Environmental News : September 2011


Delhi and its noise levels
Delhi has some of the noisiest roads in the country, a recent decibel survey by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found. In some places of Delhi, noise levels going up as high as 106 decibels due to constant vehicular honking. The standard for a silence zone is 50 decibels, while it is 55 decibels for residential areas. Constant exposure to noise has serious health impacts. Prolonged exposure to noise above the decibel level of 60 can lead to irreversible Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Sound becomes painful as it reaches 120 decibels. Chronic exposure to sound beyond 85 decibels for eight hours can cause irreversible hearing loss. A 140-decibel sound impulse next to the ear can tear the eardrum. Every increase of 10 decibels makes the sound twice as loud to the human ear. 

Joint Committee in favour of Endosulfan Exports
The committee, appointed by SC, has submitted its interim report on the best way to dispose the available stock of endosulfan in light of the ban on the manufacture, sale, use and export of pesticides. And the report suggests exports. Currently India has no facilities to dispose pesticides. The proposed Pesticides Management Bill 2008, which will replace the 1968 Insecticides Act, has a provision for the disposal of pesticides within three months of their being declared spurious and out dated.  

'Energy' drinks packed with caffeine
Energy Drinks have been in India since 2002. Currently there are several brands such as Red Bull, Coca Cola's Burn, Goldwin Healthcare's Cloud 9 and SJ's XXX in in India. Energy drinks are in controversy because of its high caffeine content. Most of these brands have upto 320 ppm of caffeine in them. These drinks are marketed as an instant source of energy. Centre for Science and Environment’s Pollution Monitoring Lab carries out tests on leading ‘energy’ drink brands like Red Bull and Cloud 9. Finds high levels of caffeine in 44 per cent of the samples. Caffeine is a psycho-stimulant. Too much of it can lead to seizures, strokes and even death. Forty-four per cent of the samples tested by CSE breached the safe limit of 145 parts per million (ppm) of caffeine prescribed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954. 

World development report 2012: gender equality and development
The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development published by World Bank will focus on the evolution of gender equality across the world in the context of the development process. The report will consider gender equality as a core development goal in itself, and will argue that gender equality matters for the pace of development. Improvements in gender equality can generate gains in economic efficiency and improvements in other development outcomes. The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development will focus on the evolution of gender equality across the world in the context of the development process. The report will consider gender equality as a core development goal in itself, and will argue that gender equality matters for the pace of development. Improvements in gender equality can generate gains in economic efficiency and improvements in other development outcomes.

CDP global 500 report 2011: accelerating low carbon growth
The 2011 edition of the annual CDP Global 500 report examines the carbon reduction activities at the world’s largest public corporations. Low carbon growth is now widely accepted as fundamental to generating long term shareholder value, avoiding dangerous climate change and helping the global economy recover from recent turmoil. It is for these reasons that in 2011, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) sent its annual request to the Global 500 companies, asking them to measure and report what climate change means for their business. This year, 81% (404) of corporations from the Global 500 responded to the CDP questionnaire. The report looks at how companies that are strategically focused on accelerating low carbon growth – i.e. those in the Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI) – tend to perform better, not only in terms of greenhouse gas emissions management, but also in terms of financial performance.

source : cseindia

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