A collection of documents from Britain’s colonial past are to be made public for the first time through the UK’s National Archives. The files were sent to the UK from various former territories, mostly at the time they achieved independence. The documents emerged when four people who had participated in …
The Maharashtra government will soon form a special task force to monitor coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) violations along the coastline of the state. However, it will not have any power to initiate action against the violations. Valsa Nair Singh, environment secretary, Maharashtra government, says, the main role of the task …
ACTING on complaints of severe water shortage in Gurgaon, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on May 20 asked the Central Ground Water Authority, or CGWA, to provide the details of groundwater levels in the fast-expanding industrial and financial hub. It set August 5 as the deadline. In February, the …
THE Supreme Court has ordered a nationwide ban on manufacture, sale and use of endosulfan for the time being, citing its harmful health effects. Applying the precautionary principle, the court, in its interim order, said right to life, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, is the most fundamental of …
THE Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) has asked detergent company Nirma to explain why the environmental clearance granted to its cement plant in Gujarat should not be revoked. The ministry issued a show cause notice to the company on May 11 after a report by a group of …
DISTRICT collector of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh cancelled the lease to mine China clay in the area on May 16. The move was in response to the sustained protests by tribal residents, who say land was allotted to outsiders without their consent. The collector, J Syamala Rao, said action would …
SEVENTY-five per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are thinning, states a recent analysis of satellite pictures taken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). But before the alarm button is pressed, more detailed studies must be conducted, say scientists. Of the 10,000 glaciers present in the Himalayan ecosystem, ISRO studied …
POSCO’S steel plant project in Odisha may get stalled again. As the state resumes acquiring land for the country’s largest foreign direct investment project—US $12 billion—it faces a fresh litigation and mounting protests. Communities refuse to part with forest in the mining area and river water for the South Korean …
My position on the need to re-position forests in development (see ‘Rethink growth with forest capital’, Down To Earth, May 16-31) has brought me a huge response. On the one hand are those who argue that functions of forests already include conservation vital to life; they need to be valued …
Wheat production in India, the second-biggest grower, may advance 6.4 percent to a record for a fourth year after favorable weather and high prices boosted planting, a government official said. Output may climb to 86 million metric tons in the year ending June 30 compared with 80.8 million tons the …
Srinagar The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to develop a new coal mine in Rajouri district as part of efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in the state.
The paper examines whether the mangrove forests in Kendrapada district of Orissa played any protective role during the severe cyclone that hit the state in October 1999. Using data on human casualties and damages suffered by the houses as dependent variables, and different meteorological, geophysical and socio-economic factors as independent …
FAO forecast of generally tight situation for most crops and commodities over next 18 months. Consumers are unlikely to get relief from high food prices till December 2012, despite a modest increase in global foodgrain production. High and volatile agricultural commodity prices are likely to prevail for the rest of …
As officials in Japan agonise over what constitutes a safe radiation dose for people who live near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, the state of the science has been a daunting problem. Studies on the effects of exposure are based mostly on large doses delivered quickly by atomic bombs, while …
Expressing concern over the effects of radiation from mobile towers installed in residential areas, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that it is the duty of the government and mobile companies to inform residents about the harmful effects. A division bench ruled the government will be duty bound …
There is good news on the environment front for Green warriors. In a notification issued by the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF), those who could not file petitions before the National Green Tribunal at a time when it was not functional may do so within 60 days from May …
India lost much more than it gained at the Cancun climate change meeting in December 2010, admits an internal assessment of the government. Not only did India open itself up formally to international scrutiny of its actions, the government also agreed to let US off the hook and sent the …
JAIPUR: Member of Parliament and chairman of the Parliamentary Forum for HIV/AIDS Oscar Fernandes on Monday said that around 40% of the people living with HIV/AIDS are less than 15-year-old in the state. State legislators and experts on AIDS expressing their concern during the seminar held at the Birla Auditorium, …
Mohan Kohli, a famous agricultural scientist from India, had been involved with the agriculture sector in Paraguay over the last three decades for the improvement of wheat cultivation and production. And it is widely believed that due to Kohli
The Orissa government on Friday came down heavily on anti-Posco protesters by arresting 18 villagers, including a prominent anti-Posco leader, and carried on with its land acquisition drive for the South Korean steel major’s 12 million tonnes steel plant near Paradip. The government officials also seized a betel vine belonging …
