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Download PDF version The last few weeks have witnessed a ban on the slaughter and possession of bulls, bullocks and calves, in addition to cows, in Maharashtra and then in Haryana. The BJP, in power in both these states as well as the centre, has argued that they have agreed to a long-standing demand from various sections of society. In this article published in EPW in 1979, economist K N Raj analyses the demand of Vinoba Bhave for banning cow slaughter in West Bengal and Kerala—a debate that is continuing even today. K N Raj (1924-2010) was an Indian economist, associated with the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi. Abstract of the article:  Vinoba Bhave's demand for banning cow slaughter in Kerala and West Bengal and his fast for gain-ing its acceptance raise three sets of issues; (a) the constitutional and legal basis of the demand, (b) its economic rationale, and (c) the political implications an...

“The Gangotri glacier is retreating like other glaciers in the Himalayas and its volume and size are shrinking as well,” a report, titled ‘Estimation of retreat rate of Gangotri glacier using rapid static and kinematic GPS survey’, by scientists from the Almora-based G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development has stated. The institute has been monitoring the Himalayan glaciers, particularly the Gangotri, since 1999. According to the report, “Recessional moraines and broad glacial terrace-like features provide sufficient evidences of shrinking of the glacier in the recent past between Gaumukh and Bhojbasa.” The Gangotri, one of the largest Himalayan glaciers, is in Uttarkashi district. Originating at about 7,100m above sea level, the glacier is 30.2km long and has a width that varies between 0.5 and 2.5km. The Bhagirathi,one of the main tributaries of the Ganga, originates from the glacier, which has retreated more than 1,500 metres in the last 70 years. ...

Hopes report will be debated once Lok Sabha election is over Jairam Ramesh Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday described the Gadgil panel report on the Western Ghats as the “road map” for conservation of the ecologically-sensitive hills and hoped it would be resurrected for a “dispassionate debate” once the heat and dust of the next Lok Sabha election settled.