The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
THIS RESOURCE guide to environmental action by women's groups and communities in the Asian Pacific region offers an excellent introduction to the issues involved, addressing all readers and not just women. A result of elaborate networking and coordination between women from different countries in the region, the book focusses on …
POPULAR demand for informative and entertaining science fare is constantly rising. And, any doubts on this score would be dispelled by the public response to Doordarshan's recent invitation to write in and say what they would like to see on the extended transmission that becomes effective early next year. More …
"THE CLIMATE negotiations have just begun. And it is important that developing countries pay heed to them. What was signed in Rio was simply a framework convention. It just says that all nations should protect the world"s atmosphere. What actions we need to take, which will greatly affect how we …
The Rio conference has been a real success. The EC and the G-7 now need to maintain the momentum, and to take the lead in doing so. I propose that leaders of the EC/G-7 countries should make a political commitment to an eight-point plan for follow-up action by their countries …
The climate convention is expected to come into force as early as next June, ahead of the usual two to three years of lead time needed for ratification by all countries. Negotiations on convention protocols and administrative structure begin in Geneva in December. The sharpest indictment of the convention, which …
THE BIODIVERSITY convention was seen at Rio as a victory for the South. But with the ebbing of the euphoria, a doubt is being raised: Was the convention truly a victory for the South, or was it a legalised theft of the South's genes? Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN), a …
RESTRUCTURING the United Nations -- a subject actively debated internationally for several years now -- may soon become reality. Though the precise nature of changes in the UN system remains nebulous, the broad contours are quite evident. Various arms of the organisation have already undergone transformation. The secretary-general"s office, evolved …
THE SOUTH came back from Rio with a promise of extra international aid as reparations for the environmental damage caused by the North. But so far, the only funds available for environment have largely been taken out of one budget and added to another. The South has not got any …
The UN's World Investment Report 1992 indicates the data available on the geographical distribution of R&D; efforts of MNCs shows a growing trend towards internationalisation. A survey of 33 major firms shows 18 per cent of all their R&D; employees in 1989 were employed in affiliates abroad. Some leading European …
WHAT IS the ordinary citizen who is environmentally concerned to do when bombarded from all sides by contradictory claims about a product's recyclability? Should one buy beverages sold in cans made of steel or aluminium? Or, diaper a baby with disposables or reusables? And, when is paper truly recycled -- …
AIDS is a a disease that has no cure and this is forcing health workers to seek effective ways to prevent its spread. The experiences of the decade since the discovery of AIDS indicate strategies to change social attitudes and behaviour have limited the spread of the disease. Many grassroots …
CONTRARY to what environmentalists may think, a prestigious United Nations report -- the World Investment Report (WIR), 1992 -- has virtually given a clean chit to multinational corporations (MNCs). It says there is very little evidence to show that MNCs shift environmentally dangerous industries to poor countries. But not all …
Tighter environmental laws could cost the European oil refineries upto $ 80 billion by the end of the decade, said delegates at a recent petroleum and gas conference. This could mean higher prices for consumers and bankruptcies among refineries. Klaus Kohlhase of British Petroleum (BP) and chairman of Concawe, the …
Plastics are a major environmental problem because they are not biodegradable. One exception is polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate (PHB-V), but manufacturing it is expensive and its use is restricted. A Swedish researcher has combined PHB-V with wood fibres to come up with an inexpensive alternative he calls "fibrewood," (Science, Vol 257 No 5076). …
FOREST officials in Himachal Pradesh are apprehensive about the environmental costs of a recent court judgement allowing a private forest owner to fell trees to make way for apple orchards. The forest department, fearing a deluge of applications for orchards, has challenged the September 30 Himachal Pradesh high court decision …
THE NEXT time you see a kalamkari sari, treat it with respect, for it employs an ancient technique of dyeing cotton fabric, and the patterns are traditional. India's fabric trade goes back to the Phoenicians who are believed to be the first foreign merchants to come into India (Gujarat), and …
THIS REMARKABLE book transcends the crucial limitations of both Marxist social theory and conventional anthropology by consciously avoiding "economism" and "culturism". While recognising "the independent transformative power of capitalism", Ram places "culture and sexuality at the centre of capitalist transformation and the new division of labour between men and women". …
NOVEMBER 28 was the 102nd death anniversary of Jotiba Phule. Though his centenary was not celebrated with the same national fervor as B R Ambedkar's, mass rallies were held to renew the realisation of the importance of Phule as a social radical, especially among the awakening dalit and low-caste masses. …
THE MONSOON in India is affected by such natural factors as sea surface temperature, Himalayan snow cover, atmospheric thermal changes and data on all of these is gathered by satellites, including the indigenous INSAT, which is stationed about 36,000 km above the equator and IRS-1A and IRS-1B, whose orbits are …
ABOUT 500 active users utilise more than 10,000 items of data each year in India. And, about 72 per cent of the data is from IRS-1A and IRS-1B satellites, with the government subsidising the space segment. Cost-benefit analyses have been made in some applications. For example, using satellite data for …
