Green proposal

It's bad news for coal exporters. Japan, one of the world's biggest coal importers, is considering a coal tax to encourage the use of cleaner fuels such as natural gas. Japanese ministry officials said that they were considering introducing the levy after shares of three of the world's biggest exporters of coal fell. However, sources say that any move to tax coal heavily would invite strong lobbying from the Japanese industry itself.

Trash tax

In order to deal with the growing waste, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (mch) has passed a resolution to impose a garbage tax on 2,000 waste-generating city institutions. These include cinema halls, commercial complexes, healthcare centres and hotels.

Making polluters pay

to check increasing pollution levels in the state, the Andhra Pradesh (ap) government is considering a proposal to tax polluting vehicles. The proposal targets all vehicles, including private cars and two-wheelers, in the twin cities of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and other areas with high vehicle density such as Nizamabad and Vishakhapatnam.

Wishful thinking

As always , in the run up to Budget 2002-2003, there was much speculation about what the budget would or would not contain, and what finance minister Yashwant Sinha might or might not say in his speech. February 28 has come and gone, and the speculation is over. Budget pundits are now busy dissecting the budget for the benefit of the few that are not engrossed in cricket, politics, religion or the gruesome carnage in Gujarat.

Making motorists pay

soon motorists in Britain will be charged a congestion tax. The proposed tax aims to declog traffic and depollute the streets of London.

Revamp ordered

to make sure that industries receiving sops in 'energy use tax' contribute towards environmental protection, the European Commission (EC) -- which acts as a competition authority for European Union (EU) countries -- has asked Germany to change its eco-tax system. The EC move comes in the wake of Germany's request to the Commission to approve a scheme by which big energy users get an 80 per cent tax exemption over a 10-year period.

Shying away

australia has rejected a proposal to introduce carbon tax for curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases. The proposal was made by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd), whose officials felt that Australia could use economic measures to prevent environmental degradation. But the suggestion met with severe opposition in Australia, which has an economy reliant on fossil fuels.

HYDEL VICTORY

Hydel power generating industries in India cannot be asked to pay pollution tax without the Parliament including them within the purview of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act of 1977, the Supreme Court has ruled. The act, promulgated with a view to tax polluting units, had excluded the hydel power generating industries. However, the Union government decided to amend the law and tax these industries. This decision was challenged by the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation, which took the matter to the courts.

PAYING FOR POLLUTION

The Assam Pollution Control Board (apcb) has served a closure notice to the Digboi authorities for releasing highly toxic effluents, including oil and grease, into waterbodies. According to an official of the apcb, untreated effluents from the refinery is causing extensive damage to agricultural fields and forests. In response, the refinery authorities have submitted Rs 5 lakh as guarantee and a court affidavit before the apcb and have also requested for more time to install pollution control devices.

Dealing with oil spill