MARGAO, SEPT 15

High aims: (From left) Ajit K. Gupta, Adviser, MNRE; Deepak Gupta, Secretary, MNRE; and K. Jairaj, Principal Secretary (Energy), at an interactive meet in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: Karnataka will unveil a renewable energy policy in a month or two to provide for a focussed effort to boost the renewable energy generation to tide over the power shortage by harnessing green energy.

The highlight of the policy is that it will envisage steps for doubling the renewable energy generation in the State from the present 2,000 MW to 4,000 MW in the next five years.

P. Sudhakar

USEFUL: The Japanese delegation that visited the garbage yard at Ramaiyanpatti near Tirunelveli on Thursday.

TIRUNELVELI: A Japanese team on Thursday visited Tirunelveli Corporation

Courtesy earthworms, hair, weed easily converted to manure in 2003, the government ordered the closure of several hair processing units, which made wigs, in Karnataka because of pollution. Burning of hair resulted in toxic elements, which caused allergies. The problem with human hair is it takes hundreds of years to decompose (see

Delhi takes stringent steps the Delhi High Court has asked the state government to ban the use of plastic bags in all shopping centres and to come up with a notification in this regard. The government in 2005 issued a ban on the use of non-degradable polythene. But it was not effectively implemented. In 2007, following a petition by Tapas, a Delhi-based ngo, the court set up a

How many times can one repeat a mistake?Many years ago, a company called Komex said it could treat Margao's garbage in an

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - Sparked by surging oil, a dramatic rise in the value of old plastic is encouraging waste companies across the world to dig for buried riches in rotting rubbish dumps.

Long a symbol of humanity's throw-away culture, existing landfill sites are now being viewed as mines of potential which as the world population grows could also help bolster the planet's dwindling natural resources.

An elephant orphanage hits upon a simple solution to a messy problem

Pachyderms in a playful mood at Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage.

PINNAWELA (Sri Lanka): For keepers and mahouts alike, it was always a messy problem that defied solution.

We are talking about the roughly 180 kg of waste an adult pachyderm generates a day. And imagine the pile if it were from a herd of 60 staying and sauntering about in one place. That is simply a problem of elephantine proportions at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage here in Sri Lanka, especially for the poor keepers.

By Bharti Patel

With rapid urbanisation, India is all set to witness a four to five fold rise in waste generation in the coming years.

A little known Conservative councillor, representing a ward in London, UK, named Lucy Ivimy, recently provoked a debate in the media and among general citizens in India and abroad who were outraged at the racial slur made on Indian immigrants in the UK. Increased levels of litter in a particular area was blamed on Indian immigrants and she alleged that "disregard for the cleanliness of a public area is normal behaviour' in India.

CALANGUTE, JULY 10