Why is the government aggressively attacking and destroying inexpensive eco-friendly technologies and promoting pollution-friendly ones? Are we obliged to repeat all the mistakes that the West committed in its pursuit of economic growth? While it makes sense to corner First World countries into investing in eco- friendly technologies to control carbon emissions, as was attempted at Copenhagen, the stand of the Indian government that India cannot afford to enforce better...

Chakrabarti added that accreditation is required as the number of consultants in the business is increasing rapidly Consultants who carry out studies on the impact of an industrial or infrastructure project on the environment will now need to be registered and accredited with the ministry of environment. The move is aimed at improving the quality and integrity of so-called environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports and the ministry has said that after June,...

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Wednesday decided not to accept the World Bank’s aid for the tiger conservation programme. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, chaired by Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh. Though Mr. Ramesh was keen on accepting the aid, conservationists were against the move. “Personally, I was very keen that the World Bank provide...

Bt brinjal is a genetically modified version of an eggplant that is injected with a protein that makes it immune to pests Kochi: There’s a new player in the fight against Bt brinjal, a village panchayat in Kerala that is seeking to preserve a traditional variety of eggplant. As part of the plans of the village-level elected legislative body, around 8,000 households in the Mararikulam North gram panchayat in the coastal...

There is an alarming rise in sea level along the Indian coast since 2004, said Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences. Addressing the Indian Science Congress session on ‘Weather, Climate and Environment,’ Nayak said the seal-level rise during 2004-08 along the Indian coast was about 9 mm. The global average sea-level rise from 1961 to 2003 was 1.8 mm per year. The annual rate along the Indian coast was...