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Contents page
May 1-15, 2003
Cover Story
Is the crisis spawned by this new viral infection a failure of global health governance?
Editor's page
News
The sudden spurt in the sales of private passenger cars that run on dirty diesel has grave implications for public health
By May 2003, the European Council was supposed to have reached a consensus on a directive that seeks to regulate the supply of herbal products in the European Union market. Once implemented this -- in tandem with two other regulations -- could rob consumers of the choice of cheap, alternative products and represent a serious setback for preventive healthcare
Immunisation is a double-edged sword -- providing a shield against diseases, at the same time generating waste that can be hazardous to health and the environment if not disposed of properly. Typically, lethal leftovers of the process comprise used needles and syringes
Have Indian meteorologists at last found their 'role model'? After getting a lot of flak from politicians and the public for last year's erroneous prediction of rainfall, the New Delhi-based India Meteorological Department has revamped its monsoon forecast system and introduced three new models
Even remote areas can be electrified through biomass gasification
Chhattisgarh decides to scrap a privatised water supply project. What happens next?
Two recent developments augur well for the forest dwellers of Madhya Pradesh. Firstly, under the Joint Forest Management plan, forest protection committees in villages will now receive all revenue collected from selling timber and bamboo. And secondly, the MP government has decided to deregulate the trade of minor forest produce...
WTO invalidates US duty on steel imports
Structural deficiencies punctuate report on streamlining ICAR
Human genome decoded completely
Pathogens behind coral bleaching, say scientists
Factsheet
Sugarcane farming guzzles water as unsold sugar stock in the country piles up
Feature
Travel today is relatively faster, and people across the world are travelling more than ever before. But at a giant cost: urban roads are choked with vehicles. The air throttles millions. While the affluent scramble for more road space, the not-so-lucky are getting cramped into increasingly smaller areas. The dream of mobility generated by the private motor vehicle is gradually turning into a nightmare of immobility, and pollution
Every traditional Malayalee home has a tulsi plant in front of the house and a drumstick tree in the backyard. The drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) is commonly known as moringa in south India
With its awe-inspiring architecture and remarkable concepts of astronomy, the Maya was undoubtedly one of the greatest civilisations of Mesoamerica. At the peak of its glory, around 800 ad, the civilisation extended from Mexico's Yucatn peninsula to Honduras. But after flourishing for about 1,000 years, a society of some 15 million people imploded in almost an instant in the 9th century. Throughout human history, civilisations have risen and collapsed as though their destinies were guided by the wind. It was, however, the rain -- rather, the lack of it -- that sealed the Maya people's fate
Many terminally ill cancer patients have found succour in the last stages of their life at this Shanti Avedna Ashram , set up in 1978 by oncologist L J de Souza in Mumbai
As we peek into our past, the number of our ancestors seems to double in every generation. For every human being has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, 16 great great grandparents and so on. By this yardstick, the number of ancestors that each of us had about 50 generations back, or around 1003, must have been two multiplied by itself 50 times...
One man's battle to save a village economy
Nitin Shethi learns more than he had reckoned, from local wisdom
Debate
The environmental situation in India is grave -- our natural resources are getting depleted at an alarming rate and there is an acute paucity of expertise to combat this crisis. Like any other government department, the Union ministry of environment and forests merely goes through the motions. Programmes in the area of environment are handled by authorities (scientists as well as non-scientists) in such a manner as to not require any basic education, professional experience or specialist understanding of environmental sciences
The Indian Railways is the second largest railway network in Asia. It is the biggest public sector enterprise in India and connects the entire country. It is unfortunate that such a huge establishment does not have a specific policy vis-a-vis the environment. One of the biggest worries is the amount of solid waste (mainly paper and plastic) generated each day by train passengers across the country. As of now, there is no comprehensive system to collect and manage this enormous amount of waste
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the third most significant biodiversity hotspot in India. With a coastline of 1962 kilometres and many beaches straddling small isolated islands, the region provides an ideal nesting habitat for primarily four species of marine turtles: the leatherback turtle, hawksbill turtle, green sea turtle and Olive Ridley turtle. All of these have been declared endangered by the IUCN. Jim Spotila, head of Marine Turtle Specialist Group Leatherback Task Force, an IUCN body, lists just three other colonies in the world with more than 1000 leatherbacks
Opinion
Among disasters, drought is the easiest to predict and manage. The Indian Meteorological Department's forecast of a "below normal" monsoon in 2003 -- a full six weeks in advance -- has sent out a terse warning: prepare to drought-proof the country. Coming at a time when India is just crawling out of the ravages inflicted by its worst drought last year, the forecast calls for proactive action from the government to face the impending threat
It's a clear sell-out. The Union ministry of road transport and highways (MRTH) has given ground to truckers who ended their strike recently: the striking truckers had demanded a waiver on the proposed Mumbai High Court ban on 15-year-old commercial vehicles in the city. The ministry has helped them find a way around the ban
Why all these are not applicable to Tuticorin port or the one planned in AP or WB ?
What an eye opener! As an environmental engineer,disposal of sanitary napkins has always been a concern during waste...
Gap's contentions are quite ridiculous, to say the least. Good to know that GTG is going to fight the case! More power to such...