Full coverage: Governance

31.12.2005 Disastri naturali, temperature record e crescita senza controllo della Cina. La pubblicazione del primo rapporto che documenta gli effetti dell’azione antropica sull’ecosistema pianeta, l’entrata in vigore del protocollo di Kyoto e la rara scoperta di un mammifero terrestre nel Borneo. Questi alcuni degli eventi che hanno caratterizzato dal punto di vista ambientale il 2005. Il bilancio “verde” internazionale si chiude con un saldo negativo, le buone notizie infatti non bilanciano le cattive. In Italia i conti dell’anno si chiudono ancora più “profondamente” in rosso per la mancata strategia politica e per l’incremento delle emissioni di gas serra. I danni economici accertati a causa dei cataclismi avvenuti sono stati di circa 200 miliardi di dollari con incrementi importanti in rapporto agli ultimi anni. L’Italia ha poi conquistato la maglia nera delle procedure d’infrazione a livello comunitario. Quest’anno per la prima volta si è arrivati a ben 70 procedure d’infrazione, 10 delle quali per non aver dato seguito alle richieste di chiarimento della Commissione. Due le condanne per violazione delle normative sui rifiuti e una multa di 700 milioni di euro per mancata applicazione del Protocollo di Kyoto.

30.12.2005 A recent report by an Indian government agency says that little attention is being paid to the standardisation, research and development of the Indian traditional system of medicine - ayurveda.

30.12.2005 At least 14,000 minors were abducted by State and Maoists, of which 60 were killed during conflict, in the past ten months, says a report.The report presented by Child Workers in Nepal, (CWIN), at Kathmandu, Nepal said that all the minors were abducted and disappeared in between January 2005 to November, by the belligerent sides

30.12.2005 The Tamil Nadu Government will give Rs.10 crores each to all the universities in the State to implement programmes in the higher education sector outlined by President A.P.J Abdul Kalam and contained in the Vision 2010 programme of the Government.

30.12.2005 In a big step forward to make the ambitious mid-day meal scheme for children more attractive, HRD ministry has asked state governments to mobilise mothers to monitor the cooking and feeding of the meals.

30.12.2005 As bulks of rural development outlays are employment-related, there is considerable scope for the various schemes to be streamlined and re-fashioned as an employment guarantee scheme.

29.12.2005 Chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited N.R. Narayana Murthy on Wednesday said corruption has become pervasive in institutions in the country and there is a strong incentive for politicians to keep people ignorant and illiterate.

29.12.2005 In Dorli village in Wardha, farmers simply put up signs announcing their whole village was for sale. It worked, with the local MP giving them Rs.10 lakh. Eslewhere, despair only deepens. Farm suicides have begun in rich Western Maharashtra, too.

29.12.2005 The former Secretary to the Government of India and Trustee of the Catalyst Trust, A.K. Venkataubramanian said that unless there is overwhelming participation from the citizens, the Right to Information Act would not succeed.

29.12.2005 Adolescence, for most, is a period of confusion, and many fall wayward due to absence of timely intervention and guidance. In an effort to make adolescents cope up with the pressures of the modern day, the Rotary Mysore Midtown conducted a programme on life skill education for adolescents recently.

29.12.2005 Several hundred teachers of non-government primary school under the banner of Bangladesh Non-government Primary School Teachers' Association have passed the second consecutive day of their "fast unto death programme" demanding nationalisation of their schools and jobs.

28.12.2005 Environmentalists and business leaders are applauding politicians in seven northeast U.S. states for forming an alliance to mandate greenhouse gas emission reductions while keeping costs down.

28.12.2005 Le fonti energetiche alternative possono rappresentare un’opportunità per l’impianto produttivo italiano. Questo è quanto emerge dal rapporto Enea 2005 sullo sviluppo delle fonti rinnovabili in Italia. Ma per ora il vero problema è migliorare l’efficienza energetica che negli ultimi trent’anni ha perso 6,5 punti percentuali. Per chiarire il come, vengono presentate le Energy Service Company, da cui l’acronimo ESCO. ‘L’Esco è una società che realizza a sue spese un progetto di ristrutturazione energetica finalizzato a ridurre al minimo le inefficienze, gli sprechi e gli usi impropri dell’energia’ scrive Maurizio Pallante nel suo libro ‘Un futuro senza luce?’. I risparmi che si ottengono sui costi di gestione consentono di ammortizzare i costi d’investimento di queste tecnologie. Altro buon esempio è quello del Comune di Bressanone che ha sostituito tutte le lampade ad incandescenza installate nelle lanterne semaforiche con speciali lampade semaforiche a led. Il compenso concordato con la società di servizi è, infatti, strettamente vincolato all’ammontare della quantità di energia risparmiata dagli impianti semaforici.

28.12.2005 Emphasizing on the need for developing an education model to ensure that the youth contributed towards economic growth of the country, President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam called for steps to gear up the education system to arm the students with special capacities.

28.12.2005 An updated website, extension of online tax collection system for collection of underground drainage charges and facility to pay taxes through credit cards are among the major highlights of the initiatives undertaken by the Tiruchi Corporation in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to extend e-governance system.

28.12.2005 The scheme, in vogue in Anantapur district, should be implemented in Kadapa district too, the Collector said while addressing (district Rural Development Agency) DRDA district samakhya meeting here. Loans of Rs. 70 crores would be disbursed among self-help groups in the next quarter, he said.

28.12.2005 In the controversial adoption of the 500 orphans of the quake-hit Uri and Tangdhar case, the J-K High Court (HC) today directed the state government to verify credentials of the Pune based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has adopted them.

28.12.2005 Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Bashir Ahmed Khan has said that 20,000 quake-related cases settled by the Lok Adalats in 34 days would have taken 22 years normally.

27.12.2005 National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) appeared to be keen to re-open sick dairies in Gujarat and as part of this process, inaugurated the Junagadh Dairy here on December 24.

27.12.2005 Public investments which boost yields are falling thanks to rising subsidies, while the rising private investments actually reduce yields, through lowering of the water table, for instance.