Coasts to breathe easy as environment ministry gets strict
Beautiful coastlines across India, which were losing their identity due to environmental abuse by various industries and fishing mafias, may breathe easy as the environment ministry has started a process for identifying and punishing violators under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ), 1991.
President Pratibha Patil’s Republic Day speech
My Fellow Citizens, On the eve of our 62nd Republic Day, I extend my warmest greetings to all of you across the country and also to those living abroad. I convey my special greetings to the members of our armed forces and paramilitary
Tigers’ number can grow by three times; lions’ share going to them
A study by Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that if efforts are made to preserve tigers’ breeding areas and it is ensured that they are connected by habitat corridors, the number of tigers can triple. At present, about 3,200 tigers live in
Environment ministry is not that ‘green’, reveals RTI
In an interesting revelation through an RTI, it is learnt that the environment ministry has been approving projects almost at the same rate as it did before environment minister Jairam Ramesh held reins and started his environment activism. The data provided by the
I am an eco-tourist – waiting to take off
An offhand question: Which are the eco-destinations in India? Suppose I am an eco-conscious tourist in the excruciating habit of calculating/guesstimating the ecological cost of random getaways, which are the destinations I might choose from? Who among my fellow holidaymakers are intent on
Human rights defenders being labelled as naxalites, terrorists, militants, insurgents, or anti-nationalists: UN rapporteur
After completing her first fact-finding mission in the country, Margaret Sekaggya, rapporteur on human rights defenders appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, warned that the space for civil society has contracted in India. She said that the country’s human rights defenders are
Innovation rethought, redesigned, and reversed: To sustain and to include
Talking-and-thinking points from the report ‘Sustainable and inclusive innovation – strategies for tomorrow’s world’ by CII-ITC CESD – part 1 A hepatitis B vaccine that is 1/40th the cost of traditional vaccines but meets UNICEF’s quality requirements; cataract surgeries, performed on 300,000 patients
Are government offices eco-friendly? Environment ministry not sure
The environment minister’s office, which is the flagbearer of the eco-friendly norms and has been pulling up the environment code violators, seems to have no clue if the buildings of central government offices in the country are eco-friendly and follow the environment ministry’s
Inflation hits 21,000 kids’ midday meal
One month from now, nearly 21,000 kids from 30 schools in Chandigarh might not get their midday meal as NGO Swami Shivananda Memorial Institute will withdraw its services and not supply food. The NGO says it is not being able to meet the
Donations to be taxed; NGOs demand action against fake organizations
The Direct Taxes Code Bill, which is scheduled to replace the Income Tax Act from April 1, 2012, proposes that charitable and not-for-profit organizations (NGOs) will be allowed a basic exemption of only one lakh rupees and any income over it will be