The Supreme Court (SC), May 1, 2025 made it clear that all applications would have to be made to the court seeking permission to fell trees irrespective of the number of trees to be felled as far as areas located within an aerial distance of 5 kilometers from the Taj …
ever wondered why the 1,600-year-old iron pillar located near Delhi's Qutab Minar has never got corroded despite harsh weather conditions? Metallurgists at the Indian Institute of Technology (iit), Kanpur, have recently found the reason behind this. They have discovered that a thin layer of misawite, a compound of iron, oxygen …
despite the closure of polluting units in its vicinity from December 31, 2001, the Taj continues to reel under the onslaught of suspended particulate matter (spm) and sulphur dioxide (so2). According to the latest data of the Archaeological Survey of India (asi), the spm was 286.3 microgrammes per cubic metre …
The Union ministry of urban development has issued a notification stipulating that construction activities that create noise will not be allowed after 10 pm. However, construction of highways, roads, and other government undertakings has been excluded from the purview of the regulation. At the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of …
The City of London is full of monuments, but none record the East India Company's existence. Like a snake, the City seems embarrassed of an earlier skin. This being Britain, however, what remains is a pub - the East India Arms on Fenchurch Street. Popular with office workers, it stands …
The Supreme Court has given eight weeks' time to the Union government to prepare the necessary plan for making Fatehpur Sikri, the capital of the Mughal empire for some time and now in Uttar Pradesh, a national heritage city for its better preservation. Acting on a petition seeking rehabilitation of …
A group of chemists at the University of Florence have devised a technique to prevent decay of old frescoes using nanoparticles of slaked lime. Frescoes are made by applying pigments onto the damp plaster on a wall. As the plaster dries, the pigments held fast into the base. But, dampness …
There cannot be a bigger irony. As the nation was preparing to smugly display its military might and scientific prowess on Republic Day, a mighty earthquake flattened a large part of Gujarat. The quake, however, did not quite shake the ruling elite, who till afternoon participated in the long ceremonial …
D eath and earthquakes do not come by appointment. However, an earthquake gives definitive indications of its arrival. In Gujarat, there were many. A 4.2 magnitude quake rocked the Rann of Kachhch on December 24, 2000. Its epicentre was 22 km away from Bhuj. Bhavnagar, near Bhuj, also felt several …
T he Gujarat earthquake has proved that even in the highly seismic zones like Bhuj, Uttarakhand and the Northeast, our preparedness and crisis management is a monumental failure. Bhuj is one of the 13 hotspots on India's seismic hazard map that was prepared three years ago. The assessment was that …
Astronomers will be able to pin the date of the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza within five years. The theory assumes that the Egyptians used two bright stars
The Supreme Court (SC) has directed iron foundries in Agra to either shift from the ecosensitive area surrounding the historic monument Taj Mahal or immediately start using natural gas as fuel. The iron foundries using cupola furnaces have been identified as the main culprits causing harm to the monument. The …
the imambara of Nawab Asif-ud-daula at Lucknow ranks among the greatest architectural achievements of the Muslim period. It is a sacred building in which
many monuments in India are in a dilapidated state. Among all causes - pollution and humidity, temperature, sunlight and salt crystallisation - water does the greatest harm by transporting acids from waste gases (chemical corrosion), salts in the building material to the surface. It is also responsible for frost damages …
the increasing level of noise pollution is posing a threat to Charminar, the historic landmark of Hyderabad, according to the National Geophysical Research Institute (ngri). Built with lime and mortar, the plastering of the 400-year-old monument may peel off because of constant increase in pollution levels and the flow of …
In a determined move to protect the Taj Mahal from being severely affected by vehicular emissions, the Supreme Court has banned the passing and parking of vehicles within 500 metres from its boundary walls. The rule will be applied even for the VIPs who visit the historic monument. The court …
A South Korean firm will invest us $10 million on a fleet of 300 electric cars that will ferry tourists around Cambodia's sprawling Angkor Vat temple complex, a tourism ministry official said recently. "These cars will transport tourists and also reduce vibrations that might cause damage to the temples. The …
a government move to allow oil and gas exploration activities in the Kirthar National Park has sparked a major controversy in Pakistan. Situated 80 km north of Karachi in the southwest of Sindh province, the park was declared a wildlife sanctuary on October 28, 1972 and was eventually declared a …
The Madras high court recently upheld an order passed by the Pudukottai district collector that cancelled the licence of a granite quarry. Quarry work was threatening a 1,300-year-old monument. Justice P. Shanmugam drew attention to Article 49 of the Constitution that directs governments to protect ancient monuments. The main ground …
The Supreme Court has ordered the closure of 53 iron foundries around the Taj Mahal in Agra to save the monument from further destruction. The court directed the district authorities to take immediate steps to close down these polluting industries for not using natural gas instead of Coke. The directions …
