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 …
SCIENTISTS at Delhi's Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) have identified five wheat varieties developed in agricultural universities and institutes that are resistant to damage by birds, especially parrots. However, these varieties failed at pre-release trials and breeders are now trying to incorporate the bird- resistant property into other high-yielding wheat …
Amritsar has been plunged into an acute shortage of blood. Three major blood banks, which are the main suppliers to the hospitals and clinics in the city, were sealed by the district administration on February 16 on a complaint that a person tested HIV positive after receiving blood. Inderjeet Singh, …
IS RATIONALITY a solely human chartersistic ? Perhaps not, contend two evolutionary biologists who applied a decision making model similar to one used for social behaviour of a bird called the white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bulockoides). These birds, common to east and central Africa, live in joint families of five to …
Entrepreners will now have to submit to the ministry for environment and forests detailed project and environemental impact assessment reports and environmental management plans for any new industrial project, expansion or modification. According to a notification presented in Parliament, the reports will be evaluated and assessed by the Impact Assessment …
A JAPANESE company has developed a device to discourage pigeons from perching on statues, temples and other buildings and control the menace of pigeon droppings. Called a "bird stopper", the device works on a recent discovery that the homing characteristics of pigeons are influenced by the earth's magnetic field (New …
Fariburz Sahba, the Iranian architect who designed the, Baha'i Lotus Temple in New Delhi, is a sad man today. Dust and emissions from vehicles and industries around the temple are causing its marble exterior to peel off. Though the architect says the temple, made from the finest marble -from Athens …
INDIAN scientists are trying to breed oilseed varieties with a lower content of harmful fatty acids and sulphur compounds. Says deputy director general for horticulture of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, K L Chadha, "Some Indian varieties of rapeseed and mustard may contain as much as 50 per cent …
Worried by rising flyash production in power plant- expected to touch 100 million tonnes today - the department of science and technology(DST) has initiated a project to dispose and utilise flyash. To be implemented by DST's Technology and Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, the exercise will involve the power industry, …
A NEW one-dose vaccine against typhoid, developed by K P Klugman of South Africa, has recently been licensed and introduced in India. The vaccine does not cause the swelling and fever associated with other typhoid vaccines and its effect lasts for 3 years, claims Klugman. Tests undertaken in Nepal reveal …
The multinational Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL) is facing the music from its employees for allegedly, issuing boots containing carcinogenic materials. In a legal notice served in January this year, employees of the Bombay unit of HLL demanded Rs 9 lakh as compensation to all workers who developed serious skin problems …
THE distasteful task of grading beef by inspecting carcasses can now be bypassed. Two researchers at Iowa State University in the US have come up with a far more accurate technique to rate meat. They use ultrasound readings of fat deposits on live animals to offer gourmets "select", "choice", or …
Police in Bombay are paying a high price for mixing business with pleasure; One of the two policemen who tested HIV positive last December was a constable posted in a red-light area, according to the chief police surgeon of Bombay police, S Uppe. Incidentally, the first policeman in the country …
A NUCLEAR plant in Punjab could be on the cards if chief minister Beant Singh has his way. Singh has prevailed upon the managing director of pig the Nuclear Power Corp (NPC), S K Chatterjee, to conduct a feasibility study to locate a nuclear power plant in the state, in …
INDIAN women, watch out! Think twice before you place that innocent-looking, stick-on vermillion dot on your forehead. Or, before you slip your plastic purse into your blouse. At least that's the message from dermatologist R K Pandhi of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. Investigations by his …
The good old barter system is back. To meet the demand for duck meat, India will soon import Vietnamese ducks in exchange for Indian buffaloes. According to the animal husbandry department secretary, J P Singh, it was found that Indian buffaloes were in demand in Vietnam while duck meat is …
School kids in rural Tamil Nadu have, computer education rolling their way. A computer-on-wheels programme,. devised by Anna University in Madras, is teaching three computer languages - Basic, D Base3+ and Lotus - to high school children in rural areas of the state. Five computers are taken to each school …
FINANCE minister Manmohan Singh has turned his back on International Monetary Fund-imposed financial discipline and given India a growth-oriented budget that pushes for further globalisation of the economy. But, given the high fiscal deficit and inflationary trends, there may be many pitfalls ahead. The budget stresses rapid technological advancement, opens …
A RECENT move by the government of India should pacify sceptics of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and intellectual property rights (IPRs). In a remarkable step, it has begun the procedure for revoking a patent for a method of producing transgenic cotton granted in May 1991 to …
Another tug-of-war has begun over the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh requesting the Gujarat government to lower it and Union water resources minister V C Shukla ruling out any reduction. Shukla's statement followed a plea by a delegation of Madhya Pradesh MPs, …
THE US firm Agracetus is at the centre of a controversy in its home country, too. In 1992, it was awarded a patent that gives it rights over all forms of genetically engineered cotton - even ones that are to be invented (New Scientist, Vol 141, No 1913). The consequences …
