-The Hindu All districts, except Chennai, declared drought-hit; work days under MGNREGS increased to 150 Chennai: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced in the Assembly on Friday that all districts in the State other than Chennai would be declared drought-hit and unveiled a host of relief measures that would cost about Rs. 2,143.60 crore, focussing on the crisis-ridden Cauvery delta. Ms. Jayalalithaa said the number of days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural...
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World Bank Unmoved on Auditor’s Criticism of Forest Policy -Carey L Biron
-IPS News Officials at the World Bank are forcefully rejecting a new internal evaluation that is highly critical of the institution’s decade-long forest policy, expressing their “strong disagreement” with some assertions in the report. The assessment, written by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), the World Bank Group’s auditor, warns that expectations for poverty reduction as envisioned in the bank’s 2002 Forest Strategy “have not yet been met”. The report is particularly critical...
More »New UN environment studies show rising mercury threat to people in developing countries
-The United Nations Communities in developing countries are facing increasing health and environmental risks linked to exposure to mercury, according to new studies by the United Nations environmental agency. Produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the studies note how parts of Africa, Asia and South America could see increasing emissions of mercury into the environment, due mainly to the use of the toxic element in small-scale gold mining, and through the...
More »How weak checks and balances in mining are destroying forests and livelihoods in India -M Rajshekhar
-The Economic Times When asked where the coal blocks will come up, the forest officer draws a clover-shaped map. Take the right at the traffic intersection, he says, and you will enter Pathriya Dand coal block. Keep going for 11 km and the road turns to the left, which is where Gidhmudi coal block is. Come back to the main road, cross over to the other side, and you will enter...
More »What did Doha achieve? -RK Pachauri
-The Indian Express The 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP 18) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Doha over two weeks, ending on December 7. There was a range of expectations expressed before the meeting. To resolve competing claims for hosting the conference, it was decided that Korea would host a pre-CoP meeting to help prepare for the CoP itself. The 17th CoP had been...
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