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... USA gives in to loggers
THE spotted owl is creating a flap in USA. A bitter fight over its habitat has driven everyone from President George Bush to the common environmentalist and loggers barmy. This fortnight, the spotted owl lost over 680 ha of its forest habitat in the Oregon region of western USA as …
Chatty car
BRITAIN'S Automobile Association has developed an in-car navigation system that not only locates the nearest car park, but also tells you whether there is enough space available in the facility or if the route is congested, This is one of the several applications of the geographical informstion systems (GIS), which …
Water squabbles
CLOSE on the heels of the bitter land wars in the West Asia comes the bitter conflict over water. Israel and the West Bank Palestinians are at odds over scarce water; its Arab neighbours - Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria all contend that they have considerable legal rights to the …
Two minute chop suey
TAIWAN is getting ready to counter the spread of hamburgers and pizza with its very own home-grown rice. The council of agriculture has recently launched a US $2 million campaign to promote traditional Chinese meals based on rice as it needs to meet the challenge of US and European fast …
Taking big business to the trash cans
WITH more and more local bodies showing a red bottomline, some of the core urban services may soon be up for grabs, if entrepreneurs are willing to take them on. The sectors under debate include water supply, garbage collection, sewage management and solid waste disposal, sanitation treatment plants and even …
USA, Gulf say no to carbon tax, EC nods meekly
THIS fortnight the European Commission unveiled a plan, which its environment comissioner, Carlo Ripa di Meana, called "revolutionary" to staise a carbon dioxide emissions at their 1990 levels by the year 2000.
Half of this reduction is to be achieved through a tax on carbon fuels - of $3 …
Half of this reduction is to be achieved through a tax on carbon fuels - of $3 …
Forest medicines
SCIENTISTS are now advocating that harvesting locally used medicinal plants from tropical forests could be more lucrative than clearing the land for farming or growing timber. When compared to other land uses, medicinal harvesting appears to be more valuable. For example, clearing the rain forest for agriculture is 'worth US …
Living longer, not better
THE average global life expectancy may be an unprecedented 65 years and still climbing, but according to the annual report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), people are not living healthier lives. Over the next half-decade:lone, life expectancy will increase by another four months, thanks to improved water supply and …
Selling trees for rotis
THE morning hours in Barapal, near Udaipur, present a curious sight. Hundreds of headloaders crowd around the national highway looking for vehicles to transport charcoal or firewood to Udaipur. All of them are victims of drought. Selling wood illegally felled from government forests is their last resort for survival.
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High yield Heera
A scientist in Nagpur, A S Khalatkar, has claimed to have developed a new variety of mustard - Hoora - that will yield oil cheaply. The improved variety is a low-input crop requiring little iffigation and fertiliser and no weeding. It has a high output of 4 quintals to 4.8 …