sharpeye

By Dr Arvind Kumar Recent years have seen pollution becoming rampant in major rivers of India and the level of pollution of ground and underground water is also reaching irreparable intensity. Industries located on the banks of rivers release industiral wastage and effluents into the rivers or bury them underground. Much of the pollution goes unnoticed thanks to the apathy of authorities or nexus between the concerned authority and industry. Pollution is a national problem and it should be dealt with seriously. The very fact that the polluters remain undeterred by the existing laws makes it apparent that these existing laws are not tough enough to bring the polluters to books. Therefore, the Union Government should consider a law that provides for stiff penalty against those who pollute underground and surface water and country’s vast coastline with human waste, industrial pollutants and dumped or leaked oil. The judicial intervention has resulted in relocation of some polluting indu...

By Dr Arvind Kumar The vast majority of public service operators in the world are in the public sector and 90 per cent of all major cities are served by such bodies. In other words, the largest pool of experience and expertise, and the great majority of examples of good practice and sound institutions, are to be found in existing public sector. Because they are public sector, however, they do not have any natural commercial incentive to provide international support. Their incentive stems from solidarity, not profit. Since 1990, however, the policies of international donors and development banks have focussed on the private companies and their incentives. The vast resources of the public sector have been overlooked, even blocked by pro-private policies. Out of sight of these global policy-makers, however, a growing number of public sector companies have been engaged, in a great variety of ways, in helping others develop the capacity to be effective and accountable public services. Th...

By Dr Arvind Kumar Nature has endowed us with varieties of flora and fauna which also contain many herbals. Sea buckthorn is such herbal plant which possesses many medicinal values. It grows on hill slopes, riversides, lakes, seashores and other wastelands. In the Indian Subcontinent it is visible in high-altitude regions ranging from 2000 metres to 5500 metres above sea level while in Europe it exists in lower reaches. It is a plant of cold regions of Asia and Europe. Apart from Ladakh region of J&K, sea buckthorn is found in plenty in Lahaul-Spiti, upper Kinnuar and Pangi areas of Himachal Pradesh. It is also found in Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. According to broad estimates, the maximum of about 11500 hectares of area in Ladakh is under sea buckthorn. In view of the medicinal virtues of this ancient plant many countries are vying for exploiting it for medical and financial gains. China is reported to possess about 90 per cent of the earth's total sea buckthorn ...