Birth Rate is a crude measure of fertility of a population and is a crucial determinant of population growth. It gives the number of live births per thousand population in a given region and year. The Birth Rate at all India level has declined drastically over the last five decades …
> People are using over 20 per cent more natural resources each year than can be regenerated. The ecological footprint of humankind is increasing. This overdraft will not last long. Carry on stomping In 1999, the Earth had 11.4 billion hectares of productive land and sea space, that is about …
The us administration's move to withhold a tranche of us $34 million meant for the United Nations Population Fund (unfpa) may be music to the ears of the right wing anti-abortion activists. But it is not in tune with the country's own stated stand. For, not only has the Bush …
Kwasi Odoi Agyarko is glad that the United Nations has honoured him. This Ghanaian doctor has been bestowed with the un Population Award for his contribution to increasing awareness about global population problems and suggesting solutions for the same. Agyarko, who is also the executive director of Rural Help Integrated …
>> By 2007, one-half of the world's population will live in urban areas compared to little more than one-third in 1972. By the end of 2002 some 70 per cent of the world's urban population will be living in Africa, Asia or Latin America >> 1,200 million more people in …
The world has reached an environmental crossroads, according to the third Global Environment Outlook (geo-3) report. And the choice between greed and humanity will decide the fate of millions of people for decades to come. While painting a bleak picture of the future, the document stated that present human actions …
banning logging is an important tool for halting the degradation of forests, but it seldom corrects the underlying causes of deforestation. This intriguing fact was recently stated in a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (fao). Moreover, the report claims that ban on logging harms forests and local communities …
Remember the cartoon of the European explorer in North America, waving an axe to clear forests while moving towards the west coast a few centuries ago? The slogan "exploring the west' in China has a similar ring in the ear. China now has its eyes fixed upon its wild, barren …
French researchers have found that over the past 50 years, the population of emperor penguins ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) in Terre Adelie, which was stable until the mid-1970s, had declined abruptly by 50 per cent in the late 1970s and has stablised since. The researchers say that the penguin population …
as india prepares for its eighth tiger census, controversy mars the very credibility of the exercise. While some conservationists support the old method of counting the tiger population through pugmarks, another group suggests the use of sophisticated cameras to arrive at an close estimate. The debate got precipitated when Union …
Half the watershed area of the world's freshwater systems is estimated to have been lost in the twentieth century, as land was converted to agriculture and urban use, or levelled to combat diseases such as malaria. Physical alteration, habitat loss and degradation, water withdrawal, overexploitation, pollution, all contribute to declines …
Project Tiger has been the first major conservation scheme in India. It has gone through phases of vex and vane. All eyes are set on the fate of charismatic tiger. Every possible effort is being made to save the tiger in spite of various odds. Ironically, demand for tiger parts …
In 1990, senior government officials gathered at Paro to draft broad parameters for the country’s development agenda. The conclusion was the “Paro Resolution on Environment and Sustainable Development”, a statement that redefined sustainability in the Bhutanese context. It read as, “The capacity and the political will to effectively address today’s …
With modernisation has come the pressure on the forests. Though almost three-fourths of the country is still covered by dense foliage, the demands from a growing population can put unprecedented demands on them. Be it for construction, fuelwood consumption, infrastructure development, it cannot be underestimated. At the same time, 60 …
T he challenges that Bhutan is faced with are indeed daring, but rather than taking corrective measures, one cannot deny the fact that the government is taking proactive steps to mitigate the evils of development. For instance, air pollution. Though not of the proportion Indian metros like New Delhi are …
On the road to destiny The tradition-bound Himalayan kingdom readies itself to brace modernism In 1958, when the then Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, went to Bhutan on a state visit, the only way he could reach the capital Thimpu was over land. He demanded to be met at the …
The international community's goal to reduce half of the world's food availability problem by 2015 will not be achieved as per schedule, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "Progress towards meeting the 1996 World Food Summit's target has been so far very slow, and at the current pace …
It's been 50 years since politicians have been mouthing the slogan: Jai jawan, jai kisan (Long live soldiers, long live farmers). Now it has started to sound like a raucous chant, at least to the farmers struggling to survive. They till the soil harder, increase their spending to replenish their …
Gian kaur, 50, is a breast cancer patient. But in her village her ailment does not make her unique or get her visitors to check on her health. Almost every house in her village Giana in Bhatinda district has an ailing patient to tend to. Cancer or less fatal diseases …
A few months, India was besieged by a drought. But the drought did not lead to a famine. A comfortable grain reserve of 26 million tonnes -11 million tonnes more than would be required in a normal year to stave of the famine. But this may be the last time …
