NITI Aayog has launched the GROW initiative, focusing on transforming India's wastelands through agroforestry. The Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW) report, analyses the country's environmental and sustainable land use efforts using advanced remote sensing and GIS technologies. The report offers a detailed state-wise and district-wise analysis, providing …
Visakhapatnam is in a critical stage, says Sunita Narain Water bodies and conservation of water must be made non-negotiable, said director general of Centre for Science and Environment Sunita Narain at a meet the press programme organised by the Vizag Journalists Forum here on Thursday. Water bodies have important ecological …
Questions invocation of urgency clause for land acquisition in Greater Noida In a setback for the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Monday raised serious reservations over the state administration
Bioenergy could help bring food security to the world's poorest continent, say Lee R. Lynd and Jeremy Woods. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7352_supp/full/474S020a.html
The Assam government has drafted an ambitious plan to introduce cultivation of jatropha (Jatropha curcas ) to help farmers boost their income, and also to produce bio-diesel. The state agriculture department last week organised a day-long training workshop for farmers and NGOs working in rural areas to popularise the crop. …
THE Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) has asked detergent company Nirma to explain why the environmental clearance granted to its cement plant in Gujarat should not be revoked. The ministry issued a show cause notice to the company on May 11 after a report by a group of …
Researchers must collaborate to manage one of the planet’s most precious and threatened resources — for food production and much more. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7350/full/474151a.html
Proposes that the percentage of land to be acquired by state agencies should be decided by their governments. The modified Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill is likely to suggest giving state governments the power to determine their roles in acquiring land for industry. Also, in a positive for farmers, the Bill …
Ranchi, May 16: The king of fruits has finally conquered Lohardaga, Latehar, Gumla and West Singhbhum. For the first time this year, mango trees planted by the state government under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) have borne a large number of fruits, promising a bumper crop. Most of the 4,000 beneficiaries …
MoEF has accepted these recommendations of the Expert Committee on the controversial cement plant of Nirma Industries in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Says that the plant is situated in an environmentally sensitive wetland area and the construction must stop. Final recommendations of the EAC on the project M/s Nirma Ltd. to establish …
This paper examines economy-wide impacts of expansion of biodiesel production to meet the blending target using a computable general equilibrium model. Assesses impacts of biodiesel expansion on household welfare, other sectors of the economy, carbon emissions, rural development, and employment generation. The biofuel policy of India stipulates a blending target …
30 villages in Andhra Pradesh are up against a coal-based thermal power plant being built by East Coast Energy Pvt Ltd on Kakarapalli swamp. The contested site is a marshy land with at least 40 middle-sized ponds and a vast area used as salt farms. About 30,000 people depend on …
A village in Andhra Pradesh has become the epicentre of an eight-month-long fight against a power plant in neighbouring Kakarapalli. Following two deaths in police firing on February 28, people from 29 villages near the plant site thronged Vadditandra village in Srikakulam district to show support and mourn the deaths. …
The main objectives of the study are: To analyze the agricultural growth in all the 17 river basins of Tamil Nadu using the total factor productivity approach; To study the income inequality in all the river basins of Tamil Nadu, and To suggest policy options to improve the productivity of …
Read this special report published in Down To Earth on Nirma, the detergent company that gave false information to obtain clearance for its cement plant in coastal Saurashtra. Detergent company Nirma gave false information to obtain clearance for its cement plant in coastal Saurashtra. Environment ministry to inspect site and …
Supreme Court has asked the states to evict illegal occupants of village commons. This a report by Down to Earth on the apex court judgement which said that transfer of village community land for private & commercial use is illegal and asked all state governments to prepare schemes for eviction …
About a decade ago, farmers of 15 villages in Mahuva block in coastal Saurashtra could barely grow one crop a year. This was because the groundwater they used for irrigation was saline. Their fortunes changed in 2000 when the Gujarat government created a reservoir—Samadhiyala bandhara— by building a dam at …
JAGPAL SINGH and Dev Singh of Jagir Rohar village in Patiala have little idea that their enmity has resulted in a landmark judgement by the Supreme Court that would bear implications for the rural population of the country. In its January 28 decision in the case concerning encroachment of common …
Some hundred people, men and women, were gathered on the hill. Many more, I could see, were trudging up. Their faces were resolute. I asked why they were opposing the cement plant. Their answer was simple: “We cannot eat cement.” “But the plant will bring you employment and prosperity,” I …
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Friday issued notices to the state revenue department, the Mundra Port SEZ (MPSEZ), the Centre and Kutch district collector on basis of a PIL filed by people of Navinal village demanding a huge chunk of the grazing land (gaucher), which has been allotted to …
