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 …
The city of London now heads the list of the world's cleanest big cities, according to a British government report. The city has moved ahead of Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles on the list. The study, conducted by researchers at the Imperial College, London, states that the risks from …
For long, Mexico City has been considered one of the most polluted cities in the world. But in the past three years the city has made considerable progress in cleaning up its air, said Alejandro Encinas Rodriguez, Mexico City secretary of environment. The city has reduced average ozone levels from …
the West Bengal Pollution Control Board ( wbpcb ) has banned the setting up of new businesses, including hospitals and nursing homes in Calcutta and Howrah. The wbpcb has come out with three lists totalling 218 industry categories and asked the Calcutta and Howrah Municipal Corporations not to grant licences …
the fund-starved Himachal Pradesh government has decided to lift the 16-year ban on felling of green trees. This move is expected to bring in additional revenue to the tune of Rs 40 crore for the government. The decision was taken at December's cabinet meeting but there was no mention of …
N Venkatachala Chairperson, National Environment Appellate Authority The government must, first of all, take strict action to resolve matters relating to clean water, clean air and human health because every citizen has a right to these basic necessities of life. Adequate laws to safeguard the environment are already in existence, …
till the Seventies, Goa was one of the hippie capitals of the world, with the disenchanted "flower-children" of the West living out their version of "nirvana" on a few of North Goa's golden-sand beaches. The decade between 1968-1978 was a time when the exotic locales of Goa attracted tourists in …
the Delhi government has gone back on its decision to seal industrial units that pollute the Yamuna. One week after they were shut down, the government withdrew the closure order for 372 units. The decision to reopen the industries follows the recommendations of a two-member committee set up by the …
china plans to embark on an ambitious project to transport water hundreds of kilometres from the abundant south of the country to the parched north. "We will definitely do this project," said Wang Chunzheng, vice-minister at the state development planning commission. Experts say that the project would be on a …
Two years after the first agitation against the Maheshwar hydel power project at Jalud in Khar-gone, Madhya Pradesh, activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) have yet again mobilisedvillagers to embark on a non-violent, direct action to stall work at the site. They were accompanied by Booker Award winner Arundhati …
Compare Southeast Asia with South Asia. The land area of Southeast Asia is 435 million hectares (mha). In South Asia, India is 327 mha and all other countries included would probably add up to the land area of Southeast Asia or a little less. The total population of Southeast Asia …
It is an issue that affects millions of consumers in the US . At stake are the interests of the pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and the government. For years, the pharmaceutical industry was profiting from a friendly government and non-powerful consumer organisations. Not anymore. Now, protests are beginning to be …
Dear Prime Minister, This is a year of severe drought in Gujarat and western Madhya Pradesh - an area that is well known for natural disasters of this kind. During the last general elections, your home minister, fighting for a fresh term from this region, had to face evocative slogans …
the Union ministry of environment and forests ( mef ) has recently circulated draft rules on industry siting, a decade - and-a-half after the guidelines were first formulated. Choice of industrial sites has caused more conflict, between project proponents and the local people who will be potentially affected, than any …
The total lack of interest and foresight that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is showing while dealing with the country's growing pollution is downright appalling, to say the least. An excellent indicator of this came recently when the government reconstituted the council on trade and industry to set up eight …
the mayor of Tokai prefecture Tatsuya Murakami has alleged that the nuclear accident that occurred on September 30 was caused and later mishandled by the central government. The government's confidence concerning nuclear safety has been shattered as it has failed to build up adequate emergency measures, he added. In one …
If there is any lesson that the Indian government needs to learn from Seattle it is that it must learn to work with its own civil society. While all our politicians and press commentators may remain focussed on economic issues like 'market access' and 'market control', it is ultimately the …
even at low concentrations, airborne particles are lethal: T he great puzzle was if air pollution levels had visibly and measurably been vastly improved, how could they continue to have such detrimental effects on health? By the late 1970s, studies conducted in the us found that health damage was more …
The aiims emergency room daily receives about 150 patients. Over 100,000 patients were examined for the study, which focused on patients with aggravated symptoms of asthma, chronic bronchitis and heart ailments. The study found that tspm was highest in November and December; and, so were the hospital admissions. Number of …
Mexico City is one of the most polluted cities in the world. But air pollution levels in Delhi are several notches higher than Mexico City and steadily rising. The main reason being that while administration in Delhi fails to address the problem, Mexican authorities are making serious efforts to improve …
Despite the mounting evidence on the serious health risks from particulate pollution even at relatively low concentrations, the biological mechanism by which it adversely affects humans is not understood properly. The who estimates that about 500,000 deaths are caused per year throughout the world due to exposure to particulate pollution. …
