans for logging mahogany in the states of Paro, Mato, Grosso and Acre. The announcement, approved by the country's environment and natural resources ministry, means an end to the illegal mahogany industry in Brazil. …
A new report of Panos Institute reveals that more than 330,000 Zimbabwean farm workers are reeling under problems of inadequate water supply, poor housing conditions, overcrowding and waste disposal. There are more than two million workers living in abject poverty on the country's commercial farms
instances of animals straying out of forests are growing of late. With the aim to prevent these, the Maharashtra state forest department is chalking out a novel project. As per the project, leopards caught while straying into villages will be rehabilitated so that they do not return to human habitats. …
all institutions in the country have been banned from carrying out clinical trials on a new drug without the permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (dcgi). This directive was issued by the government recently. It will cover both clinical investigations and clinical experiments. Trials, including those of private …
considering the negative fallout from the decision to make shooting of wild boars and blue bulls legal, the Punjab Wildlife Preservation Department has cancelled all permits issued earlier to hunt these animals. Since the policy to issue permits to kill boars was implemented, wildlife conservationists have termed it as nothing …
it's a catch-22 situation. Although the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (tnpcb) wants local bodies to compost their waste, there is a problem of giving them the right place. A recent casualty is the much-touted Alandur municipality's waste-to-manure compost project. Citing a
ever since the Mashelkar Committee submitted its interim report on the country's auto fuel policy on January 1, 2002, the authorities have gone into overdrive. While it took the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas barely four days to accept the recommendations in their entirety, the Union cabinet too …
WHEN the "last chance to save the Earth" came around in 1992, the global environment and development community was full of hope, energy and expectations. Ten years later, another such chance is round the corner, but nobody is getting his or her hopes up. Commentators around the world have remarked …
It is now inevitable that Tehri will be submerged. The 185-year-old Himalayan town's fate was sealed on December 5, 2001, when the gates of two tunnels were shut to terminate the flow of the Bhagirathi river. This major step towards completion of the controversy-ridden Tehri dam also marked the petering …
