'In the past six months, capital markets have seen a dip, and realty is struggling. The stock-market investor will be cautious of putting that investment in real estate when there may be a slowdown coming.'
The panelists expressed their views at a national workshop on 'Reforms in Environmental Regulation' organised in New Delhi with an aim to provide a platform to discuss the proposed role of National Environment Protection Authority.
The environment ministry is likely to soon issue regulations that will mandate automakers to recycle a specified percentage of steel from old vehicles, starting from the next financial year, according to people familiar with the matter. "We recently held a meeting with members of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). "The final regulations are likely to be issued in the next 10 days," a government source informed.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
A draft paper envisaging such stringent rules by seeking an amendment in Environment (Protection) Act 1986 is being prepared by a panel set up to examine the issues relating to monitoring compliance of environmental clearance conditions and will soon be available for public opinion.
'If it is not reversed, it will set a dangerous precedent.'
Says pre-1991 licence raj should not return, clearance process to be overhauled.
In most circumstances, this would have been the cause for widespread handwringing and lamentation. But in today's India, the response was more one of relief than one of shock.
These human interventions in nature, along with climate change, are responsible for the disaster faced by the pilgrim town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand, which is sinking, he said.
New government controls across a wide swath of industries are on the way
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
The year 2010 was a loud year when high profile projects hit the headlines for non-compliance with environmental regulations.
The 'Indira Gandhi award for best debut film' and the 'Nargis Dutt award for best feature film on national integration' have been retitled with the names of the late prime minister and legendary actor being dropped as part of a raft of changes for the National Film Awards, according to a notification.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has commissioned a quality check on MDH and Everest products. This follows complaints that several popular spice mixes of the two leading brands contained traces of ethylene oxide more than the permissible levels, official sources said. This move by FSSAI comes after Hong Kong and Singapore recalled variants of the two masala majors' products in their countries.
Road builders have been asking for one to resolve various contract disputes and renegotiate others.
Attention Deficit Disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties with attention, concentration and impulse control, explains Mehezabin Dordi, clinical psychologist at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.
The Centre has increased the area granted to individual players by more than four fold in order to boost mining of critical minerals. Issuing an order on Tuesday, the government said, for mining leases, the area has been expanded from the current limit of 10 sq km to 50 sq km. For prospecting licences (granted in the case of composite licence), the limit has been increased from 25 sq km to 100 sq km.
The PMK has now lent its voice to the protests against the mining of atomic minerals in Kanyakumari.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday called for new tougher regulations in the wake of the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst environmental disaster in the American history.
Dengue has become a major public health concern in India with 289,235 cases reported last year. This year there were 19,447 cases of dengue which resulted in 19 deaths till April 2024.
The Supreme Court observed on Tuesday it is more concerned about the risk factors than anything else when it comes to the conditional approval granted by the Centre for environmental release of genetically modified (GM) mustard. On October 25 last year, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment ministry had approved the environmental release of transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11 and the parental lines containing barnase, barstar and bar genes so they can be used for developing new hybrids. The apex court is hearing separate pleas by activist Aruna Rodrigues and NGO 'Gene Campaign' seeking a moratorium on the release of any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment pending a comprehensive, transparent and rigorous bio-safety protocol in the public domain conducted by agencies of independent expert bodies the results of which are made public.
'Today, environment has become an issue of political debate. It has become a media issue. I think that is a good development.'
Bengaluru recorded the highest green building stock at 140 million square feet, followed by Delhi-National Capital Region at 74 msf, and Hyderabad at 72 msf for Grade A office buildings as of September 2023.
'With technology advancing, we should go all out and put up solar, wind, pumped storage, and battery, and make India go green.'
In a step towards diversifying its resource base and securing green energy minerals, India is poised to launch its first-ever offshore mineral auction in the first quarter of 2024, announced Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi during the launch event of the National Geoscience Data Repository portal. The government plans to hold auctions in March, offering 10-15 blocks for bidding. Meanwhile, the ministry of mines is currently developing rules and regulations for offshore mining.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said pollution levels declined in the national capital due to government initiatives as he announced a 15-point winter action plan to curb pollution.
It aims at tackling issues such as child labour, mistreatment of workers, and denial of basic wages, among others. There will also be penalties for non-compliance.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Investors are yet to warm up to the concept of sustainable investing with sustainable or ESG (environmental, social, and governance) funds in India witnessing outflows of Rs 315 crore in 2021-22. This comes following a staggering inflow of Rs 4,884 crore in FY 2020-21. Prior to that, sustainable funds saw an infusion of over Rs 2,000 crore, according to data compiled by Morningstar India.
ISB professor Tarun Jain talks to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com about what the government must do to achieve 8 pc growth.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the Delhi government's order putting a comprehensive ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in the city, saying people's health is important.
Closure has meant loss of Rs 2,000 crore to the public exchequer; around three per cent of Tamil Nadu's Gross State Domestic Product is from the facility
India's electric two-wheeler (E2W) sector is expected to cross the one million mark in 2024 fuelled by rising demand, increased production, and affordability, industry experts said, even as several original equipment makers are expanding their penetration to rural areas. Improved battery technology and innovative features are also likely to fuel growth, they said. "E2W sales will breach the 1-million mark in 2024 as the demand for electric two-wheelers is expected to continue growing due to factors such as environmental awareness, government incentives, and improvements in technology," Hyder Khan, chief executive officer (CEO), Godawari Electric Motors, said.
In recent years, the twin demands of both religion and defence have been added to the development argument to sweep aside environmental and terrain considerations while undertaking infrastructure development in the Himalayan zone, points out former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The National Green Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti to hold a meeting within a month to consider the issue of regulating extraction of ground water for maintenance of play grounds.
Describing Bodh Gaya as the "land of enlightenment", Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government would develop the site as the spiritual capital for it to serve as a civilisational bond between India and the Buddhist world.
This State-corporate 'cooperation' didn't begin with the arrival of the Modi government.
Many of the big licences, contracts, and even environmental clearances for the Adani group had come in the UPA's time, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Mutual funds (MFs) are lining up distinguished new fund offerings (NFOs) for the next financial year to win over investors after a lukewarm response to product launches in the 2022-23 financial year (FY23). NFOs drew a lukewarm response in FY23 as launches were mostly in the passive debt space, which has a comparatively lower popularity among retail investors. The limited launches in equity space also failed to rake in huge sums due to subdued investor sentiments in a volatile market.
