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 …
IF YOU thought headaches were restricted to reluctant Mills and Boons heroines, think again. After a 14-year follow-up study of 26 patients, scientists John R Ostergaard and Morten Kraft from the University Hospital of Arhus and the Private Clinic of Neurology in Denmark report a number of men and women …
FIVE WEEKS after an order to shut down Delhi's Rajghat thermal power station (RTPS) for excessive pollution, it was back in operation again, belching smoke and discharging overheated water and effluents. The polluting units of the power station were shut down on November 24 because they continually exceeded the Delhi …
THE DEBATE on abortion between pro-choice and pro-life supporters is as old as antiquity, historian Angus McLaren says in his book, A History of Contraception. McLaren argues the issues raised by even the most recent breakthroughs in reproductive technologies are firmly rooted in the cultural traditions of the West. He …
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 …
IN A MAJOR breakthrough, neurobiologists at the Stanford University in USA, led by Jack McMahan, confirmed the protein agrin plays a vital role in communications within the nervous system. The protein, which comprises more than 1,900 amino acids, is released by nerve cells. It helps trigger the establishment of the …
The end of 1992 saw advocates of development-at-any-cost increasingly impatient with the Union ministry for environment and forests (MEF), whom they accused of blocking development projects worth several thousand crores of rupees. The major pending projects include the open-cast mining schemes in Bihar, KRIBHCO's fertiliser plant at Hazira in Gujarat, …
EVERY year, thousands of industrial workers all over the country fall prey to various occupational diseases. Most of the cases go undiagnosed or fail to get proper treatment, until it is too late. For instance, agricultural workers are susceptible to diseases caused by contact with chemical pesticides, whereas, illnesses such …
THE DREAM of environmentalists to mpnitor the world's natural resources was boosted with the establishment of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), which will analyse the progress of agreements reached at the Earth Summit. CSD was meant to increase the accountability of governments concerning environmental policy. Some developing countries …
IT IS WIDELY believed that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will stimulate plant growth and thus help crops and forests fix more carbon - a positive feedback effort that may partially help control the global warming problem. But two recent studies indicate'forests may not be as efficient in …
THE DECISION of the Himachal Pradesh governnment to set up four Large and 12 small cement plants in The state has unleashed a controversy pwite one Union minister lVAmother and arousing protests fonmentalists. Though Lwiories are listed by the of environment and as a major polluter, it plGaoarat Ambuja Ltd's …
Why are you opposed to cement plants? They are the biggest polluters and they must not find a place in the sensitive environs of the fragile hills. Environmental destruction in the name of development cannot be tolerated. A state like Himachal Pradesh must always depend on e(S-friendly industries for revenue …
ACC IS searching for foreign collaboration to install pollution controls at its new manufacturing unit with one million tonne per annurn capacity. It has assigned a separate unit to look after pollution control and made a substantial increase in pollution control investment. The firm has also planted 602,800 saplings in …
PORTLAND cement may acquire a new, environmentally friendly, chemical composition. Researchers are focussing on how to reduce emissions from cement manufacture and also use less energy. Another area of research that has emerged recently examines the use of bauxite (aluminiuni oxide) and wastes such as fly ash, scrap iron and …
DURING the 1992 September-October southern spring, the world's ozone layer dropped to the lowest levels recorded in 35 years. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the ozone levels over northern Europe, Russia and Canada last winter and spring were 12 per cent below the seasonal average. The Antarctic ozone …
Fathers may be responsible for birth defects in their offspring (New Scientist, Vol 136 No 1843). Research using animal models suggests some miscarriages, birth defects and children's diseases can be blamed on the lifestyles and occupations of the fathers. Scientists thought sperm damaged by exposure to radiation or toxic chemicals …
URBAN air pollution in India has become a cause of concern and alarm and the subject of much writing and debate on measures to control it. Calcutta is reputed to be one of the world's most polluted cities, but its citizens contend the pervasive acrid odours and hazy horizons are …
ELECTRIC cars run on batteries but work best without them. Batteries halve electric cars' speed and range and increase their cost because it is more difficult to get electricity into and out of a battery than it is to pump and burn petrol. With stricter emission controls slated for later …
DISAPPOINTMENT among green NGOs and irritation among developing countries over the foot-dragging attitude of some developed countries characterised the week-long meeting in Copenhagen of the parties to the so-called Montreal Protocol. But alarming data presented on the state of the ozone layer, which protects life on earth from the sun's …
TUBERCULOSIS, the number one killer in India -- two million cases of active TB are diagnosed each year -- and the AIDS epidemic are showing a disturbing tendency of coalescing and infecting the same individual (WorldAIDS, No 23). The risk groups of both diseases overlap in many countries in the …
WESTERN scientists report the burning of fossil fuels is steadily depleting the oxygen content of the atmosphere. And, because the level of oxygen varies inversely with that of carbon dioxide, the new techniques of oxygen measurement provide them also with clues to the carbon cycle. But the scientists are struggling …
