The Kerala State Biodiversity Board has identified 89 alien invasive species of plants that have become a major threat for the plant biodiversity of the state. The recent survey says that 19 of these species are extremely dangerous as they are causing environmental hazard and economic loss by displacing the natural vegetation, including medicinal plants,…
The suggestion to form forest advisory committees (FAC) to speed up the pace of ‘forest clearance’ process has been rejected by the environment ministry. The group of ministers (GoM) headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked the environment ministry to set up FACs for each sector, including mining and power. The new format, if…
The Asia-Pacific region is rapidly growing in terms of economy and is steadily helping millions out of poverty. The availability of basic resources ad essentials of living are also being taken care of, but the region is compromising its responsibility towards the environment. The United Nations Development Programme, in its new report, has asked the…
There were several hundred negotiators, each with dozens of conditions and thousands of opinions, but all agreed to one point: that the world is getting warmer, the environment’s resilience is depleting, and ‘something’ needs to be done on an urgent basis. The major point of conflict was”and might continue to be”whether that ‘something’ should be…
About 22 alternate energy companies have been shortlisted to set up solar energy-based power plants in India by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, a unit of state-run power utility NTPC Ltd. NTPC is entrusted to award the projects. France’s Fonroche Energy and Solairedirect Group are among the selected bidders. These companies will help in completion of the…
The four advanced developing countries Brasil, South Africa, India, and China (BASIC) have come together and put out a ‘same’ position at the negotiations at the Durban climate change summit. China, South Africa, and Brasil have come in support of India’s proposal to include trade, equity, and intellectual property rights in the conference agenda. The…
Representatives of 194 countries finally arrived at Durban with their own agendas to find solutions to control escalating global temperatures. Before they all settled down to start negotiations, they presented their positions. Here is the stand of each influential country: USA The United States says that even if China and India agree to sign up to…
Again, over 10,000 officials from 194 countries will burn gallons of fuel to reach Durban, South Africa, on Monday to start conversations from the ‘negotiation’ point that was left ‘parked’ last year at Cancun, Mexico – that of renewing the current climate treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. However, with developing countries, primarily India and China,…
The renewable energy ministry has sought a 10-fold increase in fund outlay for the next five years. The ministry estimates that Rs 40,000 crore will be required to ramp up its capacity to 30,000 MW by 2017. India’s present renewable energy capacity is over 20,000 MW, of which wind farms generate 14,000 MW, with the…
Noticing that facts and data in environment impact reports (EIR) are being copied from the ones that have been already cleared, the union environment ministry has sternly warned environment consultants against plagiarism. If the ministry finds that submitted EIA reports are copied from others, the clearance for the concerned projects will be withdrawn and they will have…
