Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Akhilesh Kumar Vs State of Uttar Pradesh & Others dated 23/05/2025. The matter related to illegal mining activites carried out by Jai Maa Chandrika Enterprises, Rajendra Nagar, village Kabari, district Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh. The applicant also alleged about illegal sale …
Foreign and national investors are being wooed in a big way to the Ivory Coast, which is overhauling its 30-year-old mining code for their benefit. The objective, according to a draft code presented before the parliament, is to make mining of gold, diamonds and other minerals as important to the …
"Was ecology non-existent 25 years ago?" Kalam Singh Rawat's anguished question still rings in my ears, though it is 7 years since the man from Bhatta Village, near Mussoorie, had asked it. Rawat had articulated the feelings of the downtrodden of the area: development means distress for the poor. He …
A group of chemists in Switzerland has devised a way to convert Ramospheric carbon dioxide - the main greenhouse gas - into fuel (New Scientist Vol 146, No 1971). The scientists first blew carbon dioxide saturated with water into a matrix of glass wool coated with titanium dioxide, which acts …
THE Pakistan government has ambitious plans to tap coal reserves under the vast expanses of the Thar desert, but environmentalists warn that unfettered development could do more.harm. than good. In its enthusiasm to capitalise on the interest shown by foreign investors in cheaply a'v:ilable coal, the government is completely ignoring …
IMAGiNE being asked questions like, "Have you ever had a period of 2 weeks or mdre when you had trouble failing asleep, staying asleep, waking up too early, or sleeping too much?" : similar set of questions pertaining to feelings of hopelessness, depression and worthlessness of life form the Suicidal …
THE state of Rajasthan evokes images of camels loping over lifeless sand stretching to the horizon, without the welcome punctuation of green cover. So the state government's bid to denotify 3,500 sq km of forest cover for mining purposes sparked off an alarum. Rajasthan has hardly 9 per cent notified …
The Union government is sparing no effort to ensure the finalisation of its proposed Plant Varieties Bill. Senior bureaucrats of the agriculture ministry point out that India will have to announce the legislation of this bill before 1996 in order to be eligible for the 1978 UPOV Convention, which provides …
The mining of manganese ore by the government-owned Mysore Minerals Ltd and a private Goa-based mining company has "resulted in massive degradation" in the Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, says Anantha Hegde Ashisar, convenor of the Vriksha Raksha Andolan, a local environment movement. On January 27, a massive demonstration against …
THE process of aluminium extraction from its ore, bauxite, is highly polluting, the reason being the large quantity of power and chemicals consumed. The requirements for producing 1 tonne of primary metal include about 16 Mwh of electric power, 5.5 t bauxite, 1.3 t coal, 0.6 t anode carbon, 0.25 …
Sri Lanka's fierce civil war has taken a heavy toll on it's wildlife. A recent report in the Sri Lankan Daily News claims that land mines have killed or injured several wild elephants. Charles Santipillai, a Sri Lankan zoologist, estimates that about 20 elephants are killed every year by mines …
With Russia's approval, the much-awaited Antarctic whale sanctuary will come into effect on December 6. Russia's agreement is a defeat for Japan's campaign to resume commercial whaling using Russian whalers. Now, Japan is also expected to give up its opposition to whale-saving campaigns. Russia's decision followed a fierce struggle between …
In the the first survey of its kind in the country, the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency (nrsa) has prepared detailed maps of the underground fires that have raged in the Jharia coalfields for most of this century. A scanned survey of 6,000 ha at the heart of the area, …
The booming prawn industry in Sri Lanka has Worried environmentalists. They fear that mangroves will be destroyed to make way for prawn farms and that prime land will be encroached upon, resulting in the destruction of fish breeding grounds and damaging biodiversity. Besides, the waste from the enterprises will add …
Cheetos, the crispy American cheese puffs, have come to China minus the cheese. Residents of Guangdong province of China, where the $1 million venture has been launched, have reportedly turned up their noses at the "cheesy taste". Pepsico, the maker of Cheetos, is now offering 2 flavors, Savory American Cream …
The one-horned rhino population in Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park has crossed the 450 mark despite widespread poaching, a recent rhino census carried out in the park indicates. The eradication of malaria strains in the Chitwan valley in the '60s opened it up for human settlement. The casualty was the …
Kulekhani dam, Nepal's only high dam hydroelectricity project, faces the unwelcome prospect of closure in less than seven years if the present high levels of sedimentation continue. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is undertaking topographical and geological studies to identify possible sites for check dams to trap silt. "We would …
With mid-term polls in Nepal due in November, the Arun dam project is set to become a major poll issue. The Nepali Congress government is trying to highlight the $764-million project's employment potential in the eastern hills. The powerful United Marxist-Leninist opposition, however, is pointing to alleged kickbacks and a …
Decades of mining have slopped about 72 million tonnes of lead, zinc and other metal wastes into the Coeur d:lene lake in Idaho state in the US. Now, representatives of the Coeur d:lene tribe and the environmentalist group, Sierra Club, have urged the Congress and the Clinton administration to fund …
BACTERIA are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they plague us with diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy and on the other, they provide us with such delights as curd and wine. Now, we have bacteria that are miners. In the past few years, these diminutive diggers have become …
Plans are afoot to convert the Bhatti stone mines south of Delhi into a major drinking water source for the water-starved Capital. The gigantic stone mine pits, which were closed last year after protracted protests from environmentalists against the pollution caused by the stone crushers, might be converted into large …
