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 …
The NIN study found that our aluminium intake depends not only on the kind of aluminium vessels used but also on the food we eat. For instance, green vegetables, pulses and spices contain aluminium that can accumulate in the body. Aluminium intake by the average Indian varies between I milligram …
OF LATE there has been a growing awareness in South Asia to the new dangers posed by persistent organic pollutants (POPS), often referred to as the "dirty dozen". Pops are toxic organic compounds which, once released, continue to linger in the atmosphere and can pose serious health risks in the …
SHOULD the use of plastics be banned? This question has triggered off a debate on the production, use and ultimate disposal of items made of plastics in India. Three states - Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Goa - have already passed legislations banning their use. During Sahib Singh Verma's tenure as …
THE Dutch government inspectors have played down the health risks posed by chemicals released into an Amsterdam suburb following the 1992 crash of an El Al cargo plane. But the inspectors admit that some questions cannot be answered because documents detailing the plane's cargo are incomplete. Claims of a cover …
THE rapidly deteriorating quality of groundwater in parts of Delhi is due to hazardous substances leached from landfill sites, according to Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). The water is released by over about 1400 hazardous industries. Three lands sites of Delhi - Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla - are contaminated with …
IN THE last few years, scientists have come up with a novel method to fight pollution called bioremediation, or using biological means to clean up polluted lands and water bodies. It usually involves plants that have been geneticaily-modified to absorb a certain pollutant. Though still in its infancy, bioremediation can …
According to a common position paper adopted by 16 UN organisations, India has the largest number of child workers in the world. The paper was launched by the UN resident co-ordinator of India, Brenda Gael McSweeney and her counterpart at the International Labour Organisation, L P Passun. However, they recognised …
INTERNATIONAL trade in unwanted hazardous chemicals and pesticides is now a serious global concern, especially in developing countries that lack resources to monitor their safe application, storage facilities, and adequate training for their applications. To deal with this, 61 countries have signed a new convention to prevent trade in hazardous …
Industrialised nations are planning to impose a moratorium on the export of hazardous ship-for-scrap to developing countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Environmentalists are strongly opposed to these conditionalities. Environmental group, Greenpeace International, said under the move the ships which are stripped of the hazardous constituents such as poly chlorinated …
BABIES born to mothers who live near hazardous waste landfill sites have a higher risk of serious birth defects, warns a European report. Women living within three-kilometre of a hazardous landfill site are more likely to have babies with nervous-system problems, holes in the heart and malformations of the large …
IT is easy to dump waste in deep-ocean trenches - far harder to check that it has not seeped from its containers into the sea. Now, though, colonies of glowing bacteria offer some hope. When they sense pollution in the water around them, they get dimmer. "Our idea is that …
A HUGE quantity of hazardous asbestos is finding its way into India. But the Union government seems to be silent over the issue. The Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) had prepared a notification to ban its import that was withheld later. Officials in the MEF say the notification …
A high-power commission appointed by the apex court has recommended the auctioning of zinc ash, waste oil and batteries lying in various ports in the country to firms which fulfil certain conditions. The commission, headed by M G K Menon, was set up following a petition by the Research Foundation …
WORKERS at Gujarat's only basic chromium sulphate factory, Hema Chemicals, are suffering from nasal septum perforations, or holes in their noses, due to continuous exposure to hazardous chemicals. The factory lacks essential facilities such as proper ventilation, provision for natural light and fire exits. The result is all too evident. …
thirty-two nations from across Europe and North America have agreed to reduce airborne emissions from three heavy metals and ban or limit 16 of the world's most dangerous chemicals. The legally-binding phase-outs were signed at a summit in Aarhus, Denmark, by environment ministers from across Europe, Central Asia and North …
it is feared that several Victorian shearers may have been poisoned by a chemical linked to the manufacture of nerve gas, according to labour unions in Australia. The Australian Workers Union ( awu ) is contacting shearers exposed to the chemical diazinon. The chemical has been found in many sheep …
one area of research that has seen tremendous progress over the last few years is phytoremediation, or the use of certain plants to clean up toxic chemicals and elements. To give us a cleaner world, scientists are unleashing the amazing gene genie on these plants, genetically modifying them to fight …
The European Commission (EC), the Brussels-based executive arm of the European Union (EU), backed away from imposing a Europe-wide ban on phthalates, potentially dangerous chemicals used in children's toys. Environmental groups allege that the EC bowed to pressure from the chemicals industry. In the decision taken on July 1, the …
Laboratory analyses of water taken from a creek passing through Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary show "startling and scary' levels of lead contamination, says Sirithan Pairojboriboon, director-general, Thailand Pollution Control Department. The contamination, measured at 0.0058 milligram per litre (mg/l) upstream, increased by 18 times as the creek passed the …
the Clinton administration, supporting the American toy-manufacturing giant Mattel Inc and several other toy companies, is lobbying against European efforts to ban controversial chemical compounds from teething rings and other toys for children. With the European Union (eu) nearing a decision on whether to prohibit the sale of toys made …
