Affidavit filed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam in the matter of news item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay, November 5, 2024. The matter relates to the critically endangered status of feral horses in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park as well as of smuggling of these …
Delayed aid: Sri Lanka's tsunami reconstruction work has been delayed by three months due to non-payment of foreign aid. The government announced on February 7, 2005 that donors had finally approved the payment US $1.5 billion aid for and "its from now the construction phase begins'. But this happened only …
tsunami Answerability: Sri Lanka's president Chandrika Kumaratunga has got an inquiry initiated into the government's failings in averting the destruction caused by the tsunami waves on December 26, 2004. She has appointed a retired Supreme Court judge to conduct the probe. The inquiry will try to find out if government …
in its attempt to create order in the chaos that has followed the tsunami disaster, Sri Lanka is facing the complexities of reconstruction. One particularly problematic sphere is coastal regulation. While there is a renewed push from the government for regulating construction along the country's coasts, its efforts lack public …
the battle seems lost even before it has begun. Sri Lanka, shaken by the recent tsunami disaster, is scrambling to put together an effective disaster management system. But lack of efficient institutions, inept bureaucracy and frequent political changes may lead all its efforts to a naught, experts warn. After all, …
When the tsunami waves lashed the eastern coast, the Government of India seemed as much at sea as the people affected by the disaster. Information just did not move out of Delhi to the disaster areas. But more than a week later, the administration seems to have found its feet. …
confusing signals are emanating regarding the construction of a controversial power plant in Sri Lanka's central hills. The government recently said Japan had approved funding for the Upper Kotmale project. Japanese officials say the sanction is on hold. Meanwhile, environmental concerns linked to the project remain unresolved. On December 12, …
Keeping them is much tension, getting rid of them is irksome. Confidential documents sure are a big headache for institutions. Most either shred them or consign them to flames, when they have no use for such paper. But in Sri Lanka, companies have found an environment-friendly way of disposing confidential …
saving the act: The prime minister's office (PMO) has issued a directive that Union cabinet proposals having a bearing on decentralisation will have to be cleared by the newly-formed ministry of panchayati raj affairs, along with other ministries concerned. This is to ensure that ministries do not make parallel implementation …
Concentrations of trace metals in the flesh of nine fish species commonly found in commercial catches of a hydro-power reservoir in Sri Lanka (Victoria) were detected using the Neutron Activation Technique. High concentrations of Al (37.8 - 208.0 μg•g-1 dry wt.) and Rb (20.90 - 70.75 μg•g-1 dry wt.) were …
In 1997 Thusitha Ranasinghe a young Sri Lankan entrepreneur was looking for ways to expand his family printing business. A casual article about a Kenyan game ranger experimenting with elephant dung to make paper caught his attention, then. "This seemed a good idea and I worked on it,' he says. …
With dengue fever spreading in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the World Health Organisation (who) has issued a warning to all neighbouring countries. Around 658 people have died in Indonesia, 59 in Sri Lanka and three in Bangladesh. There are around 68,000 suspected cases of the disease. Bhutan, which …
infamous five: Eight US states and the city of New York are taking five of US' biggest power companies to court. Reason: they are some of the biggest contributors to global warming in the country. The attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, …
environmentalists in Sri Lanka are up in arms against mining of sand dunes in Puttalam, the coastal town in the country's northwest. At stake are the fragile water table, vegetation, freshwater sources and people's safety from harsh winds, they say. Their appeal for stopping sea sand mining comes amid a …
Sri Lanka's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is interested in going ahead with a hydroelectric power project, which has been opposed in the past on environmental grounds. The proposed Upper Kotmale project will be sited near a row of waterfalls. Apart from destroying these, the project could affect other …
Sri Lanka's National Parks have got seven new water bowsers courtesy the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC). Each bowser has a carrying capacity of 3,000 litres. They will help fill up drying waterholes in the country's National Parks, announced DWLC Director General Dayananda Kariyawasam. He said these would also be …
The Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project under the consideration of the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, envisages creation of a ship navigation channel to suit different draughts (9.15 m, 10.7 m and 12.8m) through dredging/excavation in Adam’s Bridge, parts of Palk Bay and Palk Strait. The navigation route will originate …
The Sri Lankan health ministry has strengthened its norms for food labelling and advertisements. It is executing new parameters for cereals, vegetables and spices to improve the quality of the country's food products and minimise consumer exploitation. The parameters are based on moisture content, food colouring, and fat and sugar …
The Kantale Dam in Sri Lanka, which burst in 1986 causing large-scale destruction to lives, livestock and crops, is once more in danger of collapsing. This is because authorities have ignored warnings against using the road over the dam for heavy vehicles, according to farmers in the area, who have …
Critics have slammed Sri Lanka's proposed legislation to set up a National Institute on Biodiversity (nib), which would control the country's biological and carbon resources. The nib would be empowered to sell usage rights over these resources without any public consultation, claim critics including the Environment Foundation Limited, a Columbo-based …
