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 …
Nine-year-old Rani is unhappy. She has to stay away from her mother Janki Patel, who is taking part in a clinical trial at a centre 10 kilometres from her house at Bapu Nagar in Ahmedabad. “I do not like these trials. They take my parents away,” says Rani. In their …
To tighten regulations around clinical trials, a bill was drafted in 2002. Framed as per the guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it was submitted to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2007 to be tabled in Parliament. But it has seen no progress ever since. …
What if a participant dies during a clinical trial? ICMR guidelines clearly mention that a participant must be insured for injuries and deaths. They bind ethics committees to review insurance documents before giving approval for the trial. Contract Research Organisations (CROs) and pharmaceutical companies say they ensure that participants are …
AS MANY as 20 states have opposed a ban on endosulfan. At a meeting convened by the agriculture commissioner’s office on June 3, the states, except Kerala, said they were not aware of health problems caused by the pesticide. These include Karnataka, which has banned the pesticide, and Madhya Pradesh, …
IT IS a case of deadly food poisoning. Caused by a new strain of Escherichia coli bacterium, the outbreak has sickened over 2,000 people in the EU in the past month. At least 25 succumbed to the disease in Germany, the epicentre of the outbreak; more than 600 were hospitalised …
Once again there is a food safety scare. A deadly strain of E coli bacterium has hit Germany, where it has taken the lives of 25 people and affected another 2,300 till date. German food inspectors on the trail of the source of contamination have as yet made two errors—blaming …
More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, making the creation of a healthy urban environment a major policy priority. Cities have both health risks and benefits, but mental health is negatively affected: mood and anxiety disorders are more prevalent in city dwellers and the incidence of …
Instead of looking at the business of food, growing healthy food may be the target Once again there is a food safety scare. A deadly strain of E coli bacterium has hit Germany, where it has so far taken the lives of 25 people and affected another 2,300. German food …
People in the villages around Ratlam are paying a heavy price for living near the industrial town in Madhya Pradesh. Their groundwater has been polluted by over 23,500 tonnes of hazardous waste dumped at two factory premises and other sites in Ratlam. The quantity of toxic waste lying at the …
About a year ago, this magazine carried a story on how lethal toys could be. I was struck by a paragraph that described how children could be ingesting chemicals when chewing a toy meant for teething children. That scary feeling came back while reading What’s gotten into us? Staying healthy …
THE Supreme Court has ordered a nationwide ban on manufacture, sale and use of endosulfan for the time being, citing its harmful health effects. Applying the precautionary principle, the court, in its interim order, said right to life, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, is the most fundamental of …
As officials in Japan agonise over what constitutes a safe radiation dose for people who live near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, the state of the science has been a daunting problem. Studies on the effects of exposure are based mostly on large doses delivered quickly by atomic bombs, while …
Expressing concern over the effects of radiation from mobile towers installed in residential areas, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that it is the duty of the government and mobile companies to inform residents about the harmful effects. A division bench ruled the government will be duty bound …
Do Indian paint companies continue to produce and market their toxics leaded paints to the neighboring countries, even as they phase it out in India? This latest report by Toxics Link shows exactly this. Its a collaborative effort by Toxics Link, India, CEPHED, Nepal and ESDO, Bangladesh.
The WHO has launched a report on health co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the housing sector, the first of a new series of reports on health in the green economy. The series undertakes a systematic analysis of climate change mitigation and green growth strategies in five economic sectors: housing, …
In the early 1990s, hospitals in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province, the main agricultural region of the country, started reporting an unusually high incidence of chronic renal failure. About 5,000 persons reported ill in 1993. By 2009, the disease assumed epidemic proportions. That year over 9,000 patients from North Central …
TILL swine flu panic gripped the world, washing hands was considered the best way to maintain personal hygiene and protect oneself from diseases. But as fear of the disease spread, so did hand sanitisers. They became a prefered choice because of their mobility and convenience. All you need to do …
IT is a neurotoxin that accumulates in marine organisms and can have serious implications on human health. The toxin, monomethylmercury, is of particular concern to people whose traditional diet consists of seafood. But the source of monomethylmercury in oceans has remained uncertain. It was till now suspected that industries were …
How do you propose to deal with conflict of interest in GEAC? Around three months ago a document called Declaration of Independence was prepared. Scientists who are members of GEAC were asked to sign it. The declaration states that a scientist can take decisions independently. If a GEAC member is …
IN A tactical shift in position, India agreed to a global consensus to ban endosulfan at the recent Stockholm Convention, but asked for exemptions to continue using the pesticide at home for at least five years. So far India had been resisting the ban on the grounds that scientific evidence …
