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 …
THE RIO summit in June 1992 has turned out to be a midsummer night's dream. Only five countries -Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland - have fulfilled in the past the promised inter- national goal that a country's overseas aid should be equal to 0.7 per cent of its …
ERSTWHILE Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar's refusal to give formal commitment to the World Bank on withdrawing the state's apple subsidy has cost the state Rs 150 crore in World Bank aid on integrated horticulture development. Though Kumar withdrew the subsidy in spite of opposition from the state's apple …
WHILE Europe continues its efforts ID reduce electromagnetic pollution, dw European Commission (EC) has gritated a four-year reprieve to mWons exporting electronic equipMonts. The Commission recently wowded the deadline for imposing %@&restrictions; against import of shm2rouic goods that do not adhere to standards for electromag interference or pollution (EMI) md …
WITH THE dye industry being phased out in industrialised countries because of increasingly stringent effluent treatment and environment laws, the Indian dyes and dye intermediates sector expects to treble its exports in the next seven years to Rs 25 billion. A paper prepared by the Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Chamber …
THE CLAIMS courts set up in Bhopal's gas leak-affected areas are rejecting more than half the compensation claims for death due to lack of evidence. Of the 40 courts that were to be set up, only 17 are functioning and have settled to date 396 cases involving disbursement of Rs …
SCIENTISTS say a vaccine for human lung cancers may be ready soon, allowing a therapeutic cure for the disease. Lung cancer is characterised by an abnormal production of hormones, particularly the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). Malignancy is indicated by high lev els of HCG and successful surgery in lung cancer …
THE BOMBAY High Court has ruled that bamboo mats are forest produce, thereby contradicting the rulings of both the Gujarat High Court and the additional sessions judge. The pro-forest department ruling came in response to a criminal writ petition filed by the Maharashtra forest department, challenging a lower court judgement …
SOME PLANTS produce two types of flowers - starninate (males) and bisexual. Scientists thought the role of starninate flowers was more to attract agents of pollination than to donate pollen. But new research shows that while larger floral displays attract more pollinators, staminate flowers are more effective in the dispersal …
HELPLESS against the degradation of forests, the Assam forest departwent is enlisting "people's cooperation" against encroachers, poachers and political extremists. The department has set up joint forest management committees that will involve local people. The committees will take on plantation work as well as protect the forests and receive a …
A UNICEF report, The State of the World's Children 1993, which has been adopted by 150 countries including India, says US$ 25 billion is the annual cost of ending malnutrition, preventable diseases and illiteracy for all the world's. children. To put the figure in perspective, the report says "the amount …
ALMOST all the rivers that originate near the Arabian Sea flow eastward into the Bay of Bengal because of the peninsular tilt. One river that deviates from the norm is the Cauvery, which suddenly turns southwards before-heading east again. Geologists believe the Cauvery is actually two rivers that were joined …
THE DECISION of the Himachal Pradesh governnment to set up four Large and 12 small cement plants in The state has unleashed a controversy pwite one Union minister lVAmother and arousing protests fonmentalists. Though Lwiories are listed by the of environment and as a major polluter, it plGaoarat Ambuja Ltd's …
INDIA has shown commendable achievements in health and nutrition in the past 40 years and C Gopalan, former"director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, considers the "most outstanding achievement" to be the virtual banishment of large-scale famine. In a study recently released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), entitled …
Why are you opposed to cement plants? They are the biggest polluters and they must not find a place in the sensitive environs of the fragile hills. Environmental destruction in the name of development cannot be tolerated. A state like Himachal Pradesh must always depend on e(S-friendly industries for revenue …
INSECTS that were introduced to stem the spread of water hyacinth are beginning to avoid feeding on the weed because they are polluted by toxic metals. However, the insects seem to be developing resistance to the toxicity by producing new cellular proteins and synthesizing new ones. In experiments conducted by …
MANY southeast Asian countries, including India, have been able to control several nutritional diseases such as kwashiorkor, beriberi and pellagra. Kwashiorkor, a form of malnutrition caused by protein deficiency, is especially prevalent among children. Pellagra, a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamins found in milk, liver and yeast, is …
ACC IS searching for foreign collaboration to install pollution controls at its new manufacturing unit with one million tonne per annurn capacity. It has assigned a separate unit to look after pollution control and made a substantial increase in pollution control investment. The firm has also planted 602,800 saplings in …
THE end of 1992, there was no dearth of Western libk vwring to the view that sovereignty, as a concept mming the interpersonal behaviour of nations, must be limited. For instance, Jan Tinbergen, the eminent Dutch nowist who won the world's first Nobel Prize for economists and who has been …
WITH THE national rehabilitation policy on the anvil, this timely book raises important questions regarding humans displaced by development projects. After citing acquisition of land for development projects as the most visible cause of displacement, the book surveys big dams as they, more than other development projects, cause the maximum …
In the early hours of Moday, Dec 3,1984, a toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MIC)gas enveloped the hundreds of shanties and huts surrounding a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Later, as the deadly cloud slowly drifted in the cool night air through streets in surrounding sections, sleeping residents awoke, coughing, …
