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 …
As if the controversial Daya Bay nuclear plant was not enough, another nuclear power plant is coming up within 60 km of Hong Kong's coast amid concerns over marine contamination. For the construction of the twin reactor nuclear power plant in Lingao
datia, located 170 km from Agra, was a region flourishing by the middle of the 20th century. With a pastoral economy, it was generously endowed with lush vegetation and forest cover. The latter housed a rich plethora of wildlife. But less then five decades into post-independent India, the situation drastically …
the Western Ghats, which bear the brunt of the monsoon rains, are blessed with an almost unbroken stretch of evergreen forest cover from the southern extremity of India up to the hills of Goa. The forests further north are smaller and gradually lose their evergreen character and become deciduous. In …
the forest and wildlife statutes of the country finally seem to be making some headway towards becoming more responsive to peoples' needs. The new minister for environment and forests, Jaynarayan Prasad Nishad, in a reply to a question in Parliament, declared that the government is making suitable changes to allow …
in the sub-Saharan African nation of Nigeria, the phenomenon of garbage-fed fishes is one of recent occurrence. Prior to this, almost all that the fishes consumed were products of nature's bountifulness, from the deep seas, natural ponds and countless streams, and rivers that criss-cross the nation. Nobody really deemed it …
doomsday predictions with respect to the Black Forest in Freiburg, Germany, seem to have backfired. Back in the '80s, hysterical cries of imminent death of the forest had reached a crescendo. Thousands of trees then showed an unsightly yellowing and massive needle loss. The present state of the forest, however, …
Tourism is taking its toll of the country's beautiful beaches. Environmentalists are particularly concerned about Boracay, a small islet once famed for its white sandy beach. Over the years, wanton exploitation by the tourism industry has destroyed the pristine ecology of this islet. The blue-green waters around the islet have …
Following economic liberalisation, China has seen an upward swing in profits and pollution. The government is now planning to expand a scheme in which factories have to pay a fee according to how much they pollute. The scheme is focussed mainly on curbing the emission of sulphur dioxide. Millions of …
In a bid to salvage its run-down nuclear industry, the government is planning to put up its nuclear plants for sale. A debate is raging on in the country about a bill which seeks to privatise two working power stations and one unfinished plant
Plans are afoot to build the world's largest floating power station which will supply 450 MW of power to energy-starved Pakistan. The plant would cost US $402 million, 95 per cent of which would be raised through a long-term loan provided by the US maritime administration. Westinghouse Electric Corporation of …
nigeria and the Ogonis had brought to the world's attention one outrage; the remote province of Irian Jaya in Indonesia is highlighting another. Replace Royal Dutch Shell ( Down To Earth , Vol 4, No 14) with Freeport Indonesia, and the elements of the drama remain the same: a long …
Japanese consumers are a wasteful lot. Trees felled in Asian rainforests are dumped as old furniture after a few years of use by the Japanese. A study conducted by the Sarawak Conservation Campaign (scc), an ngo, links the wasteful consumption patterns in Japan with the depletion of South Asia's tropical …
The much-hyped project to export natural gas from Burma's Yadana field to Thailand is under fire from Thai environmentalists. They are concerned about the negative impact of the project on wildlife in Thailand's already depleted forests. According to an environmental impact assessment undertaken on behalf of the project's Thai operators, …
A company in Kenya is putting old rubber tyres to good use. The use of locally reclaimed rubber is fast catching on in the country. Recycled rubber has not only helped improve environment but also created new job opportunities and reduced imports. The material is reclaimed mainly from abandoned old …
The eastern Pacific is now teeming with dolphins, thanks to an American embargo against the tuna. The six-year embargo forced fisherfolks in Ensenada, Mexico, and other eastern Pacific ports to take steps to end the slaughter of dolphins while harvesting tuna. Hundreds of dolphins used to get snared and killed …
In a continent reeling under the ever increasing burden Of AIDS, there is an expanding tribe of quacks and healers offering magic potions and easy cure for the disease. Thousands Of AIDS patients in Malawi have been thronging to one such healer who offers his cure - a rust- coloured …
Mobil, the oil company, may be putting at risk the lives of hundreds of Amazonian tribespeople with the massive search for oil it is about to launch in Peru's southern rainforests. The company plans to survey nearly 15,000 sq km for the purpose. The Copenhagen- based International Work Group for …
In a desperate bid to salvage the country's energy crisis, the Sri Lankan authorities stopped late night television shows to encourage people to consume less power at night. Besides, a daily six-hour power cut has been increased to eight hours to save electricity and prevent a total blackout. Power-guzzling air …
WITH the deadline to phase out ozone depleting substances (ODS) of the industrialised nations of the world already getting over, the countdown for developing nations has begun. As if to signal the urgency, an international conference on eco -refrigeration - fridges using chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) substitutes - was held in New …
Cheap, solar-generated electricity has now become a reality with the successful testing of a prototype solar device at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. It produces sufficient hot air from the sun's rays to drive the turbines of a 50 kw power station. The funnel-shaped device focuses the energy through …
