This new report provides basic quantitative and qualitative facts about nuclear power plants in operation, under construction, and in planning phases throughout the world.It finds that nearly three-quarters of reactors under construction are located in China, India, Russia & S.Korea but none of these nations have historically been transparent about …
A review of the use and value of seasonal climate forecasting for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a view to understanding and exploiting opportunities to realize more of its potential benefits. Interaction between the atmosphere and underlying oceans provides the basis for probabilistic forecasts of climate conditions at a …
Many factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for …
This IEA roadmap provides a consensus view on the current status of smart grid technologies and maps out a global path for expanded use of smart grids, together with milestones and recommendations for action, for technology and policy development. The development of smart grids – which the IEA defines as …
This booklet, the first of its kind from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is a result of the consultations with, and the suggestions from, a wide range of individuals and organizations involved in the subject, besides drawing upon reports and scientific studies available on human-leopard conflict. Knowing full well …
Recent evidence has demonstrated that substantial changes in cycling levels can be achieved in the UK, with the potential for increasing cycling being greatest in the city regions. This report explores the potential impact of a step change in the delivery of interventions to support and promote cycling in the …
The national climate change policy provides a framework for addressing the issues that Pakistan faces or will face in future due to the changing climate. In view of Pakistan’s high vulnerability to adverse impacts of climate, in particular extreme events, adaptation effort is the main focus of this policy document. …
Two states succeeded. Rest did not. The National Action Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC) envisages five per cent of total energy production every year from all states will be from renewable sources. But in the financial year ending March 2010, the achievement was of 3.9 per cent, majority of which …
Betel leaves were once dubbed green gold. But farmers do not find betel farming lucrative anymore. Besides low demand, it is the rising input cost, primarily for irrigation, that is discouraging betel farmers. Since it is a tropical plant, growing betel in the subtropic climate of India requires extra care …
The way paan is associated with India, a Chaurasia is associated with paan. But both the equations are changing, said Lalta Prasad Chaurasia, spitting blood red betel juice into an elegantly designed brass spittoon. The 58-year-old is among the last generation of Chaurasia farmers in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh …
It took the Jharkhand government a murder, an abduction and angry protests to stop construction of a dam that began in a tribal heartland without informing people whose land was acquired. The dam will submerge 365 hectares (ha) of about 100 families. As per rules, any acquisition is preceded by …
In many Indian villages, women and children spend a large part of the day fetching water over long distances. This is despite the Centre’s policy to provide drinking water to all rural habitations. The government set deadlines for providing 100 per cent drinking water cover to the country’s 1.6 million …
A MEGADROUGHT in parts of Africa and Asia about 17,000 years ago led to mass migration of humans and animals. It is regarded as the most severe in the last 50,000 years. Rainfall in this drought-hit region is caused when winds from the northern and southern hemispheres converge ne-ar the …
A PLANT species native to tropical and subtropical America was introduced in India as an ornamental shrub during 1809-1810. Called Lantana camara, this weed is now found all over the subcontinent. Similar is the case with freshwater species Eichornia crassipes (water hyacinth). This weed was introduced from Brazil during 1914-1916. …
SOIL erosion worldwide is threatening agriculture. A group of scientists has calculated that about 7.5 per cent of the soil in India is extremely vulnerable to erosion. Scientists at the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute in Dehradun employed a concept to evaluate susceptibility of soil types …
ABOUT 500,000 people in India die from tuberculosis (TB) every year. The disease can lie dormant in an infected person for years without showing any symptoms but those with weakened immune system, like HIV/AIDS patients and the malnourished, are likely to develop active and contagious TB. Current diagnostic techniques, including …
THEY entered the US from Argentina in the 1930s armed with lethal venom, gained a foothold in southern parts of the country and then marched to invade faraway countries across the world. Such is the invasion strategy of Red Imported Fire Ant, or Solenopsis invicta, one of the world’s highly …
HAILED for being a vital ingredient in traditional medicines, cosmetics and detergents, soapnut can now combat mosquito-borne diseases and thus reduce indiscriminate use of harmful insecticides and mosquito repellents. Kernel extracts of soapnut disrupt the activity of enzymes of larvae and pupae and inhibit the growth of Aedes aegypti, a …
As water gets scarce, the lendings in the sector by international financial institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are being looked into more critically. Most critics believe that with small investments, the banks have been able to dictate water policies in developing countries. These institutions …
CHECK LAND SHARKS ASAD RAHMANI, director Bombay Natural History Society The Government of India should enact a wetland conservation act, on the lines of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. But it should also consider the views of people dependent on wetlands. Millions of acres of village, semi-urban and urban wetlands …
