BRAZIL

At least 10 per cent of the world's environmental heritage, can be found in Brazil, according to the government officials. Brazil has recently estimated its environmental worth in economic terms. It is the first country in the world to do so. The government-owned Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Resources ( ibama ) reported that the total financial value of Brazil's biodiversity is us $2.072 trillion, which is roughly four times the annual gross domestic product.

BRAZIL

An oil spill of about 100 litres of crude oil has been reported from one of the refineries of Petrobras, Brazil's oil giant. The spill is spread over an area of 2 square kilometres, off the coast of northeastern Ceara state. Petrobras officials are trying to remove the oil stain with chemicals.

A breath of fresh air

Pollutant levels in the ambient air for 1998 were within the World Health Organisation and US Environmental Protection Agency permissible limits

Overcoming auto dependence: the Singapore way

Overcoming auto dependence: the Singapore way TRAFFIC CALMING FAVORING ALTERNATE MODES

Price to pay

Before buying a car in Singapore, it is mandatory to first buy a right to own a car. The "Certificate of Entitlement" system introduced in 1994 requires would-be car owners to bid for the right to buy a vehicle. The prospective owner will first have to buy the certificate. The price varies, but in early 1994 it was as high as US. This is paid over and above the price of the car.

Seamless transport

There is now a growing recognition that cities can become sustainable only if auto dependence can be reduced. Says Newman, "Rapidly developing cities that have not put in place any physical or economic restraints on traffic, have not built high quality transit system, and have not protected their traditional forms of non-motorised mobility from the onslaught of motorised traffic, now have huge traffic problems as well as associated environmental and social problems."

Mass movement

Mass movement The number of mass rapid transit (MRT) stations in Singapore has done away with the need to own a vehicle PARTICULARS

BRAZIL

The leakage of four million litres of crude oil from a refinery operated by state-owned Petrobras Limited has resulted in Brazil’s worst enviornmental disaster in 26 years. The oil spill has contaminated the Iguacu river and endangered its acquatic life.

Pay up time

the us department of justice has ordered a shipping company to pay compen-sation for an oil spill, which killed millions of lobsters and other wildlife of the Block Island Sound, near Rhode Island, usa .

Not fine!

In recent years the Supreme Court (SC) has caught several ministries napping. Recently, the SC pulled up the labour ministry and ministry of environment and forests (MEF) and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them. Some months ago, it had penalised the Delhi government for failing to contain the pollution level of Yamuna. The results were soon to see. On June 27, the DPCC announced that the pollution level had actually declined.