News 360°-Briefs

GAZA STRIP Fishers turn fish smugglers

Green could go red

GREEN lingo has by now infiltrated In dia’s economic policy circles. In his pre-budget speech, Prime Minister Manmo han Singh hinted it was time India’s industrialization took the low-carbon path.

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Colours not so natural

Using herbal colours to celebrate Holi festival is not as safe as one would think. Tests by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on colours picked randomly from markets in Mumbai showed presence of heavy metals in all colours, including herbal ones. Exposure to even small quantities of heavy metals can cause nerve disorders.

From the blurbs

The art of not being governed by James Scott, Yale University Press, US $10

Construction debris offers business

Municipal  authorities in Mumbai could take a cue from Navi Mumbai on managing building debris dumped in landfills.

Bihar introduces green tax

Bihar  government’s budget has introduced measures to protect the environment. The budget passed for 2010-2011 includes sales tax and value added tax on old vehicles and halves the tax on battery-run vehicles. The state’s finance minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, also announced a blanket ban on mining hills for quarrying stones. He said leases of existing quarries will not be renewed.

Business on scanner

With climate change big on the agenda, businesses have begun to talk environment.

Shells of everyday life

The sea shell is usually what catches the eye of every visitor to the sea shore. These natural wonders, strewn along coastlines, are created by snails, clams, scallops, and other marine molluscs, soft-bodied animals inhabiting almost all ecosystems on Earth. Like the skeleton inside the human body, most molluscs wear their skeleton (shell) outside the body to protect their soft bodies.

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OIL AND NATURAL GAS Argentina blockades UK rig After enjoying almost normal relations for 20 years, tension between the UK and Argentina is escalating over the Falkland Islands. This time, the row concerns an estimated 60 billion barrels of oil and natural gas deposits off the South Atlantic archipelago, occupied by the UK since 1833.