Global environmental risks
Environmental risks are perceived to be the five most critical long-term threats to the world as well as the most potentially damaging to people …
'Majoritarian views should not supersede judicial orders'
A number of Supreme Court orders have been blatantly violated by various sections of society. Whether it was Raj Thackeray openly defying the …
True growth is about overcoming hard challenges
IN THE developed world, conducting business today is also about being environmentally accountable. Governments have imposed stringent regulatory …
A hybrid car, at your doorstep
The California Air Resources Board -- the world's trendsetter of air pollution standards -- was clearly being quite ambitious while mandating …
Gentle on critical pollution
After declaring 43 industrial areas in India as critically polluted and imposing a moratorium on their expansion, the Union Ministry of …
Sponge iron’s dirty growth
In the years to come, India's expanding steel production will be largely driven by sponge iron. But its manufacturing process, based on coal, is …
Exhausting Practices
Prescribed as the antidote for all problems related to vehicular pollution, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates have been an obsession …
The political economy of defecation
This is a story about Delhi and the Yamuna, about the relationship between one of India's richest cities and one of her most revered rivers. The …
Pollution pays
Whenever the issue of how to end pollution is raised, it hits a block: technology. Take the case of air pollution: among other things, the issue …
Stained steel
The iron and steel sector is regarded as the core of Indian economy. Its players are big and powerful. It is extremely resource-intensive and …
Deafening Noise
Constant exposure to noise can make one deaf. The major culprit is road traffic. Can one avoid noise? It’s difficult. Checking it, however, …
Pollution of Hinduisim
Simply put it is an amazing gap between theory and practice. Yet it is one of the main reasons why India's environment is as degraded as it is …
Fatal Attraction
The thirst for diesel in India is growing. Diesel mania grips the Indian automobile industry and the customers with more and more companies going …
The CNG imperative
More than 50,000 additional deaths will occur over the next ten years, from 2001 to 2010, from toxic particles in Delhi if the Supreme Court …
Criminal waste
Reduced to filthy, foul smelling cesspools, with mosquito larvae arawing their lazy, intricate patterns on the green surfaces, the same takes …
The pollution story In Black And Pink
Life in Delhi is a capital punishment. The city's air is so polluted it claims a victim every hour. The level of small particles less than 10 …
Cries of anguish
Most Indians are defenceless against the fine toxic particles in the air -- largely products of vehicular emissions -- and scientists are finding …
River restoration is not just an ecological act
Despite decades of restoration efforts by a rich ensemble of state-development actors, cultural heritage votaries and rights activists, the …
Investment terror
Since the 1990s developing nations have been on a treaty spree, signing a vast number of bilateral and regional investment treaties to attract …
The US learns that green laws make sense after all
Make no mistake, US President George W Bush's office has conceded that green laws make sound economic sense. Although the White House reiterated …
Deadly Particles
They are tiny and deadly. Recent research has brought to light the existence of airborne particles so tiny they defy measurement. Toxic particles …
What it takes to clean a river
It is the tale of two European rivers. The Rhine and the Danube. No river system in the world has a density of industrial agglomerations …
How carcinogenic is your CAR?
Do you want a country full of cars? Cars cause cancer. Scientists can even measure the cancer potency levels of the cars we ride. The so-called …
Real estate on water
Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …
Chhattisgarh's Industrial Jungle
Chhattisgarh is set to become the largest producer of thermal power, cement and sponge iron. The push is on to install 77 per cent of India's …