Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
the government of Assam seems to have finally woken up to growing vehicular pollution in the state. In a major policy decision, the government has decided to issue licenses to private parties to open auto-emission testing centres all over the state. According to the transport department, the number of checking …
"terrorism of hospital waste on humankind' was how Justice N Venkatachala described the state of untreated infectious hospital waste in India at a workshop on "Hospital Waste Management: Law and Reality' organised by the Society for Environmental Laws and Management in New Delhi on September 6. Delep Goswami of the …
Once again we have a new environment minister, T R Balu of the Dravida Munetra Kazagham ( dmk ). Nobody knows how deep is his understanding of what needs to be done in this field. As past experience has repeatedly shown, unless the politician-at-helm, namely, the minister, provides a vision, …
The Union government has increased the price of diesel. In Delhi the prices have been hiked by Rs 3.56 per litre, and by Rs 4.31, Rs 3.68 and Rs 3.97 in Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai respectively. The increase was imminent as the international price of diesel had gone up by …
The Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has embarked on a national forestry programme to increase forest cover in the country by 33 per cent. The project, which has a budget of US $32 billion, will be funded by 28 international donor agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme …
The green bench of the Calcutta high court has directed the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to frame guidelines on the use of generators throughout the state. The bench, comprising justice S B Sinha and justice R K Mitra, also directed the board to file a report on the status …
What were your major achievements during your tenure as environment minister? Since 1952, we have been trying to increase forest cover to 33 per cent, but there has been no action plan. I have prepared a very comprehensive action plan and a number of donor agencies have been identified to …
It is indeed amazing. It was only four months ago, in April, that the Ministry of Petroleum was telling the Supreme Court that it is not possible for it to supply high quality diesel. And that all it could do is to supply diesel with a sulphur content of 0.25 …
the Union ministry of environment and forests ( mef ) has brought out a much-needed and promising draft for management of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. It is currently being discussed with the ministry of urban development, prior to its notification. Once the notification is issued, the …
For the polluting industrial estates at Patencheru in Andhra Pradesh ( Down To Earth , Vol 8, No 7), it was time to face the music. Acting upon the instructions of the Supreme Court, Medak district judge Gaddam Bhupati Reddy recently visited various industrial establishments in the industrial estates of …
Five condom vending machines were set up at different locations in New Delhi. The machines were installed at Laxmi Nagar, Preet Vihar, ITO, Sadanand Marg and Palika Bazar. The Union ministry of environment and forests is working on a new set of regulatory norms to prohibit the establishment of industries …
What is the status of groundwater in the industrial areas of Andhra Pradesh? Studies conducted by the State Groundwater Authority and National Geophysics Research Institute, Hyderabad, in the Bolaram and Patancheru areas, Medak district, have shown groundwater to be contaminated by high levels of toxic organics, chlorides, sulphates and arsenic. …
A notice has been issued by the Karnataka High Court to the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) on a contempt petition filed by Janajagriti Samiti, an environment support group. The Samiti has alleged that the MEF violated the court order by not taking into consideration the report of Danish …
after the Patents (Amendment) Bill 1999 was passed by Parliament in the budget session, the Government of India on June 2, 1999 through a gazette notification, raised the patenting fee. The patenting fee has been raised in different categories which vary from Rs 5,000 to Rs 75,000. Experts feel that …
As monsoons approach the hills of Garhwal, residents of Tehri town face the threat of eviction. If the construction of the dam is on schedule, the residents will have to be evacuated latest by November. An increasing number of deer in Delhi zoo are contracting tuberculosis, as a result of …
The Patna High Court criticised the Bihar government for not implementing its order regarding the problem of water logging in Patna. The two-judge bench was hearing a batch of public interest litigation filed on this issue. The judges were irked by the fact that despite an order passed by the …
in order to provide safe drinking water to all rural areas during the Ninth Plan, the ministry of rural development has revised the guidelines for implementing the Rural Water Supply Programme (rwsp). This would involve exercising control on over-extraction of groundwater, more funds for repair and rehabilitation of infrastructure, increasing …
Courts in Delhi seem to be the only state institution fighting the menace of pollution. Now, the Delhi High Court, under a two-judge bench headed by acting chief justice Devinder Gupta, has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to place before it a report of action taken by various …
the Gujarat government's move to de-reserve the West Mangrove Reserve Forest ( wmrf ) to facilitate setting up of cement industries has created panic among the fishing community in the Kutch district of Gujarat. A report published by the Thiruvananthapuram-based National Fishworkers' Forum ( nff ) says that the wmrf …
The Supreme Court has directed "The Commission Management Board' of the Uttar Pradeh government headed by its chief secretary to appear before it and explain why the court's order relating to the creation of a green belt around Taj Mahal has not been implemented. The two-judge bench was responding to …
