Delhi has been hit by a new health-scare. Japanese encephalitis, a viral disease, has been reported for the first time in the metropolis. Four people have been affected so far. The viral disease affects the central nervous system and in severe cases can cause death. As of now, the patients—one …
Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, this year is going to witness a new movement. Activists belonging to a non-profit, Ekta Parishad, will undertake a Jan Satyagraha Samwad Yatra to highlight the ongoing land and livelihood struggles across the country. The Jan Satyagraha Samwad Yatra will highlight the ongoing land and livelihood …
Every year, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests spends substantial amount of money on the upkeep of national parks, biosphere reserves, sanctuaries and zoos. But there is little information available on how well the funds are spent. Now the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the ministry to assess …
Twice in the past five months, residents near Mettur in Tamil Nadu have noticed liquid seeping from under the compound wall of Chemplast Sanmar’s PVC plant into the drain running alongside the wall. There was a terrible smell coming from the drain. The recent rains had flushed out the effluent …
A recent order of the National Green Tribunal could impact the clearances being granted to coal-fired thermal power plants. The tribunal has asked the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to make a detailed assessment of the supposed radiation caused by the thermal power plants in the country. Last …
India's poverty line finally makes headlines. Do a rapid archival search of newspapers, at least of the past 20 years, and one finds that the poverty line never made it to the front pages. In post television boom, it never featured on prime time. But the past one week has …
India's poverty level will go up by 3.6 per cent in rural areas and 2.9 per cent in urban areas if people's expenditure on health is factored in while measuring poverty. A study by the Institute of Economic Growth in Delhi redrew the poverty estimates of 2007 (the Planning Commission …
Poverty is becoming hereditary in India, at least for a sizeable population. That is the conclusion derived from a three-decade tracking of poor households in rural India. A survey by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), an international association of researchers and academicians, claims that those who are chronically poor …
At a time when courts hog headlines, this was a conspicuous slip. About two months ago, the Uttarakhand High Court admitted a public interest petition on making gross environmental productivity a co-indicator of the state of the economy along with the standard gross domestic product (GDP). The media did not …
NEWS Bad for people, bad for environment Claims by the government and industry that environmental regulations are throttling India's economic growth are belied by the latest study by Delhi-based non-profit, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Read more OVERVIEW Growth at what cost? The diversion of forestland for development projects …
Claims by the government and industry that environmental regulations are throttling India's economic growth are belied by the latest study by Delhi-based non-profit, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The assessment which comprehensively analysed forest clearances granted by the Indian government in the 11th Five-Year-Plan—2007 to 2011—shows that rate of …
Updates from UN Down To Earth reports on UN General Assembly in New York. Keep visiting to know the latest on non-communicable diseases. 'Lifestyle' diseases spur UN to act Health is rarely the topic of discussion at the UN general assembly. But starting September 19, the UN began a high-level …
Jyotsna GovilHonorary additional secretary of the Indian Cancer Society It is the first time the government has agreed that the numbers (of people) killed by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have long overtaken the communicable diseases numbers. Government was till now concentrating only on the communicable diseases like polio and AIDS. According …
Health is rarely the topic of discussion at the UN general assembly. But starting September 19, the UN began a high-level meeting to debate a strategy to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This is the second time that the world body is calling a meeting on health. More than a decade …
Global leaders are preparing to meet in New York on September 19 and 20 to chart the way forward to tackle noncommunicable diseases, the number one killer in the world. On the stealth, the pharma and food industries and some rich countries are also at work to weaken the initiative. …
In May when Kerala banned seven highly toxic insecticides so that it switches to safer chemicals, it did not fare better. It ended up replacing them with six others, banned or severely restricted in most parts of the world. For instance, it replaced carbofuran, a pesticide that affects the nervous …
The overpowering stench of municipal waste hits one hard on entering Boragaon. Women and children from the nearby squatter’s colony squabble over the garbage unloaded by trucks from Guwahati, the sprawling business hub of northeastern India and a million-plus city of Assam. A sole adjutant stork, an endangered bird, meditates …
IT IS no mean task to detect tuberculosis. Suspects are subjected to a battery of tests, including sputum and molecular, to ascertain the disease. One of the most expensive and widely used by private pathological labs is the blood test. But the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued advisory asking …
GRAPEFRUIT or chakotra is widely used in bodywashes and gels. But its peel finds limited use. Now, Indian researchers have shown the peel can be effectively used to filter methylene blue, a dye which is used to colour silk and cotton and is the main ingredient of the textile industry …
WHILE waste from drug factories continues to be a major concern for the environment, not much attention is paid to pollution that results from household consumption of drugs. Very few models exist to trace the trajectory of drugs and determine their fate. Now scientists from Autonomous University of Barcelona in …
