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 India, Sections 56 and 59 of the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1989, govern i&m of vehicles. A certificate of fitness is issued under Section 56 annually to all vehicles and under Section 59 the government has the power to fix the age of vehicles. i&m got a kickstart when …
Inspection and maintenance programmes and an emission warranty system will not work unless a reliable and transparent certification process is put in place. In India, no one has a clue about the authenticity of the tests, which certify that vehicles meet emission norms at factory gates. Tests for certification are …
There is significant evidence suggesting that not the entire fleet but only a small fraction of badly-maintained vehicles with technical flaws contribute disproportionately to air pollution. The challenge is how to isolate them from the rest of the vehicles and weed them out. Due to the sheer volume of periodic …
even as you enter Panipat, a small industrial town in Haryana, you are struck by a feeling that something is terribly wrong. Then, as you look around, the sight that meets your eyes is all too familiar. On the very outskirts of the city, along national highway No 1, flows …
It is a story that the Indian administrative set up has learned to mouth mindlessly every year after floods wreak havoc. All governments in states affected by the recent floods are blaming the respective governments upstream for causing deforestation and not going ahead with dam projects across major rivers. As …
there is growing concern over the new wave of waste-to-energy technology being adopted by the Union ministry for non-conventional energy sources ( mnes ). In this technology, waste is burnt at very high temperatures to produce energy. Health experts, however, warn that the burning of waste could lead to the …
The Union ministry of environment has been severely criticised by the Supreme Court for seeking five more years to clean up the river Yamuna. The ministry has been asked to file a statement furnishing details on the steps taken to clean up the river. The ministry has requested the Supreme …
while Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ( mtbe) - a harmful blending stock used as a mix with unleaded petrol to increase oxygen content in petrol for cleaner burning - has been dumped in the us where it has caused serious problems of groundwater contamination, the Union ministry of environment and …
the floods have once again ravaged Bihar. Claims made by the government that all precautionary measures were taken, embankment and anti-erosion work completed in time and that the floods would not be allowed to occur
Peak hour traffic scenario in India is a cartoonist's delight. Hassled motorists, rivers of sweat streaming down their forehead, accusing each other for lack of traffic sense in loud voices toned by the honking of a thousand horns. This is not so in Singapore. It is almost legendary now that …
every morning a group of young volunteers cruise the polluted waters of the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar to collect the refuse of the lake dwellers. They go from houseboat to houseboat, collecting garbage and then back to the shore to dispose of this waste. This practice has been a …
Many fruits and vegetables are grown in wetlands of Bihar, the most important ones being makhana and singhara. Known as foxnut, makhana (Euryle ferox) is now gaining the status of a major cash crop. Bihar accounts for 75 per cent of country's total output. The fruit has a high nutritional …
There is now a growing recognition that cities can become sustainable only if auto dependence can be reduced. Says Newman, "Rapidly developing cities that have not put in place any physical or economic restraints on traffic, have not built high quality transit system, and have not protected their traditional forms …
Kawar Jheel Bird sanctuary, district Begusarai The Kawar lake, as notified "protected' by the state government on June 20, 1989, is 6311.63 hectares (ha). When it was notified, farmers opposed the move. Local politicians also supported them. "Even the former agriculture minister of Bihar, Ram Jeevan Singh, who is among …
Mass movement The number of mass rapid transit (MRT) stations in Singapore has done away with the need to own a vehicle PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION Percentage of Singapore population living within walking distance of MRT station 30.0 Percentage of Singapore population living within 1 kilometre of the MRT line …
Overcoming auto dependence: the Singapore way TRAFFIC CALMING FAVORING ALTERNATE MODES ECONOMIC PENALTIES NON-AUTO- DEPENDENT LAND USES To start with, less space to make roads to cater to private cars. Heavy investment in mass rapid transit systems. High cost of car ownership and use through high taxes on cars and …
