Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
A SERIOUS error acknowledged recently by AIDS researchers at USA's prestigious Harvard Medical School is being cited as an example of what can happen when scientists rush into clinical trials pleading that the urgency of their work excuses corner-cutting. In the Harvard incident, field trials were held nationally, based on …
DESPITE China's much-vaunted economic development, more than half its population still depends on highly polluting fuels to meet domestic needs and several studies show that chronic respiratory diseases are on the increase because of exposure to the smoke from these fuels. In fact, chronic respiratory diseases are among the leading …
SCIENTISTS are making headway in using genetic engineering techniques to develop commercial varieties of rice strains that are resistant to diseases. Initial trials by researchers in China and Japan of rice strains modified to fight the red stripe virus, which in southeast Asia has been known to destroy entire harvests, …
THE ANGLO-US pharmaceuticals group, SmithKline Beecham, has linked up with Human Genome Services of the US to convert DNA coding data into commercial products, especially new drugs. Glaxo and Roche have also made similar forays in the race for a new range of drugs and diagnostic products, which are natural …
FOR AFRICA, by Africa, is the World Bank's new slogan while handling the continent's economic problems. V K Jaycox, vice president for the African region, recently said the Bank would no longer dictate development plans to African nations, would stop "imposing" foreign expertise on the governments and aim at "building …
SHAH JAHAN'S dream in marble is at greater risk from pollution today than two decades ago, when protest over damage to the Taj Mahal was at its peak. But even after 20 years, experts are still at odds on how serious is the threat to what is arguably the world's …
Indian-made autorickshaws may be taken off roads in Kathmandu as a pollution-control measure. Vehicular exhaust fumes from automobiles get trapped in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu valley, which is surrounded by high hills. Air pollution has reached such high levels, the authorities have been forced to undertake a study to identify short- …
A EUROPEAN Community plan to introduce a carbon tax to reduce oil consumption and pollution may run into heavy weather in Japan, Malaysia and some other East Asian states, whose officials say they would prefer to cut the lead and sulphur contents in oil that is considered harmful. "We believe …
AN INDIAN-born biologist, Prafulla K Bajpai, and his colleagues at the University of Dayton, Ohio, have developed a novel drug delivery system that will bypass the harmful side-effects of AZT -- the primary drug used in AIDS treatment. AZT, which is usually taken orally as pills, causes swollen tongues, bleeding …
ALARMED by spiralling health care costs, the Japanese government is taking steps to wean the public away from its tendency to reach for a variety of pills at the slightest cough or shiver. The Japanese are the biggest spenders on drugs in the world, with a per capita expenditure of …
WERE IT not for the Moon, the climate on Earth would be dramatically different, say French geophysicists who have studied the effect on climate of the Earth's obliquity. The term refers to the angle through which Earth's spin axis leans away from the perpendicular to its orbital plane. The obliquity …
PRETORIA's disclosure of having produced and dismantled six nuclear devices has lent weight to allegations that the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) maintain double standards on nuclear non-proliferation. In a recent televised speech to the South African parliament, President F W de Klerk disclosed his country …
WESTERN infants are more likely to become victims of so-called crib deaths because they are far more frequently left alone to sleep than Asian children, a British study shows. Crib deaths -- known formally as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) -- is a phenomenon involving the unexpected and unexplained death …
DENMARK is determined to use its position as president of the European Commission to push through the proposed energy tax because, as Danish energy minister Jann Sjurgen put it, "EC must shoulder its responsibility in trying to combat global warming." The proposed tax will be levied on fuels with a …
SCIENTISTS working to develop new Ayurvedic drugs are concentrating on the treatment of memory disorders. Says Sukh Dev, professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, "Ayurveda prescribes several remedies for improving memory and intelligence. Our experiments are validating many of these claims." Sukh Dev and his …
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 …
INDONESIA boasts its coastline is generally clean, but these claims are based on data that is at least eight years old. Experts say the problems resulting from urban waste and oil pollution in the Strait of Malacca may be quite serious now. One reason why marine data is given such …
BIRD MIGRATION patterns can change dramatically over decades and scientists say global warming can increase the incidence of such changes. Drastic changes in climate and landscape during the ice ages led to many birds altering their migratory routes. Such changes occur at present as well, but too gradually to be …
NO SOONER had the Shetland Islands oil spill been brought under control, reports came in of oil tankers running aground off Indonesia and the Nicobar islands. And it was not all that long ago, that oil wells were wrecked as a weapon of war during the fighting in the Gulf. …
A STATEMENT by the US surgeon general in 1969 that it was time to "close the book on infectious diseases", seems incredible today in the face of figures that prove such diseases remain the largest cause of death in the world, and of them, tuberculosis (TB) is still the leader. …
