DYE TEST: In order to upgrade 37 laboratories identified country-wide to
test for azo dyes, the Planning
Commission has released a sum of
Rs 15 crore, while a Rs six crore grant
has been announced by Germany to
set up a state-of-the-art laboratory in
Noida. Azo dyes, used in leather
products and garments, have been
identified as carcinogenic and
banned by the German health ministry. Even the import of goods treated with azo dyes is not allowed in
Germany. The ban will affect export
of leather products and garments to
Germanyand other European countries valued at Rs 2,000 crore.
DIVERSION: An 80
km-Iong express
highway having
six tracks will pass
through the outer
areas of New
Delhi. The road
will predominantly cater to the
needs of about 20,000 trucks that
pass through the capital every day,
with almost half of them having
no business in Delhi. This will considerably reduce the unnecessary
traffic in the capital, said Delhi chief
minister, Sahib Singh Verma. The
Delhi government has earmarked
Rs 800 crore to ease the traffic problem in the capital.
MANAGING WASTE: The Japanese government plans to spend US $48.1 billion on the new five-year waste-treatment improvement plan, that started
this fiscal year, an increase of 80 per
cent from the previous five-year
plan. In order to grab a larger share
of the environment-protection
equipment market, Kobe Steel Ltd
and Toyo Engineering Works Ltd
have co-developed a system which
collects organic chloride solvents,
including trichloroethylene, which is
believed to cause cancer. Both companies expect huge orders following
cabinet approval of a revisedair-pollution-prevention bill in March,
which regulates trichloroethylene.
BOOST FOR TEA: The
World bank is looking into the possibility of assisting the Indian
tea industry with
Rs 2,216 crore to increase production to 1,000 million kg
in the next five years. India's present
output is 750 million kg. A World
Bank mission is here at the behest of
the commerce ministry. Apart from
looking into the investment in the
existing plantations and the rejuvenation of orchards, it will also look
into the aspect of tea as an instrument of rural development and
poverty alleviation through employment generation.
LESS VICIOUS: The Tata Iron and Steel
Company is planning to spend a sum
of Rs 800 crore on environmental
control equipment for its intended
steel plant at Gopalpur in Orissa. B
Mutharaman, vice-president of the
Gopalpur unit, said that the plant is
one of the most environment -friendly in India. This was confirmed by a
study conducted by the Nagpur-
based National Environmental
Engineering Research Institute,
which said that the pollution levels in
the plant will be considerably lower
than the existing steel plants in the
country.
PURE EFFLUX: A subsidiary of the
Chellam group of
c companies, Madras,
the Agro Pul
ping Machinery Private
c Limited (APMPL)
has commissioned the first effluent
control system for agro-based paper
mills in the country. The US $3 million project has been funded by an
USAID programme called Trade in
Environmental Services and
Technologies. S Raghavan, APMPL's
managing director, said that the
fluid-based chemical recovery system not only controls pollution but
makes paper production from agrobased products more cost-effective.
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