Articles of contention
The Kyoto Protocol obliges industrialised countries to cut their overall greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels in the period 2008-2012. Several provisions are laid out to achieve these reductions.
Article 3.3 of the protocol allows countries to get credits for reducing carbon dioxide concentrations …
Republic quaked
There cannot be a bigger irony. As the nation was preparing to smugly display its military might and scientific prowess on Republic Day, a mighty earthquake flattened a large part of Gujarat. The quake, however, did not quite shake the ruling elite, who till afternoon participated in the long …
Induced shocks
The earthquake triggered by the Koyna dam sparked off the debate whether large reservoirs induce earthquakes. "That is the only example of reservoir induced earthquake in India,' says Harsh K Gupta, director of NGRI. The anti-dam lobby has been opposing the Sardar Sarovar dam and the Tehri hydropower project on …
Putting in place
the National Human Rights Commission (nhrc) has directed the Union rural development ministry to include provisions for the resettlement and rehabilitation of people displaced by land acquisitions for various projects in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. They could also be formulated by a separate legislation, said nhrc …
Arsenic killer
A common fern, known as the brake fern (Pteris vittata), endemic to California, usa, has been found to soak up extraordinary amounts of arsenic without any ill effects to itself. This may offer a natural way of cleaning up polluted soil and water, according to a us-based …
Punjab government orders permanent closure of 2540 tube-wells
Punjab government has approved permanent closure of 1235 operable and 1305 'out of order' and 'closed for a long time' non-Scarp(Salinity Control and Reclamation Project) tube-wells, installed under Rasool, 'central tube well', and 'grow more food' (GMF) schemes in the province of Pakistan.
SC notice to Arundati Roy, Medha Patkar
The Supreme Court today ordered notice to the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Ms. Medha Patkar, the Booker Prize winner, Ms. Arundati Roy and others for staging a demonstration outside the Apex Court gate on December 13 last and shouting slogans allegedly against the judgement in the Sardar Sarovar dam …
The haunting spectra of water famine
India is at the threshold of a water scarcity situation. Six of the country's 20 major river basins are already classified as scarce with less than 1,000 cubic metres (cu.m.) water available per head per year. The availability of both surface and groundwater is further being reduced by pollution and …
Karnataka demands farm white paper
Karnataka has urged the Centre to bring out a white paper on all agricultural issues in the country in the implending WTO regime. It has called for at least five corrective steps in the Exim Policy in the interest of farmers who would be facing stiff competition when the quantiative …
Thousands of cattle killed to stem epidemic
British farming is facing ruin as the foot-and-mouth epidemic among the cattle spread over the weekend amid fears that some of the infected animals may have been exported to Europe before the ban was imposed last week.