Audit of reluctance

The ministry of environment and forests (MEF) has decided to postpone from May 15 to September 30 the date for industries to submit their first environmental audit. This corresponds to the date by which companies are expected to file annual reports.

Voiceless representatives

IN his Budget speech this year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee forecast a bright future for the Indian economy, announcing fiscal 2012-13 to be a year for revival. At the same time, he ensured that the “pro-market” Budget took one more step towards limiting Parliament’s role in crucial economic decision-making.

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Accreditation scheme on hold

THE accreditation scheme for environmental impact assessment consultants has hit a roadblock after the Karnataka High Court stayed it on January 19. The scheme launched in December 2009 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) requires EIA consultants to get accredited with the Quality Council of India (QCI).

Stolen work

Swedish retail clothing giant H&M was ripped apart by netizens for stealing the work of US artist Tori LaConsay and reproducing it on a range of its household items, including pillowcases, towels and doormats. According to BBC, LaConsay had painted a billboard, saying, “You look nice today”, in 2008 to make her tight-knit neighbourhoods in East Atlanta feel good about themselves.

In deep water

Conflict over Krishna Third floor of Trikoot Bhawan in Delhi’s Bhikaji Cama Place, which houses the second Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, will turn into a war zone by February-end. A battery of lawyers, technical staff and irrigation department officials from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh will fight hard to win the maximum allocation of the Krishna river water for their respective states.

Channels of interest

THE Union Ministry of Water Resources recently uploaded the draft of National Water Policy, 2012, on its website, inviting comments from the public. The draft underlines the need to treat water as “economic good”, but deliberately misses a crucial point: prioritising competing users of water, thus providing flexibility for allocating water for industrial use even at the cost of agriculture. The approach, says the ministry, is to steer clear of water allocation priorities because they lead to conflict. The Centre had adopted a water policy a decade ago which states that drinking be accorded the highest priority followed by irrigation, hydro-power, ecology, industrial requirement, and navigation and other uses.

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Let’s talk money

The 80th session of the Indian Science Congress ended in the first week of January in Goa without adding to anyone’s knowledge or wisdom. The importance of the theme of the conference, Science and the Quality of Life, did not get the attention it deserves in a country that has made large investments in science, but still has the world’s largest population of illiterates and the poverty-stricken.