On February 9, 2010, the then Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of India, Jairam Ramesh, imposed an indefinite moratorium on the introduction of Bt Brinjal in India. It is necessary and desirable to quote the order verbatim. It reads as follows: It is my duty to adopt a cautious, precautionary based approach and impose a moratorium on the release of Bt Brinjals till such time independent scientific studies establish, to...

The green bench of the Himachal Pradesh high court slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on Jaiprakash Associates on Friday for setting up a cement plant fraudulently. The court quashed the environmental clearance granted to the company's thermal plant and directed that it be dismantled within three months. It also called for a special investigation team to be set up to see if state officials were involved. Disposing of...

A group of villagers, affected by the stalling of the Him Urja Vidyut Pariyojna at Nandprayag and Vishnugad Vidyut Pariyojna at Pipalkoti, staged a symbolicchakka jam on the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway at Pipalkoti on Sunday, threatening self-immolation if the government didn't order the resumption of construction work there. Unhappy with the government for first promising power and revenue generation opportunities to the affected villagers while taking away their lands, and later scrapping...

-The Economic Times Economic growth produces prosperity as well as garbage. The faster the economy grows, the more its people consume, and the more garbage they generate. When economic growth is sustained over a long period of time, garbage starts to pile up at a faster pace. Garbage just cannot be wished away even as some of us can move around it with eyes wide shut. It needs to be collected,...

Nagpur orange’s survival hinges precariously on its return to sustainable cultivation. Farmers have woken up to this, but will the government? A beaming Uday Wath hugs the trunk of his sturdy, disease-free Nagpur orange tree. All around him are trees drooping with the fruit, large and healthy. The tree trunks are singularly free of both telltale gummosis wounds and bluish white bordeaux paste, the chemical meant to prevent them. Not more than...