Elemental woe

Studies indicate an urgent need to map areas that have selenium-rich soil because the element has been linked to aridity there. A study published in the September issue of Journal of Environmental Management revealed that food grains from some arid regions in Northern India had high selenium. For the study, researchers from the National University of Singapore and Maharshi Dayanand University in Haryana collected food grains from Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana and tested the selenium content in them. They found that while extremely dry areas like

Brief

environment Jaipur halts limestone mining

What a waste

as a part of a centrally-sponsored scheme non-recommended pesticides were being distributed to farmers in Rajasthan. Farmers were being forced to buy unnecessary pesticides as a part of the subsidy package under the National Horticulture Mission (nhm). These chemicals have not been approved for use in the crops that were being cultivated in the area.

Surrogate salesmen

Pesticides thrusted on unsuspecting farmers

Reality check

Court asks to close polluting industries in Pali

on april 11, the Jodhpur bench of the High Court of Rajasthan ordered closure of 126 industries operating in non-conforming areas in Pali, infamous for pollution from its dyeing and printing industries. The court issued two orders in response to petitions filed by industry groups--one led by Aruna mills and the other by Rajaram mills. The groups had challenged directives

Solar lighting systems successful in Rajasthan

It is a simple device but it has shrunk the nights in Rajasthan's countryside. Over the past decade, thousands of families in the state's remote villages, unconnected with the grid, have installed solar lighting systems at their homes, which harness solar energy to generate electricity.

Forgotten people Chambal's Bor Khedi villagers are still called the criminal tribe

GOVINDSAMY AGORAMOORTHY

Barmer farmers protest Jindal power project

People in Kapurdi hamlet, some 30 km from Rajasthan's Barmer town, are unusually suspicious of strangers. They stop and question every outsider driving through the area. What is making them so wary is land acquisition for Jindal group's power plant and lignite mine coming up in the area.

TERI recommends closure of some Coca-Cola plants