NGO demands lifting of ban on plastic bags in Delhi

October 11th, 2009 RAJKOT - Students from different schools here have taken up an initiative to propagate mass awareness against the ill effects of using plastic bags. Despite the ban imposed on the use of plastic bags, vegetable vendors used to sell vegetables to the customers in plastic bags.

September 24th, 2009 Ireland to double tax on stores' plastic bagsDUBLIN — Ireland was the first nation to tax plastic bags as a way to stop them littering the countryside. Now the Emerald Isle plans to double its levy to a punitive 44 euro cents (59 U.S.

September 9th, 2009 Mexico City limits love affair with plastic bagMEXICO CITY — Teenagers use them to sneak beer into concerts. Morning commuters sip juice from them.

August 31st, 2009 SRINAGAR - People are lapping up environment-friendly fabric bags in Srinagar, which they say is reusable and has many benefits. With the two-month old ban on plastic bags, jute, fabric or recycled paper carrier bags have now become a common sight in the valley.

August 19th, 2009 Seattle votes down fee on plastic, paper bagsSEATTLE — Seattle voters' rejection of a 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags represents a sound defeat for other efforts in U.S. cities to limit the use of the throwaway bags, plastics industry officials said Wednesday.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite spending 17,000 crore rupees on river cleaning projects, Ganga and Yamuna were "no cleaner" now as they were two decades ago, the government has admitted in Lok Sabha. Responding to a Calling Attention Motion on checking pollution in rivers and lakes in India, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said: "I admit with full responsibility that Ganga and Yamuna are no cleaner than 20 years ago." Ramesh added that a "determined and renewed effort" was required to cleanse these major rivers.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has come under criticism from green activists for his remark that ban on plastic bags is not the way to clean up India's cities. Ramesh said in parliament Wednesday that the government would pursue a policy of encouraging bio-degradable plastic, arguing that replacing polythene bags with paper was not an eco-friendly solution as more trees would have to be cut to produce all that paper.

July 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh Wednesday said the government would pursue a policy of encouraging bio-degradable plastic and argued that banning polythene bags was no solution. It is the failure of the solid waste management by (the) local bodies that is forcing the state governments to ban the use of plastic bags, Jairam Ramesh, who holds independent charge of environment ministry, said in parliament.

June 12th, 2009 Product Recalls: Nirav Golden RaisinsThe following recall has been announced: Indian Groceries & Spices Inc. is recalling Nirav Golden Raisins because they might contain sulfites not declared on the packaging.

April 23rd, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong lawmakers Thursday approved a tax on every plastic bag handed out by supermarkets in the city as of July in a move to cut the mountain of waste created by the bags. The tax of 50 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) will be levied from July 1 in a total of 2,000 shops, including every major supermarket, in the high-rise city of seven million.

April 6th, 2009 GWALIOR - A girl in Madhya Pradesh is spearheading an awareness drive to discourage use of polythene bags by distributing cloth and jute bags to the people. What started as a small effort on part of Kamakshi, a resident of Gwalior, has now evolved into a large-scale movement.

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Thursday asked political parties and candidates to avoid the use of plastics to prepare posters, banners and other election material during campaigning as plastics are hazardous to the environment. 'The political parties and candidates should try to avoid the use of plastic/polythene for preparation of posters, banners in the interest of environmental protection,' the Election Commission (EC) has said in its set of guidelines distributed to political parties.

February 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the state government to respond to an industry forum's plea for withdrawal of complete ban on plastic carrybags in the capital. The All India Plastic Industry Association (AIPA) in its petition termed the notification was 'unjust' as the court last year asked the government only to increase the minimum permissible thickness of plastic bags from 20 microns to 40 microns - to make it more costly and discourage indiscriminate use - and not completely ban it.

January 18th, 2009 SHIMLA - The hills are looking clean again. Once an eyesore, littering the verdant mountain slopes, choking drains and scarring the environment, plastic pollution has come down dramatically in Shimla and other parts of Himachal Pradesh, four years after this north Indian state banned the use of small polythene bags.

January 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Traders and green campaigners have welcomed the imposition of a ban on the use, sale and storage of plastic bags by the Delhi government, with many calling it a long needed move. 'The ban was long overdue.