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 …
FLOODS have ravaged India from times immemorial and people have controlled and turned them into beneficial processes. But today they are seen as catastrophic events that are to be forcefully contained by dams and embankments. This perception has its roots in India's colonial past, according to recent evidence from Orissa. …
Aquifers are home to groundwater, the purest form of water. Originating from precipitation, the water is filtered and treated by microorganisms in the soil. Soil is perhaps the best filter for water because of its high contaminant retention capacity. But once the soil reaches saturation level due to prolonged abuse, …
SCIENTISTS have now discovered that huge quantities of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, produced when fossil fuels are burned, are mopped up by boreal forests -- coniferous forests in the northern hemisphere -- which are themselves coming under the loggers' axe (New Scientist, Vol 141, No 1907). It is established …
DID CHARLES Darwin see evolution as "progressive", as being singlemindedly directed toward producing ever more advanced forms of life? Most contemporary scholars say no. But in this daring challenge to prevailing views, Robert J Richards of the University of Chicago argues that current perspectives on Darwin and his theory are …
"WHAT DID we achieve in 1993?" The simple answer is: "Not much!" If that is an unsatisfying note to begin a new year on, we could rephrase the question: "What did we lose in 1993?" The answer, once again, is: "Not much!" Wordplay and sarcasm aside, 1993 was an extremely …
What have been Finland's major environmental concerns? How has your government responded to global environmental issues in general? Finland and other industrialised countries use 80 per cent of the world's resources. We are part of a problem and are responsible for it. That's why our emphasis has always been on …
THE ASWAMEDH Yajna has a special importance in the Indian tradition. Though this yajna is generally associated with the horse sacrifice, it seems that its form has undergone a change over the millenia. A close reading of the Rig Veda tells us the Aswamedh Yajna may have been a description …
ENERGY efficiency is the only sure route to energy sufficiency in the future, but nations are unlikely to achieve it without some hard political decisions. A brisk and informative series being aired on BBC, called Where on Earth Are We Going?, began with a programme called Energy Without End. It …
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNEES & URBAN PLANNIG Publisher: Orient Longman, New Delhi Price: Rs 25 ENVIRONMENTAL Consciousness & Urban Planning looks at the human and environmental implications of development strategies and questions the standards by which we measure societal development. It discusses urbanisation in India in a global context and through a …
ALTHOUGH the threat of AIDS haunts Delhi's brothels, neither the government nor any voluntary organisation has determined the prevalence of the disease among the Capital's sex workers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), HIV infections among sex workers in Bombay increased from 1 per cent in 1986 to 35 …
THE RESIDENTS of Sukhomajri village are richer and wiser today, thanks to their collective decision on management of water and forest resources. The Hill Resource Management Society (HRMS) distributes water and fodder at a fee and sub-lets the bhabbar grass leased from the forest department to contractors for a price. …
TRADITIONAL rice varieties of India are disappearing fast because of cross-breeding and poor conservation measures. Even in the predominantly rice-growing Konkan region of Maharashtra, where more than 400 varieties existed once, only half-a-dozen are available now, according to Rajeev Khedkar, secretary of the Academy of Development Science. Local varieties can …
KABAR Tal, a 7,500-ha lake in Begusarai district of north Bihar, is ecologically one of the most important wetlands in the state. The lake hosts 106 species of resident birds and is a nesting ground for 59 species of migratory birds. In addition, the wetland supports a large number of …
THOUGH more than 200 Union and state laws can be interpreted one way or the other to protect the environment, they prove to be inadequate. An example is the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, which was once acclaimed as the harbinger of a new environmental era because …
PLASTICS are not specifically mentioned in Schedule I of the Water (Prevention and Pollution Control) Cess Act, but they should be regarded as covered because they are both a chemical and a petrochemical. Rubber, too, is not mentioned, but it is both a chemical and a vegetable product (natural rubber). …
LABELS such as "Made in Japan", "Made in Germany, "Made in USA" are losing their meaning. Modern communications technology, collapsing international trade barriers and increasing competition are expanding the global economy. As a result, the service and industry sectors are being transformed and integrated across the world in an unprecedented …
US AUTOMOBILE manufacturing giant Ford recently announced it would produce a "world car" -- a single model -- sourced, assembled and sold globally. The vehicle will be introduced as Ford Mondeo in Europe and Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique in North America. The extensive use of communications technology -- fax, …
ITT WORLD DIRECTORIES, the US-based producer of yellow pages in eight countries, procures paper through a Belgian affiliate, allowing the firm to plan its worldwide purchases and inventories of paper to take advantage of price fluctuations in the global market. HOECHST of Germany has established a central European purchasing unit …
In India, Siemens is building steam turbines and 3M is producing tapes, chemicals and electrical parts. In Mexico, Hewlett-Packard is going into computer assembly and the design of memory boards. Ireland has been chosen as the country where the medical insurance claims of Metropolitan Life will be processed.
XEROX: At the beginning of the 1980s, the US-based Xerox had joint ventures in different parts of the world, each controlling product design, supply networks, assembly operations and marketing and distribution for their respective markets. Today, Xerox has overhauled its production systems. R&D; is done by functionally and geographically integrated …
