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 two-week un meeting on global forests, which ended recently at Geneva, remained inconclusive as a formal accord on how to combat the world's shrinking forests continued to be elusive. It was the third meeting of the un Inter-governmental Panel on Forests. The panel was set up after the 1992 …
greens in the us are incensed with the government's new policy of cash-for-land pact with regard to the Headwaters forests, which includes half-a-dozen ancient redwood trees among others, in California. The pact ostensibly tries to protect nearly 3,000 ha of ancient forests. Environmentalists, nearly 400 of them, contend that the …
The nation's space programme seems to be jinxed. The latest in the series of failed launches is the us $128 million-ChinaSat-7 which veered off its course after take off and failed to reach its targeted orbit last month. With this debacle, the Chinese space programme has plunged further into gloom. …
A complaint has been filed with the World Bank (wb) and the Inter-American Development Bank (idb) by affected Paraguayan dam victims who allege that the banks have violated their policies in funding the massive Yacyreta dam built over the Parana river. The complaint was filed by Sobrevivencia
DONELLA H MEADOWS at a meeting of the Forestry Market Transformation Initiative, in Underwood, us, held in August this year, everyone was enthusing about fibre that does not come from forests. Proud entrepreneurs were handing around kenaf paper, boards made from wheat straw and cardboard made from hemp. These products, …
science has provided us with many an insight into the nature of things. Empirical facts like the explosion of the universe into being 15 billion years ago, the formation of the Earth 4.5 billion years ago, the generation of life three to four billion years ago and the continuing process …
Tribal representatives from different parts of the country staged a dharna (sit in demonstration), in New Delhi on September 2, 1996, demanding the implementation of the Bhuria Committee's recommendations. The Bhuria Committee submitted its report in January, 1995, and recommended that the tribal community control its natural resources like forests, …
In a move that could be a blessing in disguise for the country's environment, foreign logging companies have threatened to end their operations in the country. They are protesting against the new timber policy of the government which calls for increased royalties to local landowners. Officials of six major foreign …
It was an experiment to clear the air in polluted Sao Paulo, South America's biggest city, so as to allow Paulistanos breathe more easily. Motorists, depending on the last digit of the licence plate, were asked to leave their cars at home for one working day of the week in …
"commissioners, producers and photographers are still investing a disproportionate amount of time, skill and money on films about the big top-of-the-food-chain mam mals,' remarked Roger James, chairperson of the nomination panel of Widescreen'96. The concept of conservation in the West has always been a scientific and intellectual exercise. For Westerners, …
the much-awaited State of Forest Report 1995 , brought out recently by the Forest Survey of India ( fsi ), puts the total forest cover in India at 639,600 sq km, which is 19.45 per cent of the total land area
china could soon pip us to become the world's largest air polluter, observes a recent report of the Worldwatch Institute, an international environment research group. It has already outstripped us in the consumption of steel, coal, fertilisers and grain and is gaining ground in the production of carbon dioxide. Statistics …
power shift: After making waves in the wind energy sector, the Madras-based NEPC group is all set to shine on the solar energy scene. The group holds 80 per cent of the market share in wind energy generation and is planning to invest about Rs 2,000 million in solar power …
Land ownership rights continue to torment the many Indian tribes living in this country. Estranged from their own land and forced to adopt alien customs, distressed Brazilian Indians have turned to committing suicide. Over the last 10 years, some 200 Kaiowa Indians, a sub-group of Guarani Indians, have killed themselves …
new research on an ancient Chinese treatment for skin disorders and other maladies, has brought to light the fact that the traditional remedy can actually deal more effectively with virulent forms of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (apl), a rare blood cancer, than was previously thought. Arsenic trioxide, one of the ingredients …
After months of dispute between the World Bank (wb) and the government over the funding of the controversial us $1.2 billion Nam Thuen ii dam, both parties have evolved a consensus (Down To Earth, Vol 5, No 2). Laos and the wb have agreed to revise the terms of reference …
the Indo-Bhutanese agreement on the Sankosh river multipurpose project, is in troubled waters. Several non-governmental organisations (ngos) in Siliguri, Assam, are gearing up to oppose its implementation. To this end, the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, a local organisation, has called a convention of the ngos in Siliguri on September …
The Mexican state of Coahuila will be an experimental area to test a new rain-making technique. Until now, creating rain involved flying over a supercooled cloud at a high altitude and sprinkling it with silver iodide crystals, which have a structure similar to that of ice. However, this method increases …
an unusual controversy has enveloped the whole of Europe. The issue in question is the decision of the uk government to abide by the law and destroy some 3,000 frozen embryos. A 1990 British law lays down that frozen embryos, which are used in in vitro fertilisation must be destroyed …
