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Moyna
Moyna
Articles by the Author
2013-1-15
In an increasingly digital world, the issue of Internet freedom and governance has become hugely contested. Censorship and denial of access occur across the political spectrum of nations, even in liberal democracies. In the run-up to the just-concluded World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, there was a frenzied campaign to ensure that governments kept their hands off the Internet. It was feared the International Telecommunications Union, a UN body, was aiming to take control of the Internet. That hasn’t happened. But the outcome in Dubai has highlighted once again the double speak on freedom by countries that claim to espouse it and by corporations interested in protecting their interests, says Latha Jishnu, who warns that the major threat to the Internet freedom comes from the wide-ranging surveillance measures that all governments are quietly adopting. Dinsa Sachan speaks to institutions and officials to highlight the primacy of cyber security for nations, while Moyna tracks landmark cases that will have a bearing on how free the Net remains in India
2012-12-4
Taking cue from disposal of chemical weapons in 2009, Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee suggests incinerating the waste on a floating platform
2012-12-3
Bhopal gas tragedy survivors continue to suffer as court cases are delayed and government promises prove hollow
2012-11-15
Rice cultivation has led to waterlogging and soil salinity in Haryana’s Jhajjar district
2012-10-20
Madhya Pradesh High Court lifts stay that prevented company from being summoned
2012-10-31
Official report confirms presence of toxins in groundwater near Bhopal’s Union Carbide
2012-10-31
A draft bill allows employing manual scavengers if they are provided protective gears
2012-9-26
Indian Institute of Toxicology Research says the contaminant levels are not a public health concern because drinking water is supplied by municipal bodies
2012-9-19
Doubts had been expressed earlier over the capacity of the waste disposal facility in Dhar district
2012-9-17
Development follows information regarding GIZ proposal getting leaked in German media
2012-9-11
Earlier ban was only partial and had little effect on manufacturers
2012-9-5
GIZ says its reputation at stake after details of proposal were leaked in German media
2012-8-28
Most differences over clauses in the contract with GIZ to airlift waste to Germany for incineration resolved at GoM meeting
2012-8-23
Court yet to initiate criminal liability case against the multinational company in the Bhopal gas leak case; charge-sheet was filed in 1987
2012-8-22
Group of Ministers headed by P Chidambaram to take final decision now
2012-8-21
Odisha pollution control board goes soft on aluminium plant
2012-8-18
Whether it is the dismantling of toxics laden ship from the US, Oriental Nicety, or the clean up of the 350 tonnes of waste lying at the defunct Union Carbide factory, hazardous waste has been much in news recently. Dilip B Boralkar, who for 26 years has held important positions in various pollution control boards and worked on treatment and management of hazardous waste in India, speaks to Moyna on the need for strong political will and capacity building for management and handling of toxic waste. Boralkar was also a member of the Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee set up in 2003 on hazardous waste. Edited excerpts:
2012-8-18
Madhya Pradesh government unhappy with clauses in proposed contract
2012-8-14
Study by a non-profit says guidelines on including informal sector in waste management are being ignored
2012-8-10
Asks Centre and Madhya Pradesh government to implement standard treatment protocols, and make public studies on the disaster-affected people
2012-7-24
'Gujarat authorities violated apex court order banning entry of ship into Indian waters'
2012-7-16
Agencies, ministries implementing such projects will need to set up monitoring units to ensure private concessionaires follow Planning Commission guidelines
2012-7-13
District administration approves Parmanpur panchayat’s decision to cancel no objection certificate to the company
2012-7-31
Supreme Court wants hazardous waste rules aligned with Basel Convention
2012-7-7
Seeks changes in hazardous waste rules so that it complies with provisions of the Basel Convention
2012-7-4
Actual disposal of waste may take up to a year
2012-7-15
Airlifting Union Carbide waste requires amending Indian law, violates Basel Convention
2012-6-28
Company need not pay for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims, says district judge
2012-6-27
Gujarat government should decide fate of Oriental Nicety: MoEF to Supreme Court
2012-6-11
First-of-its-kind report projects exponential increase in municipal solid waste; questions reliability of available data and waste disposal methods
2012-6-8
GoM makes German company, GIZ, responsible for safe disposal of waste; decision on waste transfer subject to approval of apex court, Cabinet
2012-6-7
Non-profits present high court committee with documents on extent of water and soil contamination
2012-5-5
Survivors' organisations demand corrections in curative petition
2012-6-4
Gas disaster victims say they would like to present actual injuries, death reports
2012-6-1
Lack of money, capacity and states' unwillingness to cede power
2012-5-29
Government says delay is because disposal of the waste is “a highly emotional and politicised matter”
2012-5-24
Environmentalists oppose; say plastic not good for environment
2012-5-18
Study criticises EU for using carbon credits from polluting waste incineration plants in developing countries offset emissions
2012-5-31
Loopholes in new rules for electronic waste make it difficult to regulate informal sector
2012-5-9
Supreme Court cites Basel Convention on trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste to stop toxic-laden ship, infamous for the Alaska oil spill of 1989
2012-5-2
Loopholes in the rules make it difficult to regulate informal sector dealing in e-waste and bulk consumers of electronic goods
2012-4-30
Delhi municipality constructs yet another waste-to-energy plant at Ghazipur
2012-4-12
Madhya Pradesh government and activists fighting for Bhopal gas victims to file review petition
2012-4-7
Okhla residents accuse BJP and Congress of trying to poison people by promoting waste incineration to generate electricity
2012-4-15
Delhi to explain how the law is relevant to the Capital’s planned development
2012-4-15
With market taking charge, MPs can do precious little to shape the Budget
2012-3-16
External commercial borrowings in low-income housing projects will become unaffordable, they say
2012-3-15
Activists, residents contest the statement; say India has no standards on emissions from incinerators
2012-3-6
Petition filed by two senior citizens dwells on harmful and hazardous radiation from towers
2012-3-2
Sports ministry yet to take a decision on boycott after Bhopal tragedy victims’ outcry
2012-2-22
Activists say similar plants elsewhere in the country are lying defunct
2012-2-18
Activists say new provision in land revenue Act protects neither farmers nor agriculture
2012-2-17
High court defers hearing till May in view of similar ongoing cases in Supreme Court
2012-2-2
US court documents reveal Dow and Union Carbide are one and same company, not separate legal entities as claimed
2012-2-15
Can Information Technology Act deal with the dynamics of the Net?
