India bans use of dolphins for commercial entertainment

Pawar's daughter on panel that will examine biotechnology Bill

By a strange coincidence, daughter of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, has been appointed member of the very panel to which the controversial Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill has been referred.

Zero maternal death in two former war-torn districts of Sri Lanka

Two districts of Sri Lanka's Northern Province, torn by civil war not so long ago, have received attention for a rare achievement. Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu have not witnessed a single maternal death in the past two years. This was revealed at a meeting held recently in Colombo. The province was the hot bed of a three-decade-long war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan state which ended in 2009.

Activist lands in jail for protesting lack of health facilities in tribal district five years ago

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Protocol to protect RTI activists in the works

The Union rural development ministry is working on a protocol that will protect  activists who work to expose corruption using the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Activists exposing corruption cases often face harassment from government officers and local goons, or are implicated in false cases. According to the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), nearly 174 cases of murder and harassment of RTI activists have been recorded in the past four years.

EU aviation emissions tax: Indian airlines face fine of €30,000

Airlines from India and China could be fined for not complying with the European Union’s emission tax rules for using its air space, said the European Commission (EC) on May 17. The commission said that Air India and Air China were among the ten carriers which did not provide emissions data required under the new tax law to reduce green house gas emissions from the aviation sector.

18 tribal villages in Maharashtra get tendu rights, finally

After a wait of two years, tendu harvest and sale rights in Maharashtra are finally being transferred to gram sabhas under the Forest Rights Act. This year, 18 gram sabhas—12 in Gadchiroli district, five in Gondia and two in Amravati district—have begun collecting tendu leaves under the new system. The tendu units in which the FRA forests of these villages fall had earlier been withdrawn from the state forest department's tendu units' auction process.

MPS, a rare disease with costly cure

Dharmesh, 22, is in 12th grade. He is short for his age and overweight. He looks drained even if he has to take a few steps. It is not because of heat. Dharmesh suffers from a rare disease, called mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) I. His five-year-old brother, Vijay, also suffers from the same disease. 

'Will fight POSCO till last breath'

Twenty-three-year-old Jharana Sahoo is filled with feelings of revenge.

Forest advisory committee clears way for mining in Saranda

The Forest Advisory Committee of the Union environment ministry has paved the way for another private company to mine iron ore in the biodiversity-rich Saranda forest division of Jharkhand. In its meeting held on May 9-10, the committee that advises the ministry on forestland diversion, recommended clearance of almost 100 ha of forestland for mining in the favour of Rungta Mines Limited. See also:  function mineral() { var popurl="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/dte/userfiles/images/17_20120430.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=520,height=460,scrollbars=yes") } Saranda and its mineral deposits Photo Gallery: Operation Saranda: from Maoists to Miners