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 …
THOSE who wax lyrical about the superior sound quality of compact discs over records or vice versa, do so merely for the sake of argument, conclude German music psychologists who found that only one out of 40 persons could distinguish between sounds from the two (New Scientist Vol 139, No …
The Union government claims it has found a way to protect the interests of Indian farmers in the ongoing Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). For some time now, the Centre has faced the ire of the farmers, who strongly protest the clause in the …
SAVE WILD peanuts, enrich your soil. That's the latest slogan being drummed out by agronomists across the world. They have found that wild peanuts, most of which come from South America, are well adapted to the poor acid soils of the tropics and prevent erosion because they tenaciously cling on …
INDIAN aloe (Aloe vera), a common plant that is abundant in rocky areas with little rainfall and is used in cosmetics across the world and also yields a strong laxative, now finds a new use as a bleaching agent in sugar manufacture. In the conventional method of making sugar or …
In response to the threat posed by multinational companies to the Himalayan yew (Taxus baccata), which yields the anti-cancer drug taxol, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched a conservation programme for the tree. Having depleted yew resources in the US, drug manufacturers have now turned to …
CHEMICALLY treated tamarind seeds can provide an adhesive stronger than those commercially available, claim scientists of the College of Agricultural Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (Kisan World, Vol 28, No 8). Large quantities of tamarind seeds are available in India as a by-product of the tamarind pulp industry. When …
Experts from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Indian Veterinary Institute and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have jointly proposed the establishment of "wildlife health centres" in India's national parks and sanctuaries. Five such centres are sought to be established …
The Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board (TNSEB) has been castigated by the Union ministry of coal for trying to import Australian coal to step up power generation. The ministry is worried the high sulphur content of Australian coal may cause acid rain. A disgruntled TNSEB has retaliated by pointing out …
SCIENTISTS at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad have recently developed a model to explain the presence of a vast stretch of volcanic rocks -- the Deccan flood basalts -- in the western part of the country. And, they say their model might even explain how dinosaurs became …
THE ORISSA government's ambitious plan to develop a beach resort complex over more than 900 ha between Puri and Konark has raised a storm of controversy in the state. While environmental activists allege that the project will cause irreversible damage to the ecologically fragile coastal stretch, officials of the state …
• Acknowledge that forests are an inalienable national resource and countries will choose uses of their forest resources according to national priorities and strategies; • assure access to technology through international cooperation to strengthen national capability; • increase financial assistance provided by developed countries and international organisations, including a restructured …
THE FRUITS of technology are usually publicised much before they become achievable and this seems to be true of the high definition television (HDTV) -- the much-advertised new generation of television -- as well. HDTV promises sharper images and bigger screens as compared to conventional televisions and manufacturers claim it …
HISTORIANS, archaeologists and art-lovers all over the country are eagerly awaiting the day when the Archaeological Survey Of India (ASI) and the Orissa state works department take up renovation of the inside of the Sun Temple at Konark. It will be a historic moment as the renovation will mean reopening …
PROMPTED by the publicity resulting from the "ghost-like stare" of a dead accident victim, the French government is taking a hard look at the country's organ transplant system. The blank stare of Christophe Tesniere was because his eyes had been surgically removed and replaced with glass eyes, so that the …
Tropical Forest Action Programme (TFAP) By far the biggest international body in tropical forest management, TFAP was formed on the 1983 decision of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's committee on forest development in the tropics, consisting of about 50 Northern and Southern governments. FAO and some aid agencies expected …
CHITTOOR M Habibullah, principal of Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad, and his team of gastroenterologists have demonstrated, for the first time in India, that liver cells from a human foetus, when injected into a patient suffering from liver failure, can help the liver recover. Seven patients, whose livers had failed …
CULTS are dangerous and the world has never been free of them. But they are not all necessarily religious in nature. The latest in the bandwagon is the herbal cult The herbal cult was born in America -- aren't they all? -- out of a call to return to one's …
WHEN AIDS first came to Africa, the continent's leaders accused the rich whites of the world of foisting the disease on poor blacks to develop a market for western pharmaceuticals. The Indian government hasn't shown this degree of paranoia, but its requirement that long-staying foreigners be HIV-negative reveals its suspicion …
THE TITLE of Frederique Apffel Marglin and Tariq Banuri's book, Who will Save the Forests?, sounds more like a rhetorical question or an impassioned plea than the launch of a sophisticated academic enquiry. One reason for this is perhaps that the forests of the world face such a bleak future …
IN KEEPING with the global trend, India is trying to popularise the use of alternative energy. One attempt aims at setting up urjagrams (non-conventional energy complexes) during the Eighth Plan. However, efforts over the past decade have failed for various reasons, including the wrong selection of villages, faulty implementation, non-involvement …
