Order of the High Court of Delhi in W.P.(C) 6444/2021 in the matter of Ratiram Ahirwar & Others Vs Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board & Others dated 13/07/2021. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in exercise of his power under Section 22 of the Building and Other Construction …
DELIVERANCE for the World Bank (WB) could be damnation for the Indian government. When India surprisingly announced on March 30 that it would reject WB aid of Rs 500 crore for the Rs 13,000-crore Sardar Sarovar project, some observers commented the WB had arm-twisted India into refusing its funds for …
RESETTLEMENT of people against their will constitutes a "gross violation of human rights", according to a resolution adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights at a recent meeting in Geneva. The resolution was put together by groups led by Habitat International Coalition of Mexico. It applies to resettlement due …
HIROSHI Nakajima, newly re-elected director general of the World Health Organisation, could face a demand for his resignation at WHO's annual assembly in May in Geneva, unless allegations of financial irregularities are resolved. Nakajima won a hard-fought campaign in January for a second five-year term. Eighteen of WHO's 31-member executive …
ENVIRONMENTALISTS are concerned that plans by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to provide Cambodia with a US $3.78 million aid package, includes supply of 30 tonnes of insecticides worth US $800,000. Japan Tropical Forest Action Network, an NGO, reports two of the chemical fertilisers are diazinon and sumicidin, which are …
Silk has joined carpets on the list of Indian industries that are frowned on in the West because of the extensive use of child labour. The Germans first voiced complaints against the carpet industry, and now the Swiss are taking aim at silk-weaving. The Swiss, who in partnership with the …
JONATHAN Mann, who resigned as head of the World Health Organisation's AIDS programme during Hiroshi Nakajima's first term as WHO director general, is now challenging Nakajima's re-election. Mann resigned after criticising Nakajima for his "personalised style of management" and for downgrading the organisation's AIDS programme. Nakajima's re-election campaign was fierce …
EVEN AS Kenya announced the World Bank would contribute US $29 million of the $85 million needed for the country's drought recovery programme, more than 60 people died when flash floods in the river Ngai Ndethya ("God save me" in Swahili) d-estroyed a bridge, which caused a train to tumble …
A US $700 million "nuclear safety account" to reduce the risk of accidents in east Europe - agreed in principle last July - has finally been approved by specialists from the Group of Seven industrialised nations. At least 32 reactors are deemed sufficiently safe for upgrading; 26 are excluded as …
THE NEW Global Environment Facility (GEF) fund is getting bogged down by wrangles over how to distinguish between national and international benefits in environmental projects. After disagreements surfaced at a GEF-sponsored workshop in Delhi in February, GEF administrator Ian Johnson proposed setting up a special committee to thrash out the …
Hasn't Rio clearly shown we were living under an illusion when we thought environmental concerns would make a difference in the world power structure. Why should things change now? We have new developments stemming from a deteriorating economic position worldwide. There is a growing trend towards nationalism and fundamentalism that …
THE WEB is getting tighter. The South is finding out that the funds it was hoping to get to pay for global environmental problems are entangled in countless issues. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), set up to administer funds to be paid to the South to deal with global problems …
THE GERMAN minister for environment, nature protection and reactor safety, Klaus Topfer, is among those who blame the West for a major role in polluting the earth. Or, so he was at pains to establish during a recent visit to India. "The industrialised countries must make a conscientous effort," he …
TO ENSURE poorer Indians may not wind up lining the gowns of unscrupulous lawyers, the Free Legal Aid Scheme was introduced in 1980 by the Union government. Since then, many voluntary agencies have complained of the extremely tardy implementation of the scheme, meant to benefit those with an annual family …
FOR THE first time in a decade, developing countries have received more money from developed countries than they returned as interest on debt. But losses caused by declining terms of trade continued to offset the gains in aid. The United Nations secretary general's report, however, cautions this turnaround in resource …
Laundered money will be used to clean slums in 454 towns. Black money to the tune of Rs 63 crore, which was deposited last year with the National Housing Bank (NHB) for immunity under the Voluntary Deposits Scheme, will be used to establish a revolving corpus to refinance loans given …
THE GLOBAL Environmental Facility of UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank, administered by the latter and designated as an interim fund under the climate and biodiversity conventions'. has become the most contentious issue in international environmental negotiations, pushing issues of climate change and biodiversity into the background. At a recent …
ERSTWHILE Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar's refusal to give formal commitment to the World Bank on withdrawing the state's apple subsidy has cost the state Rs 150 crore in World Bank aid on integrated horticulture development. Though Kumar withdrew the subsidy in spite of opposition from the state's apple …
A UNICEF report, The State of the World's Children 1993, which has been adopted by 150 countries including India, says US$ 25 billion is the annual cost of ending malnutrition, preventable diseases and illiteracy for all the world's. children. To put the figure in perspective, the report says "the amount …
• 1992 was the year of environment. More than 100 heads of state and government gathered at Rio to discuss the health of the planet. But the conference refusea to look at underlying issues -lack of global democracy at one level and local democracy on the other -that favour exploitative …
APRIL 1992: The Finnish government decides to slash its development budget from 0.76 per cent of its GNP in 1991 to 0.4 per cent for the period 1991--95. JUNE 1992: In Rio, Finnish foreign minister Paavo Vayrynen says, "We fully share the view that all developed countries should reach the …
