The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
A Plastic Manufacturers’ Association today approached the Delhi High Court challenging the City Government’s notification imposing a blanket ban on plastic bags in the capital. A bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notices to the Centre and the City Government and sought their replies …
A Bench of the Lok Adalat has observed that the use of banned pesticides has led to cervical and breast cancer among female agriculture labourers in six districts which fall under the Gulbarga revenue division. The Bench comprising Justice D V Shylendra Kumar of the High Court and A N …
The three-year-old ban on the use of polythene seems to have fizzled out as it has had no impact within the municipal limits here in Kurukshetra with shopkeepers and roadside vendors continuing to hand out commodities to customers in plastic bags. Sources said though the Municipal Corporation, Kurukshetra (MCK), and …
Primary question by apex court about its harmful effects remains unanswered Formal orders, spanning over a year, passed by the Supreme Court in the public interest petition triggered by the “highly disturbing” photographs of people who may have been affected by the pesticide endosulfan in Kerala show the case has …
POP review panel recommendation before next CoP The eighth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) Review Committee to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants which concluded in Geneva on Friday approved the assessment of 100 chemical alternatives to endosulfan on Thursday. In a significant departure from past practice, …
Says inquiry team did not meet old plantation workers The Endosulfan Viruddha Samara Samithi has alleged that the report of the team constituted by the State government to study the health problems caused by the use of endosulfan in certain rural villages of Kozhikode district is an attempt to protect …
Court asks Centre to spell out its stand The Supreme Court has appointed an expert committee to go into all aspects of the ban on endosulfan and the disposal of the existing quantity of the pesticide. The court has asked the Centre to spell out its stand on the manufacture …
A meeting of the Endosulfan Relief and Remediation Cell here on Tuesday decided to hold a panchayat-level sitting by health and panchayat officials by November 15 before publishing the final list of victims of the pesticide in the district. The final list is expected to clear the confusion over who …
Hazardous metal waste can affect brain and nervous system if not disposed of properly. The city is likely to be chosen for a project on disposal of “fused” compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs that contain mercury - a hazardous metal that can affect the brain and nervous system if not …
The Plantation Corporation of Kerala, the public sector company promoting cash crops, has decided to seek State Government’s permission to move court against the manufactures of Endosulfan, which includes public sector firms like Hindustan Insecticides Limited (HIL). Endosulfan is an off-patent pesticide recently banned in the country for its toxic …
The recent furore in Rajasthan over mobile towers installed near schools and hospitals triggered a similar protest in Jamshedpur, though on a smaller scale, but the district administration remained clueless on what to do, citing lack of clear-cut directions from the state government. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court came …
The State government will implement a Rs.5.60-crore health scheme named ‘Tejaswini’ for the benefit of endosulfan victims in the district, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar has said. The government would enlist a number of hospitals where endosulfan victims would get free treatment, he told mediapersons here on Tuesday. Two modern ambulances …
Demand to consider plea to write off loans Hundreds of endosulfan victims in the district are awaiting news from the State government which has, in principal, agreed to implement the relief and rehabilitation packages suggested by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Hopes were raised after the visit of the …
Canada dropped its longtime opposition on Friday to the international listing of asbestos as a hazardous material, a designation intended to curb the use abroad of the fire-resistant substance, which can cause cancer and other illnesses. Canada had been the main opponent of such a listing, which would require exporters …
Increasing misuse of chemicals is causing health and environmental damage especially in emerging economies and governments must do more to carry out a promised clean-up by 2020, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. Production and use of chemicals - from plastics to pesticides - is shifting to developing nations …
The Department of Environment yesterday penalised the owner of an illegal leather gloves factory in Ashulia with a Tk 37 lakh fine. Huiju Beijing Gloves Co Ltd, owned by a Hong Kong national, has been in full operation for the past one year without having obtained the necessary environmental clearance …
The State government is delaying the implementation of the rehabilitation package for endosulfan victims as directed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), P. Karunakaran, MP, has said. Talking to mediapersons here on Saturday, Mr. Karunakaran said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had told him in Thiruvananthapuram on August 26 that …
In the light of careless handling of hazardous material by private companies at Cuncolim Industrial Estate, the government has been forced to step in and work out a solution. But shouldn’t stringent environmental safeguards be built into the industrial and investment policies to arrest fly-by-night operators, asks Guilherme Almeida MARGAO: …
‘Union government bent on scuttling nationwide ban’ The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) alleged here on Thursday that that the State government was trying to weaken the case of hundreds of impoverished endosulfan victims by refusing to implement the relief and rehabilitation package recommended by the National Human Rights …
VASCO: In a significant decision, the Mormugao Planning and Development Authority (MPDA) has directed Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd at Sada Bogda to demolish the tanks and to remove hazardous storage of sulphuric acid and furnace oil from its premises within seven days. In a notice dated August 27, the MPDA directed …
