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 …
• The Shiv Sena-BJP bigwigs in Bombay have reintroduced the bill banning the slaughter of cows and calves. The new, "improved" bill calls for an imprisonment increased from 2 years to 5 years and a fine upped from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. • The Cauvery river is to be …
MINING concerns can go ahead with their operations in areas upto 50 ha now, without having to obtain environmental clearances from the ministry of environment and forests. This was stated by Kamal Nath, Union minister of state for environment and forests at a recent meeting of the Federation of Indian …
MINING is an important industry the world over and small-scale mining represents a major segment of the mineral industry. It con- tributes substantially in terms of value, output, con- tributions to economy and employment. In fact, it is one of the main industries that prevent rural migration. Interaction among countries …
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Delhi, has developed lien acoustic sounder to facilitate remote sensing facility for measuring meteorological data and forecast pollution dispersion patterns. A series of experiments regarding this were carried out from 1992 to 1994. Also termed 'sodar' (sound and detection ranging), the sounder has been developed …
To beat the spiralling land prices and reduce the existing pressure on land in the country, the government of Hong Kong is looking towards various alternatives, and caves happen to be one of them. Only these would be caves with a difference. The government is planning to use a new …
THE Congress (I) government rode to power opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (bjp) plan of setting up 16 mini and 3 big cement plants in Himachal Pradesh. Now the same government under Virbhadra Singh suddenly diverted from its declared policy by sanctioning 3 cement plants of 1 million metric tonnes …
A collapsed sewerage system and an acute water crisis are causing misery to the residents of Kharkov, Ukraine's 2nd largest city. Up to 200,000 cubic metres of untreated sewage has been pouring daily into the 3 rivers running through the city. Add to this the long lines for water, and …
After 30 long years of blissful co-existence, the honeymoon is finally over between esso and Shell, the 2 uk oil giants, who had tied the knot in 1965 and taken solemn oaths of exploring the North Sea together. Greenpeace International, the environmental ngo, is responsible for the rift. Shell is …
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, …
