-AFP NURJAHANPALLY: When Mahatma Gandhi took up the baton for home-grown cotton a century ago, he may not have realised the devastating impact its cultivation would have on the land he so loved. Cotton is a thirsty plant and parts of the country are drought-prone. But the intensive farming process for cotton leaches the soil and requires high pesticide and fertiliser use that pollutes further downstream. Now in Warangal, dotted with statues to...
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Let's look at what really lies beneath -Prerna Bindra
-The Hindustan Times India's ailing economy has found a new scapegoat - environment and forests. For most things that go wrong these days, from power shortage to slow growth, the blame is tossed at the door of the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the paradigm being that forests, wildlife and green laws are hurdles to development. So much so, that a Group of Ministers established to 'rationalise' coal mining in forests...
More »India approves Rs 4,000 cr action plan for tackling Japanese Encephalitis
-DD News Indian Union Cabinet has approved Rs 4,000 crores proposal for multipronged strategy for the prevention and control of Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome. The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh approved the proposal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recommended by the Group of Ministers. The scheme will be implemented in 60 priority districts for a period of 5 years from this year. This scheme will...
More »Government plans Rs.40,000 crore fund for rural development
-IANS The government is planning to set up a Rs.40,000-crore flexi-fund to help states address specific rural development needs. The fund will be available to states from the next financial year till the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan in March 2017. The central government will have a 70 per cent share in the fund. "For the first time, we are putting together a flexi-fund of Rs.40,000 crore that will be available to...
More »Faster progress needed on targets to protect world’s key nature sites, says UN environment report
-The United Nations Despite the growing number of nature reserves, national parks and other protected areas around the world, half of the globe’s richest biodiversity zones remain entirely unprotected, according to a United Nations report presented today. Amongst the report’s other main findings are that protected areas are being managed in a more equitable way, with a greater role for indigenous communities – but current investment in protected areas is only around...
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