The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since …
the Kenyan government has drawn flak from environmental groups for its decision to cut down more than 68,796 hectares of forest. The groups are calling the decision a politically motivated step that would damage the country's environment and economy. Last February, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources expressed its …
the first two weeks of May 2001, served as a reality check for the more idealist un reformists who envision a truly autonomous un body. In a couple of unexpected moves, that some might say were a result of the us' bullying and inconsiderate actions, two un governing bodies voted …
The presbyterian church of Kenya has urged the people to vote against the present ruling party during the forthcoming elections, as the government has failed to combat pollution. "The government's attitude is leading to serious environmental degradation,' the church alleged. Heaps of garbage are scattered in many urban areas, including …
the Madhya Pradesh government would like to forget it. The residents of Dewas district, however, will remember it for the rest of their lives. Four people were killed in a confrontation between the administration and the tribal people at Mehendikheda village, about 100 km from the district headquarters of Dewas, …
the Delhi Transport Corporation (dtc) has once again showed its hypocrisy regarding the Supreme Court's order to convert the existing bus fleet to compressed natural gas (cng). On the eve of the apex court's March 31, 2001 deadline, it issued a global tender for the purpose, the technical bid for …
What message are you sending by slapping an eight per cent duty on a clean fuel like the compressed natural gas (CNG)? Will it not jolt to the nascent CNG market, when the tax generated will amount to a mere Rs 6 crore? Won't it also jeopardise the Supreme Court's …
If you saw tv programmes or read newspapers on the latest budget, you would have thought it is only for business leaders. The manner in which business editors and columnists went overboard to seek the response of the corporate community to Yashwant Sinha's latest hat-trick of budgetary numbers shows a …
The Union ministry of surface transport (most) frames vehicular emission norms and notifies certification procedures for vehicles, as per the Central Motors Vehicles Act (cmva). The emission norms for converted cng buses were notified on February 9, 2000, more than one and half years after the sc order of July …
If the Delhi Transport Corporation and the State Transport Authority do not increase the number of their buses, why should we increase capacity for supply? If I order equipment worth several crore rupees without there being adequate number of buses, how would I answer to my superiors?' Thus Rajiv Sharma, …
In complete mockery of its very title, the Union ministry of environment and forests (mef) has shown no interest in pushing for implementation of the cng order despite all the power at its disposal. mef is only too happy with the national emission standards, which are nothing more than the …
It has remained confused all along about the cng issue, giving contradictory statements. Delhi government officials have been easy conduits of misleading information from those pro-industry factions that are looking for excuses to not implement the sc order. It began by selectively citing biased documents from the us , supplied …
Though private bus operators will have to shoulder a bulk of the responsibility of phasing in CNG buses, they were the last to be informed by the Delhi government. The first public notification for them came in October 1999. The first meeting to discuss the logistics with them happened as …
It isn't just the ministries that are misinforming the public about cng and ensuring the non-implementation of the Supreme Court order on cng. The Tata Energy Research Institute (teri), a New Delhi-based energy consultancy, has also contributed to such efforts. The teri -industry nexus is strangulating adoption of cng . …
More than one million cng vehicles are plying in different parts of the world. Argentina, Italy, Russia and the us have the largest share. The natural gas vehicle market is expected to grow dramatically in the us . The main reason for this is the thrust on clean fuels and …
A study says particles emitted by diesel engines can harm the foetus, breaching the safety of the womb. Another study says the risk of developing cancer is four times higher among children travelling in a diesel bus as compared to someone travelling in a car in front of the bus. …
the us has its way once again as an upcoming climate change conference scheduled for May-June 2001 has been postponed. Jan Pronk, president of the climate change conference held in November 2000 and environment minister of the Netherlands, announced that the negotiations would now resume sometime in the middle of …
The us wants to delay the sequel to the failed November 2000 climate meet until the new Bush administration gets its act together. Along with Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, the country has formally requested that the conference of parties to the un Framework Convention on Climate Change (unfccc) …
The rashes and burns on his scaly skin are not due to his advancing years. With red patches on his limbs and torso, this aged man is literally suffering from a two-year itch. His frail body stoops, overburdened not just with age but also the agony caused by his recalcitrant …
