Judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of In Re: Zudpi Jungle Lands. A batch of applications involved a peculiar issue concerning the situation prevailing in the six districts of eastern Vidarbha region namely Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. The issue pertains to the status of the …
A SPASTIC is one who suffers from cerebral palsy, an impairment of the muscle control centres of the brain, rendering ordinary activities like speaking, swallowing and walking very difficult. More often than not, a narrow social outlook is responsible for the isolated existence of these children affected by this condition. …
THE country took a big step towards giving more power to the people with the Panchayati Raj Act becoming operational on April 23 following all states and Union territories amending their respective legislations in conformity with the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act. Said minister for rural development Rameshwar Thakur, "This will …
IN A case unprecedented in the annals of medical science, 10 workers in a Nasik paint factory became infertile due to exposure to some chemicals used in the manufacturing process. The workers, between 22 and 24 years of age, first complained of sterility in September last year. When this was …
ENVIRONMENTALISTS who wish to revert to a non-polluted era may have to revise their glorious vision of an idyllic past before the industrial revolution. A recent analysis of lake sediments in Sweden reveals that lead pollution was a problem even 2,000 years ago (Nature, Vol 368, No 6469). Ingemar Renberg …
A RECENT Consumer Court verdict dismissing a compensation claim by a woman who was infected with the HIV virus following blood transfusion at the Wanless hospital in Miraj in Maharashtra may hold grave consequences for patients, fear activists. Subsequently, a child the woman gave birth to also carried the AIDS …
MANY a cow or female buffalo that is unable to produce milk has ended up in a slaughterhouse. But now, there is hope for these blighted creatures. A team of scientists led by R S Ludri of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal has not only succeeded in …
A UNIQUE radar that will help atmospheric scientists and also ensure safe rocket launchings from Sriharikota, has been commissioned at Gadanki near Tirupati. The radar will allow detailed studies of the lower and middle atmosphere and the ionosphere region above 100 km. Called the mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST) radar, the Rs 10 …
CHEMISTS who don't find enough time for the field or courts can now take vicarious pleasure in "shooting" and "smashing" molecular soccer and tennis balls. Already well-known is the 60-carbon-atom buckminster fullerene molecule, the soccer ball look-alike. But the molecular tennis ball is a newcomer. Except for their athletic connection, …
HUNDREDS of industrialists in Agra recently held a demonstration in protest against a Supreme Court order that polluting units near the Taj Mahal be relocated and tried to gherao the monumernt. However, police barricades prevented the over 500 affected industry owners from Agra, Firozabad, Mathura and Bharatpur from laying siege …
THE Big Bang theory postulates that a uniform mix of radiation and particles pervaded space immediately after the explosion of dense matter. As the matter cooled, defects appeared in this uniform mix that, cosmologists speculate, led to the formation of galaxies. In 1976, theoretical physicist Thomas Kibble of Imperial College …
PAMPERED residents of metropolitan cities have so far paid only nominal charges for the water piped to their homes. However, this largesse is being partially corrected in Madras where the Madras Water Supply and Sewerage Board, commonly called Metrowater, has tripled the water charges with effect from April 1. The …
A NEW type of safety catch will prevent children from accidentally triggering firearms. The US Department of Justice and the Pentagon are jointly developing "smart" guns that will fire only when held by their legitimate user (New Scientist, Vol 142, No 1921). Smart guns become operational only when sensors embedded …
COMPRESSED Natural Gas (CNG)-fuelled 4-wheelers may soon be commercially viable in Delhi following the equipping of a petrol station with facilities to supply the petrol substitute. The station is registering a select number of applicants to convert vehicles to run on petrol and CNG in dual fuel mode. Last year, …
GREEN pigments, scientists believed, were found only in plants. In most animals whose plumage or body parts appear green, the colour is seen not because of pigments but because of the refraction of light through the not-so-opaque scales or feathers. Now, scientists from London's Natural History Museum and Oxford University …
SLOTH bears riding bicycles, leopards jumping through hoops of fire and elephants playing football in the circus ring will soon be a thing of the past. A staggered phase-out of these animals will be done in line with a Supreme Court suggestion in the dispute between the ministry of environment …
A 7-MEMBER Narmada Bachao Andolan delegation led by Medha Patkar has urged Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao to expedite the proceedings of the Narmada Review Committee. The committee, set up by the Union water resources ministry, is to evaluate all modalities regarding the Sardar Sarovar Project. The delegation has …
A UK power company, Eastern Electric, has pioneered a technique to prevent fresh fruit from ripening and decaying in storage. Normally, fruits stored in refrigerated warehouses continue to ripen because the warehouse is not quite air tight. Moreover, whenever the warehouse is opened, the sudden increase in oxygen accelerates decay. …
SCIENCE appears to have finally found the elusive cure for baldness. Proscar, a drug manufactured by Merck & Co to treat enlarged prostate glands, has an interesting side-effect: in low doses, it increases hair growth. In clinical trials carried out on 200 young men at an early stage of baldness, …
ON THE wetlands of Calcutta, along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the foundations of a futuristic science park are being dug. To be built by the National Council of Science Museums at a cost of Rs 100 crore, the Science City will be sprawled over 12.5 ha and will contain gadgets …
TWO months after asserting that it would not revoke the excise duty imposed on methane generated from effluent treatment plants (ETPs), the ministry of finance has backtracked. In the last budget, a 10 per cent excise duty was levied on methane from effluent treatment plants (ETPs), which is used almost …
