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 …
A RECENT report by a British development non-governmental organisation (NGO) squarely blames the western countries for causing widespread destruction of the environment due to intensive prawn farming. The huge demand for shrimps in the West has also led to loss of farmland and unemployment in developing countries. According to the …
Chinese herbs are facing extinction due to increasing demand for herbal medicines. According to the natural medicine marketing report, prepared as part of a Sino-British project, the lucrative market for these herbs has led to large-scale pillage of wild flora. Sales of Chinese traditional medicine shot up by 113 per …
Specialists at the Stanford Research Institute in California, US, have pioneered a remote surgery system for the US Army , which could mean that doctors will not longer have to work in thefrontlines. In the system, the surgeon operates on a virtual image of the patient which is created by …
Drug companies and laboratories in the country will no longer be able to enjoy the freedom to pirate patente@ products. The government has finally adopted a new patent law that brings foods and pharmaceuticals under the cover of intellectual property rights. The law will expectedly bury the widespread practice of …
In another attempt to improve their green image, the Republicans issued a new set of guidelines for their future environmental proposals. Prepared by the 70-member study group set up by Speaker Newt Gingrich, the Republican from Georgia, the 'vision statement' calls for consensus, innovation and a greater role for states, …
To check the problem of sea erosion in the coastal areas of Sri &Lanka;, the forest department has come up with a new remedy. It is going to create forests on beaches that are most affected by sea erosion. The department has already tried out this experiment successfully at the …
IN THE run-up to the first ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization' (WTO) in Singapore in December 1996, the European Commission has prepared guidelines to promote world rules on trade and environment. Endorsing an open multilateral trading system, the communication says that it allows for a more efficient use …
A NEW report from a committee of the Institute of Medicine in the us has put across some sane advice to a federally funded, state-run programme that provides food, nutrition, education, and health care for mothers and children. The programme could better address the unmet needs of poor children by …
The department of mechanical engineering at the Regional Engineering College in Kurukshetra, Haryana, has developed a portabJe aerator which combines the supply of air and the mixing of water ina single unit. It operates by directing surrounding air to the top of a marine propeller. The propeller agitates and efficiently …
LESS than a year after winning the battle to halt the construction of a mammoth hydropower scheme in Nepal, NGO activists say the lessons from the "suspended Arun iii megaproject have yet to be fully learned". After the World Bank (WB) suspended the more thkn us $1 billion-project in August …
What is your understanding of the environmental impact of the country's liberalisation policy? I see no relation between liberalisation and environment. My sole concern and objective is that Karnataka becomes number one in industries in the country. Already about Rs 50,000-60,000 crore of investment has been invited in Karnataka by …
THE picture is getting bleaker day by day. First, the President of India surprised everyone by asking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take over the reigns of the country at a time when the party's strategists themselves knew they could not have pulled off the game. The President had …
Arvind Sinha, the documentary film-maker is going places. His latest film, Ajit (The Unconquerable), has been selected for screening in the competitive section of the Copenhagen film festival, later this year . Although the film could not bag an award at the Mumbai festival of documentary films, it has brought …
AT A function organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature- India in New Delhi on June 5 on the occasion of World Environment Day, the chief election commissioner, T N Seshan said that the burning topic of environment could be compared to the proverbial elephant which was touched by …
My friend Paul Wapner, assistant professor of environmental politics at the American University in Washington, Dc, has just published a book, Environmental Activism and World Politics. He argues that international relations is no longer the domain of governments, as most scholars in the field continue to believe. Civil society, aided …
ANTI-NUCLEAR feelings ran high in northern Germany, when a 40-tonne shipment of-plutonium and nuclear waste recently arrived at the Gorleben nuclear storage 0ant near Hanover. A series of clashes between protesters and armed policemen left several injured and reopened the old disputes about the country's nuclear policies. The shipment of …
MORE than 100 representatives Of NGOS from 20 Asian and Pacific countries predicted a gloomy future for Asian food stocks, when they recently held a two- day meeting in Bangkok to draft a regional platform in preparation for the World Food Summit in November. As more Asian countries jump on …
A two-drug therapy that promises to cure stomach ulcers and prevent their recurrence has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Under the newly approved regimen, patients will take the existing ulcer drug Prilosec in conjunction with an antibiotic called Biaxin for 14 days, then continue to take …
The proposed Nam Thuen II hydroelectric dam could trigger off ecological disaster in the Nakai plateau in central Laos. Largescale logging is going on to clear the 447 sq km area for a huge reservoir for the us $1.2 billion dam. The government sees such dam projects as an easy …
