Himalayan yew to fight cancer
Taxol, an effective anti cancer drug that was approved for use in the US last year, will soon be available in India at half the cost
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Different perspectives
Some common misconceptions that emerged during the run up to Rio
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Laboratory made antibodies work miracles
Scientists have genetically engineered specific antibodies to prevent organ rejection in transplants and to combat cancer. This opens up new possibilities in medical immunology.
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Matter of choice
The bene fits of hormone replacement therapy in post menopausal women outweigh its side effects
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New form of carbon opens up exciting possibilities
The discovery of a simple procedure for synthesis of a new crystalline form of carbon has opened up immense possibilities in the field of superconductivity.
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Labouring with AIDS
The dreaded AIDS virus could sooner or later affect the organised industrial labour force in India, leading to an alarming increase in absenteeism by 50 per cent, states a United Nations Development
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Virus scan
A new, cancer screening technique developed
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Foreign invasion
How the West is trying to steal what is ours
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Politics over economics
This Budget asks and answers some rather big questions. Begin by asking the man in the street, and he will say that he is happy with Mr Chidambaram's Budget. And so the finance minister has dared politicians to criticize the farm loan waiver, and he might as well dare others to criticize the income tax cuts, if they care to. In other words, he knows that he has touched a popular nerve in both city and country. The second big question to ask, therefore, is whether economics can hope to prevail over populism, or whether political considerations always trump good economics. Certainly the UPA government's fifth and final budget gives unequivocal answers: it is a political budget from start to finish. And so a government led by economists and economic reformers has ended up bowing to political considerations and implementing over five years programmes that they may not believe in, but which they have to introduce and then find reasons to support. When a government led by such notables writes off Rs 60,000 crore of bank money, or 3 per cent of all bank loans, it is as well to remember the harsh words hurled at Devi Lal when he did the same; but since he was an unlettered kulak, he could be safely abused. The truth is that while farmers have been in distress, writing off loans makes every farmer who repaid his loan feel like a fool. What does that do to credit discipline? Also, the write-off does not end rural indebtedness because farmers owe more money to moneylenders. And if they got into financial trouble because farming does not pay enough, then the debt write-off is only a palliative and does not solve the underlying problem. So farmers who borrow again (if the banks are willing to lend) will also get into trouble again. But these are the questions that economists ask. There is also a question that lawyers might ask: how does the government tell the client of a private bank not to repay a loan, unless the government makes it up to the bank? And surely, the government is not about to start paying up to ICICI and HDFC and all the others, is it? The triumph of politics shows also in the national rural employment guarantee programme, which has been extended to all 596 rural districts, even though Rahul Gandhi who first demanded this realises now that the programme is not being implemented well. Another indicator of the soft state is the increase in the income tax floor from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh (it is still higher for women and senior citizens). But even in the United States of America, people start paying tax at a lower income level of $3,400 (Rs 1.36 lakh), while in China the tax floor is $1,400 (Rs 56,000). India is poorer than both those countries, so why do people with higher income in a poorer country get away without paying income tax? The answer is that the government wants the urban, middle-class vote. The fifth indicator of politics trumping economics is the government's refusal to raise petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices to reflect their real cost. So the oil marketing companies have lost over Rs 70,000 crore on this account in the past one year. The way the government does its accounting, some of these figures do not show up in the Budget, even though the government will finally have to pick up the bill. If you add up the oil subsidy, the fertilizer subsidy, the extent of the loan write-offs that have to be made good and the money that has to be provided for the Pay Commission award, the total is huge. That brings up another big question: should the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act be scrapped? For this law seems to be having the perverse effect of making the government hide more and more of its expenditure and not show it in the Budget. The finance minister can then claim that he is meeting FRBM targets, when in truth he is not. Scrapping the law might encourage more honest budgeting. The last big question is whether governments can be trusted to be responsible with money. Note that taxpayers have paid up an average of 22 per cent more tax each year through the five Budgets of the UPA government
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Green bench pulls up pollution panel
The green bench of Calcutta High Court on Friday came down on the state pollution control board (PCB) on Friday for not taking any measures against industrial units polluting air and water. In its
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Digging for defeat
According to the United Natons Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), most of Iraq's farms are in bad state. The combination of international sanctions and government neglect has brought ruin to
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Climbers probe state of Himalayan environment
A team of expert climbers is on its way to the Himalayas to gather first hand accounts on the state of the environment of the world's most famous mountain range, the United Nations Environment
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An outcry as U.S. bars population control aid
In what amounted to a rebuff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Bush administration said that it would not contribute to a United Nations program that it contends provides aid to Chinese
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Child labour rampant in units, eateries
Exploitation of children in the industrial units of this city and elsewhere in the district continues unabated following the failure of the state government to eradicate child labour effectively.
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Whos afraid of 2C?
<p>The latest fuss about the 2°C global temperature target India apparently acceded to at the<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.state.gov/g/oes/climate/mem/index.htm">Major Economies Forum in L’Aquil<span style="text-decoration: underline;">, </span>Italy</a>, is important to unravel.
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Cancun musing
<p>I have reached Cancun few hours’ back to attend the 16th Conference of Parties (CoP-16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and have been greeted with news that can only be characterised as bad or worse.</p>
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Carbon emissions from aviation: issues and options
<p><strong>The underlying issue is not trade rules but the global climate regime</strong></p> <p class="rtejustify">The concerted opposition to the EU push towards forcing foreign airlines landing in
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Fisheries: Shrimp Cultivation
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Fisheries - Shrimp Cultivation</strong></span></p> <p><img alt="Fisheries" src="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/country/bangladesh/fisheries_hl.jpg" style="width: 530px; height: 300px;" /></p> <p>Shrimp cultivation began in Bangladesh in the mid-1970s when exports totaled 4.7 million dollars a year.</p> <p>Until the global economic crisis, it was a 534-million-dollar-a-year business, with 42,000 tons of exports, mainly to the United States and Europe. After the garment industry, shrimp production ranks second in Bangladesh in terms of the sector’s ability to earn foreign exchange. Not only does this crop earn valuable foreign exchange, but the sector also employs significant numbers of rural workers and provides a livelihood for households throughout much of Bangladesh. A study by USAID estimates that as many as 1.2 million people may be directly involved in shrimp production with an additional 4.8 million household members supported by the industry.</p>
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US, equity and the elephants in the room
<p>Indian top negotiator, R R Rashmi said yesterday at a <a href="http://cseindia.org/content/doha" target="_blank">side event</a> we had organized on equity in climate negotiations that they could not
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Quick comments: US submission – post -2015 Agreement
<p><img alt="" src="http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/media/iep/homepage/msanwal_blog.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 117px; float: left;" />The US submission on elements of the post-2015 agreement