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 …
Sri Lanka's Kandy lake is losing its glory. The algae mixed with garbage in the beautiful lake is stinking and the odour has spread to the nearby tourist hotels, too. Consequently, the tourists are skipping the site. The lake is not just filled with trash but also with other deposits …
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister gifted two baby elephants to a group of Japanese children. Moved by reports about the impact of the recent conflict in the Balkans on a zoo in the Croatian city of Osijek, these children began pooling their pocket money for an elephant. They wrote to …
Sri Lanka becomes the first country to ban genetically modified foods from May 1, 2002. The environment ministry has issued a list of 21 items, including a range of soya and tomato foods, to be banned unless proved they are not GM foods. The move receives the support of environment …
banning logging is an important tool for halting the degradation of forests, but it seldom corrects the underlying causes of deforestation. This intriguing fact was recently stated in a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (fao). Moreover, the report claims that ban on logging harms forests and local communities …
Sri Lanka is facing a severe drought and the number of affected people is estimated to be around 1.5 million across seven of the country's 25 districts. The US-based World Vision Organisation said government agencies would need to distribute an estimated 45,000 tonnes of food over the next six months …
buckling under the pressure of the industry, the Sri Lankan government has indefinitely postponed its plans to impose one of the world's stringent bans on genetically modified (gm) food. The ban was initially imposed in May 2001. But it was postponed a month later due to pressure from the World …
Environmentalists have warned that a popular carnivorous freshwater turtle species imported to Sri Lanka is posing a serious threat to the country's indigenous fish species and aquatic animals. The turtle, known as the red eared slider (Trachymis scripta), is classified under the world's worst invasive species by the International Conservation …
Sri Lanka has decided to suspend a ban on the use of genetically modified (GM) food, following a request made by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But government officials maintain that strict restrictions would be imposed, which would allow them to study the health risks associated with GM foods. WTO …
The Sri Lankan government has decided to launch a number of programmes aimed at conserving wildlife, streamlining the management of wildlife reserves, protecting rapidly endangered species and preserving the country's biodiversity. For the effective implementation of the programmes, the wildlife department and zoological gardens have been brought under the control …
Sri Lanka has imposed a ban on genetically modified (GM) foods to avoid any health risks that are associated with such crops. Officials said that the ban would give them more time to find out if GM foods are harmful to the environment. But the decision has been questioned by …
The Japanese capital Tokyo receives 1,400 mm of rain in a year. But concrete prevents it from percolating into the ground. Urban flooding and acute water scarcity affected the people almost every second year. The solution to both problems lay in rainwater harvesting. Sumida City was the first ward of …
When I was speaker of the Lok Sabha, I called a special session to discuss serious issues confronting the country. I don't think water was discussed in this special session. We never thought of it. We talked about corruption and criminalisation. Experts and politicians will have to come together at …
Three countries in Southeast Asia -- Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines-- have made efforts to provide drinking water by capturing rain. In Thailand, the absence of foreign assistance for large-scale water projects forced the government to look at smaller options, with great success. The Population and Community Development Association, an …
The foot-and-mouth disease has been reported in Anuradhapura district in the north-central province of Sri Lanka. According to G G N Abeykoon, director general of animal health of the province, livestock was being vaccinated to stop the spread of the disease. "The situation is under control. The outbreak is not …
At least eight people were killed in Sri Lanka and about half a million forced to evacuate their homes when a cyclone hit the northeastern parts of the island on December 26. The cyclone was accompanied with winds up to 145 kilometres per hour that uprooted trees and caused extensive …
A recent massive oil and fertiliser spill off Sri Lanka's southern coast has triggered a grave ecological and humanitarian crisis. "The pollutants have spread over an area of eight square kilometres along the coastline. This has threatened the marine life. Every day fisherfolk remove several tonnes of dead fish from …
The Sri Lankan government is implementing a Rs 557 million master plan in Wennappuwa for the conservation of the western and south western coastlines. The project is going to be implemented by the fisheries and aquatic resources development ministry. These coastlines are largely exposed to violent sea erosions with the …
in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka halted a controversial mining project that had threatened to displace around 12,000 villagers. The bench took the government to task for the lack of preliminary investigations on the mine site. It also criticised the companies for trying to circumvent the …
Dikkowita Fisheries Harbour, Sri Lanka's international tuna project has been ditched by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The bank withdrew its proposed funding of us $50 million for the project and said that the matter would be considered next year. "The reason of withdrawal is Sri Lanka's non-supportive attitude …
Sri Lanka has banned import of all genetically modified (GM) food with immediate effect, a senior health ministry official recently announced. Chief food inspector of the health ministry S Nagiah told the media: "The government wants to wait until the controversy surrounding GM foods has cleared.' He said the government's …
