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 …
THIS IS probably one of nature's most intriguing survival games, involving two innocent players and a cunning third who eventually outwited. Caterpillars of the blue butterfly, Maculinea rebeli, masquerade as larvae of the red ant, Myrmica schencki, so that they can obtain free lodging and boarding at the ants' expense. …
In a significant ruling in April this year, the Gujarat High Court clarified its stay on the eviction of inhabitants in the Sardar Sarovar project catchment area also prohibits removal of villagers on account of floods during the coming monsoons. In a recent hearing of a public interest petition filed …
THE RESURGENCE of infectious bacterial diseases in the developed world is proof that the battle against them is not over. But there has been no corresponding surge in drug research, because multinationals consider large investments in research to be uneconomical (Science, Vol 257, No 5073). Scientists warn against complacence in …
BECAUSE government meteorologists have been using the so-called Gowariker model to make fairly accurate monsoon predictions since 1988 (See table), it came as a surprise when the Indian meteorological department (IMD) announced recently it would end this practice for good. Sources say the IMD announcement was made under pressure from …
A RECENT find of fossils may help geologists break through the ice obscuring Antarctica's past. David Harwood of the University of Nebraska and his colleagues have collected fossils of marine molluscs, microscopic organisms and leaves and twigs, all from the Eocene period of 35 to 55 million years ago (Science, …
JAPAN'S Canon company, world-famous for its cameras, has adapted a technique used in making photocopiers to produce cheaper and more efficient solar cells. The technique involves sandwiching amorphous silicon between two layers of amorphous silicon germanium (New Scientist, Vol 137, No 1865). Silicon and germanium are semiconductors, which means while …
THERE seems to be no limit to the miniaturisation of computers, because in the wake of laptops comes pocket-sized computers that allow the user to write on a liquid crystal screen with a special pen and even fax messages. Personal digital assistants (PDAs), as they are called, can store even …
THE UNAVAILABILITY of green fodder in hill areas in the dry season is a major problem for residents. But botanists A B Bhatt and Neelam Rawat of the H N Bahuguna Garhwal University have conducted a study on the fodder quality of some shrubs and developed a model to ensure …
A MALARIA vaccine made in Colombia by synthesising protein segments from the malaria parasite is proving promising in field trials, but its efficacy is still low. Vaccine developer Manuel Patarroyo of the National University of Colombia in Bogota reports the vaccine offers adults 38.8 per cent protection against malaria, but …
GAYS AND lesbians in their thousands demonstrated in Washington recently, demanding an end to discrimination and escalation of the war against AIDS, and dramatised their protest by lying on the street for five minutes. Not many of the demonstrators, whose numbers greatly exceeded the Vietnam war protest of 1969 and …
In late April, the Indo-British Environment Initiative (IBEI) was launched simultaneously in London and New Delhi to help unblock follow-up international green negotiations after the Rio summit. The intiative was taken up by British environment secretary Michael Howard, who wrote to his Indian counterpart Kamal Nath, inviting him to set …
EVERY summer, power cuts torment residents of most Indian cities. However, a report submitted to the Union ministry for power by two non-resident Indian energy economists suggests that while technologies that would put a lesser load on the country's groaning power generation system are already available, animosity among organisations have …
FOLLOWING an extended drought and widespread deforestation, Jambhoji, the son of a village headman in Rajasthan, had a vision that the hard times were a result of the conflict with nature. In 1485, Jambhoji, who was now known as Swami Jambeshwar Maharaj and the founder of the Bishnoi sect, laid …
The people of Bhansoj, 50 km from the district headquarters town of Raipur in Madhya Pradesh, are up in arms against liquor, and achieving results. Until last year, Bhansoj was notorious for severe alcoholism, says S N Biswas, who owns the local dispensary. Recalls Biswas, "The whole atmosphere was spoiled. …
IN GENOME Mapping, the entire DNA sequence is mapped in a square whose corners and the associated quadrants are marked A, T, G, C, to represent the four nucleotides that comprise DNA. A nucleotide is represented by a dot in the appropriate quarter or quadrant of the square on the …
Howrah railway station is facing closure because the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) says a huge volume of sewage from the station is discharged untreated into the Hooghly river. WBPCB officials say they will serve notice on Indian Railways asking them to suspend station operations, exercising its power under …
FROM PERSONALITY traits to physical appearance, all characteristics are believed to be manifestations of what an individual's genes contain. But, what are genes made of? Now, Indian scientists have devised an ingenious computer programme that will enable researchers to analyse the complex structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and thus assist …
WE ARE all conscious of the problems of the global environment. However, if we are to move beyond mere recognition of these problems and address them in unison, it is necessary to reconcile our differing perceptions on the nature of these problems, to understand them in their totality, and then …
WHEN FORMER Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi announced the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY), he received more brickbats than bouquets from both the media and the intellectuals because they saw in it a populist measure initiated by a beleaguered prime minister to win an election. But there was more to it than …
"RANTHAMBORE is like a leper's pock mark on this district," says a senior citizen of Sawai Madhopur, the town near which this important national park is located. The comment sums up the disdain in which many Sawai Madhopur residents hold the park. It also puts into doubt the government's nature …
