Be it crop residue or unintended green cover, biomass has several uses in India. It is being promoted for power generation. This is increasing fodder prices. Read this special report by Down To Earth on the biomass economy.
Until five years ago very few people in Mumbai were aware of the Mithi river running through it. Then, in the monsoon of 2005 it flooded, drowning 500 people. With the devastation it erupted into public consciousness, dark and stinking. Ever since the authorities have been trying to revive it. Their latest experiment is putting it on oxygen.
1411 tigers left. So says the latest advertisement campaign of a new telecom company and the wwf. It is powerful. It plays to our emotions. But it does not tell us what is being done, or should be done. It does not tell us how we, the consuming classes, can be part of the solution to safeguard the tiger.
A high court order has not deterred a distillery in Sitamarhi district of Bihar from discharging effluents into the Bagmati. On January 27, the Patna High Court had ordered the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (spcb) and the Central Pollution Control Board (cpcb) to check pollution from Righa Sugar Company distillery and take appropriate action.
Biomass power generation started with a bang 10 years ago. Surya Chambal entered a growing sector. Use of biomass as fuel has gained wide acceptance recently. Earned money from carbon credits, under the UN
Gilles-Eric Seralini, one of the first scientists to warn the world about the dangers of genetically modified food, counters pro-GM scientists in an interview with Savvy Soumya Misra. Some scientists are planning to write to the Indian government, saying you never carried out any independent study and had no access to Bt gene of maize or brinjal. What do you have to say?
If the nationwide furore over Bt brinjal was driven by the fear of unsafe food being pushed down the throat, the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (brai) bill goes a step further to silence all opposition. The bill will bring about changes in regulating the research, transport, import, manufacture and use of genetically modified (GM) products in the country.
The state vigilance department began probing the scam after the opposition highlighted irregularities in mining in July last year. Till date it has registered 11 cases against individuals and mining companies, including big names like Rungta Mines and Ms Serajuddin and Company.
In future, car owners in Delhi may have to shell out money for passing through congested areas of the city. This follows a judgement of the Delhi High Court directing the city authorities to consider all options to clear road congestion. This may include deterrent measures like levying congestion fees on private cars passing through crowded areas.
