Some projects under the Smart Cities Mission would not be able to meet the June 30 deadline and the respective state governments would be responsible for completing them thereafter, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs. In its report on the …
on may 14, the government announced that an expert committee has been set up to study the impacts of climate change in India and identify measures to address the "vulnerability to anthropogenic climate change impact'. The committee comes at a time when India is under pressure from international ngos and …
the centre informed Parliament on April 30, 2007, that it was necessary to relocate Asiatic lions from the Gir National Park (gnp) in Gujarat to save them from extinction. But the Gujarat government has shown no indication that it will back down from its stated position that it will not …
the uk has prepared a draft bill, to be tabled in parliament, which will make carbon emissions mandatory. The domestic targets have been pegged at 26-32 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2050, over 1990 levels, with a provision for independent audits every five years. The importance …
Aprovincial parliament in Argentina recently suspended all open-pit mining and also stopped issuing new exploration and mining permits in the province, citing environmental threat. The Mendoza province parliament voted to suspend mining indefinitely since a local government had failed to draw up a plan to safeguard the environment from mining …
The Left parties were elated when the Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005, was passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha. But the gaffe was discovered later
the issue of rights over and the management of forestland, never less than contentious, has triggered off another round of unseemly bickering: this time between the Supreme Court and the Central Empowered Committee appointment by it, on the one hand, and the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) on …
the cabinet gave its nod to the amendments in the Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill 2005 on December 7, 2006. It has decided to go along with the recommendations of the joint parliamentary committee (jpc) on some important clauses of the bill. It includes the cut-off date for …
parliament in Nepal is now determined to find out how much property King Gyanendra owns. The government is already preparing a huge tax bill for the king and his family. "We are collecting details of the land and property owned by the king and members of his family and if …
Pesticide residue norms: Cola majors yet to clean up their act, govt drags its feet. Sunita Narain, the feisty director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), likens her campaign against pesticide levels in India's soft drinks to "a dog with a bone that it is determined not to …
finance Minister P Chidambaram's budget gave eight flagship programmes 43 per cent more allocation (at Rs 50,015 crore) in the 2006-07 Union budget. Chidambaram took note of the National Commission for Farmers report and reduced the interest rate on short-term credit to farmers to seven per cent for an upper-limit …
The Disaster Management Bill has been introduced in the Parliament. The bill's preamble notes that, "The government has decided to enact a law on disaster management to provide for requisite institutional mechanisms for
ON MAY 11, 2005, the Lok Sabha passed the Right To Information (rti) Act, an improved version of the Freedom of Information Act of 2002. "Eventually the right to information enables the redistribution of power in a democratic framework,' says activist Aruna Roy, for long involved in demanding such a …
Undermining the legislative significance of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), the Pesticide Residues Sub-Committee of the Union ministry of health and family welfare has adopted a dilatory stand. It has proposed the setting up of another committee for year-long monitoring before standards are fixed for pesticide residues in soft drinks. …
Elections 2004 are over. Was it a vote for development, social inclusion and justice? Or simply a vote against an incumbent government, flattened by sleazy and slick self-promotion? The answer is complicated, as can be expected from a country as diverse and layered as India. So, for instance, it can …
The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on pesticide residues in and safety standards for soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages is out. It agrees there were pesticide residues in soft drinks the Centre for Science and Environment had tested, so clearly posing a health hazard. But more …
the Joint Parliamentary Committee (jpc) has finally delivered its verdict. Affirming that the Centre for Science and Environment's (cse) findings about the presence of pesticide residues in aerated water were correct, the panel dismissed as hot air soft drink manufacturers' claims that their products are safe. It was cse which …
Does holding the World Parliamentary Forum indicate the Left is using the event to resurrect itself? The World Parliamentary Forum was formed much before the wsf. But wsf's emergence has definitely given it a forum to explore issues the globe is talking about. The parliamentary forum is a platform for …
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was set up to investigate the issue of pesticides in cold drinks, and everyone told us that we had reached a dead end. Parliamentarians aren't interested, we were told. The issues were too technical, too contentious. Cynics added that with elections round the corner, the …
A parliamentary committee has pointed out that the process of devolution of powers to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies has not been completed even 10 years after the enforcement of the 73rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1993. The report by the committee on empowerment of women, tabled in …
