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 decision of the United Front ( uf ) government to set up the High Powered Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development Plan has been welcomed as an significant step, though, if the terms of reference, and statements of the chairman of the commission G V K Rao, is anything …
India and three other Asian countries have started legal procedures against the us government over the latter's decision to ban the import of shrimp trawled from their coastal waters. They have sent the us mission in the World Trade Organization (wto) a request to start consultations on the issue. Meanwhile, …
he has finally come out in his true colours. Prime Minister ( pm ) H D Deve Gowda's recent tirade against greens is disgusting, but this should have been expected. He has only re-affirmed what he had once advised a campaigner of the Centre for Science and Environment: environmentalists are …
people call this phenomenon by different names. Some call it India-1 and India-2. Others, one-third India and two-thirds India. Now that economic liberalisation is boosting wealth generation, many fear that this process will exacerbate economic inequalities, which are pretty bad already. The poor may grow somewhat richer but the gap …
D Deve Gowda, the present Prime Minister ( pm ) of India, was the chief minister of Karnataka when my colleague, Supriya Akerkar, interviewed him. We were then trying to document the records of different political parties in environmental management. And Deve Gowda, deeply involved with the controversial Cogentrix power …
We now have a new government. To those of us concerned about the environment, it is obvious that the biggest challenge before this government will be to create systems of governance that bring about a healthy balance between environment and development. With a population ready to cross a billion, and …
ANIL AGARWAL: I was very impressed when I read your paper Reforms for the Indian Administrative Service. You have been quite critical of the IAS, although you too belong to it. But I was struck by one omission in your paper. You have been deeply interested in natural resource management …
The recent banning of kidney transplants among non-relatives by the Indian government has proved to be a setback for hundreds of Sri Lankan kidney patients unable to find enough local organs for transplanting. To worsen the matters, the only medical unit of the country performing kidney transplants since 1985, the …
The special committee of ministejrs appointed to take care of the Ministry of environment and forests' (MEF) proposal to provide 2.5 million hectares of degraded forest lands to the paper industry for captive plantations seems to have taken note of the NGO lobby's demands not to support the decision. Sources …
The debate that took place recently on the Taper industry's demand to access state forest lands for industrial plantations takes me back to a key, yet, unresolved governance issue. The very first edition of Down to Earth had carried a debate on the environmental impact of the policy of liberalisation, …
MINING concerns can go ahead with their operations in areas upto 50 ha now, without having to obtain environmental clearances from the ministry of environment and forests. This was stated by Kamal Nath, Union minister of state for environment and forests at a recent meeting of the Federation of Indian …
THE Union government has finalised a draft legislation to promote energy conservation in the industrial sector. This was announced by P A Sangma, Union minister of state for coal and labour, at the International Conference on Energy, held in New Delhi on November 17. Although the Energy Management Centre (EMC), …
• Madras-based NEPC-Micon Ltd (a collaboration between Natural Energy Processing Co and Micon of Denmark), the largest suppliers of wind energy generators in India, expects to double its turnover of about Rs 153 crore in 1993-94 by mid-"95. NEPC-Micon has orders to supply 280 wind energy generators, valued at about …
To encourage industrial units to provide accurate information in their environment audits, the government may soon amend the format of the environmental statement. The submission of the environment statement is mandatory for obtaining a no-objection certificate, which is issued by the State Pollution Control Board concerned. Organisations such as the …
The need to regulate the outflow of genetic resources from the country has prompted the Union government to take stop- gap measures as the ministry for environment and forests (MEF) has failed on its promise to introduce the proposed legislation on genetic resources at the monsoon session of Parliament. The …
WHEN will we see sincere efforts to introduce discipline in the disposal of industrial waste in India? If the official interventions in environmental management in India so far are any indication, there is little cause for optimism. A strong legislation to conserve forests came only after much -- and perhaps, …
A 7-MEMBER Narmada Bachao Andolan delegation led by Medha Patkar has urged Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao to expedite the proceedings of the Narmada Review Committee. The committee, set up by the Union water resources ministry, is to evaluate all modalities regarding the Sardar Sarovar Project. The delegation has …
