Saving the world’s myriad diverse species, which are being lost to human activity at an unprecedented rate that some experts put at 1,000 times the natural progression, is vital not just for environmental reasons but for the economic well-being of humankind, a senior United Nations official said today. “Without preserving biodiversity and preserving our natural habitat, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) just cannot be achieved,” UN Development Programme (UNDP) Environment and...

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,...

Companies such as L&T, IL&FS, Dr Reddy’s and NIIT will soon train and employ youths from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, based on the success of a pilot project in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, implemented under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The National Rural Livelihoods Mission, to be taken to the Cabinet by the Rural Development Ministry soon, envisages the training of 1.1 lakh unskilled youth over the next...

Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha and PUCL talks to Jyoti Punwani about Chhattisgarh, where the Centre has announced the start of its offensive against the Maoists: What news of the offensive? When Operation Green Hunt began in September, notice under Section 95 of the CrPC (which includes sedition) was served on newspapers for publishing the Maoists' press releases, which said that the only persons to have been...

Government and regulators need to focus on the systemic risk engendered by excessive compensation. As calendar year 2009 draws to a close, it is bonus season for the financial sector in the West. In the last several months, the need to cap bonuses and compensation packages has been extensively discussed in the context of limiting the future impact of the next financial sector breakdown. On December 9, 2009, the UK was...