2012-1-25
How much should workers under rural employment scheme be paid if minimum wage fixed by a state is more than that of the Centre?
2012-1-12
Proposes pilot project for collecting, recycling CFLs in three cities
2011-12-15
The ruling alliance’s flagship rural employment programme took unprecedented strides in creating water conservation structures across the country, but only to harvest disillusionment. What went wrong? Richard Mahapatra travels to Jharkhand, M Suchitra to Andhra Pradesh and Moyna to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in search of answers
2011-3-31
Iconic paan no more appeals to farmers, traders and common people. They say the contagious spread of chewing tobacco, especially gutkha, is fast taking over the paan market. Farmers have more reasons to shy away from the crop once referred to as green gold. Skyrocketing input costs, water scarcity and unpredictable weather mean betel gardens are no more lucrative.
Richard Mahapatra, Sayantan Bera and Moyna travelled to betel leaf gardens of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi and visited paan markets to understand the fate of the cash crop considered ideal for small farmers
2011-6-15
Fertile land is up for grabs in western Uttar Pradesh. Private developers are acquiring it to build apartments, industries, IT institutes, and even F1 race track. Farmers, who have known no profession other than agriculture, have nowhere to go. The landless are left with neither farms to work on nor money. Jyotika Sood probes the discontent among farmers, as Moyna examines the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act and the resettlement bill awaiting Centre’s nod
2010-7-31
Groundwater has failed Andhra Pradesh’s farmers. Between 1997 and 2006, about 4,500 farmers committed suicide, unable to repay loans they had taken to drill borewells. MOYNA and ASHUTOSH MISHRA found farmers scoffing at rules to dig deeper for an uncertain resource. They have few alternatives. The Andhra government intends to check the increasingly depleting groundwater reserves by roping in farmers to monitor groundwater use. Will it result in a shift to less water-intensive crops?
2011-12-29
Opposition parties and ally Trinamool want states to decide on appointing lokayuktas
2011-12-27
Say studies have shown that Indian waste is unfit for the purpose
2011-12-17
Municipal bodies deny receiving them
2011-12-31
Environment ministry submits unclear status report on hazardous waste directives
2011-12-1
States asked to bear 60 per cent cost
2011-11-15
Revised MGNREGS guidelines to be finalised end of this week
2011-10-18
The directives were issued by a monitoring committee appointed by the court on October 14, 2003
2011-10-1
Project developer, Jindal Urban Infrastructure Limited, could not answer queries satisfactorily at public hearing
2011-10-1
Lower watt lamps use more mercury for extra glow, says study
2011-9-26
They say continuing availability of the drug poses health risk
2011-9-15
Bill provisions now favour government and industry, not farmers, say activists
2011-9-15
State to give 80 per cent of sand mine auction profit to panchayats
2011-7-31
Rural development ministry suggests land reservation for agriculture
2011-7-15
New Collection of Statistics Act comes into force. Makes furnishing information mandatory
2011-6-30
State considers reverting to direct polls, court raps it for taking away right to recall sarpanch
2011-5-15
Panel to make the suggestion before the Cabinet in June
2011-5-15
Planning Commission wants to improve Integrated Action Plan
2011-4-30
Government undecided on criteria to identify families below poverty line
2011-4-30
At the last count their number was 1,411; experts doubt latest census
2011-4-15
Standing committee makes allocation of tribal funds conditional
2011-3-31
Panchayati raj ministry suggests amendments to local governance in north-eastern states
2011-2-15
The new ‘green’ biomass cookstove has immense potential but why is it missing in homes?
2011-1-15
Many reserved seats remained uncontested in first-ever panchayat elections in Jharkhand
2011-1-15
Corruption provokes Nitish Kumar to scrap development fund
2010-11-17
Centre's purpose of reserving 50 per cent seats for women in panchayat elections defeated by puppet candidates
2010-9-15
Leh cloudburst is unusual, say scientists. Such extreme events are rising. What’s wrong?
2010-8-15
Quality Council extends accreditation deadline till January
2010-6-15
Hysterectomies on a high since the launch of insurance scheme for BPL families in Andhra Pradesh
2010-5-31
American journalist Dahr Jamail has written two books on the fallout of the US occupation in Iraq. In an interview over Skype Jamail told Moyna how widespread post trauma stress disorder (ptsd) is among soldiers. Edited excerpts
2010-4-15
Health ministry orders them to resume production but offers no action plan
How come Andhra is left out of the mining loot story ? It is good for the nation if we learn to keep environmental and...
The UN environment report states that Ganga would disappear by 2030.There would be no need to train engineers or even Ganga...
A report published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology suggests that babies of...