Rules restrict construction, dumping of untreated waste, industrialisation Harvesting, dredging can be carried out in wetlands with permission from authorities The Union government on Thursday notified rules for conservation and management of wetlands that restrict harmful activities such as construction, dumping of untreated waste, and industrialisation, to prevent damage to these sensitive ecosystems with high biodiversity values. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, are aimed at ensuring better conservation and preventing degradation...

In any democracy, the right to individual privacy is absolute. If what one citizen does in one’s personal life is splashed in a public arena, newspapers and TV channels for instance, the results are not only disagreeable, but also distasteful. Modern life, however, is much more complicated than life in ancient Athens. Very often, the mighty and the powerful abuse this right to hide facts that have a grave public bearing....

The indiscriminate use of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides over the years has led to deterioration of soil quality and crop productivity in India. According to a study conducted by the central soil Water conservation research and training institute (CSWCRTI), Dehra Dun, about 1 millimetre of top soil is lost every year due to erosion. This leads to a total soil loss of 5,334 million tonnes annually, at an average rate...

Asian governments, battling soaring food inflation, are pumping ever more resources into agriculture but will struggle to offset rapidly expanding demand in top consumers China and India. China, stung by consumer prices running at a 25-month peak, has been selling state stockpiles. It has also ordered banks to urgently offer support to farmers, an example of the sort of firepower these governments can deploy. With China and India also in many cases...

A rise in global temperatures of four degree Celsius is likely to occur during the 21st century causing "devastating impacts" if greenhouse gas emissions continue rising at the current rate, according to a group of international scientists. In a special issue of the UK journal "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A" -- which coincides with the start of the United Nations climate talks in Cancun, Mexico -- scientists argue that...