Promptly overturned

In a dramatic development, a division bench of the Madras High Court vacated the stay on the Tamil Nadu government order (go) that terminated licences for sand quarrying. The previous restraining directive was delivered by a single judge only a few hours earlier. The mining operations were meant to be carried out on leased out sites in the state.

Sponge iron(y)

SPONGE iron units seem to be mushrooming in Orissa like never before. The status as on September 16, 2003: around 22 proposals pending with the Orissa Pollution Control Board (OPCB), and 26 plants already functioning. The industry-starved state views the boom as economic convalescence, but is turning a blind eye to the unbridled pollution caused by these industries.

Tailpipe row

The Tokyo High Court has begun hearing a seven-year-old air pollution case that targets the Japanese authorities for putting at risk the health of the capital city's residents by not introducing regulations and technology to curb vehicular emissions.

No budging

Reinforcing its March 7 judgement, the Rajasthan High Court (HC) struck down an appeal by the dyers and printers of Sanganer to continue operating from their present location. The units are to shift shop by April 1, 2004, or face closure.

No clearance sale

The Supreme Court (sc) has ordered the Union government to seize all ivory stock -- in its carved as well as raw form -- from traders. In doing so, the apex court has put its seal on the Delhi High Court's (hc) 1997 judgement that had denied the traders permission to sell the ivory lying with them.

Smog alarm

Pakistan's Lahore High Court has constituted a six-member commission to recommend measures to control the growing vehicular pollution. Authorised to investigate, collect evidence and examine witnesses, the panel is to submit its report by September 30.

In the tax bracket again

The Orissa government has slapped a forest development tax (fdt) on three minor forest produce (mfp) items -- tendu leaf, timber and bamboo. Seen as a countermeasure to the March 2001 Orissa High Court (hc) order that declared the imposition of state sales tax on tendu illegal, the decision is likely to hit primary gatherers hard in the long run.

In short

panchayat polls: A decade after the 73rd amendment to the Constitution, Jharkhand will for the first time hold panchayat elections in December this year. The state government has finally taken the decision in the wake of unrelenting pressure by civil society groups such as the Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Swashasan Samanvay Samiti. Jharkhand remains the only state in India which is yet to hold elections to local bodies after they got constitutional status in 1992.

ublic outcry greets uranium mining project in AP

"there is radiation everywhere on earth. Mining in Nalgonda will not increase it." This comment of S D Prasad, adviser to public sector undertaking Uranium Corporation of India Limited (ucil), typifies the Indian authorities' insouciant disregard for the impact of uranium mining on human health and the environment.

Puddle muddle

A division bench of the High Court (HC) of Kerala has restrained the Municipal Corporation of Cochin from issuing new building permits in the city in view of its non-functional sewage system. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Justice A K Basheer, had earlier summoned an official of the civic body, demanding details of the plan to prevent water-logging. The HC was acting on a petition filed by the Karikkamuri Residents Association on March 9 this year. The plaintiffs had contended that the corporation had failed to prevent water-logging in the area.