Globalisers retreating into little shells
In 20 years, the world has come full circle: in the mid 1980s the process of globalisation intensified with the rich countries taking the lead in interconnecting countries because it was in their
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Strong colas and weak governments
When we released our study on pesticides in soft drinks, our objective was clear: we needed action on regulations, which had been stymied because of corporate pressure. What we hadn t anticipated was
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Urban growth model needs reality check
Urban India is beginning to explode. The question is if our cities will be able to manage this growth or will they just burst at the seams? The reason I ask this is because we still don t have a clue
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Another India is (not) ours
At a media studded book release function, a leading editor was recounting a recent incident. He was travelling with a top Uttar Pradesh politician who we will not name but call Mr A in his brand
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Climate: the market's Achilles heel
Last fortnight I wrote about making space for emissions. Let s discuss how this can be done. Let s discuss this with governments meeting, possibly for the millionth time, to discuss the global
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Poor regulators do not a rich country make
IN this past month, farmer associations in Haryana and Tamil Nadu have located and burnt field trials for genetically modified Bt rice. In Chhattisgarh the state government has stopped similar trials
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Economics of congestion
THE Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers siam says India produced over 10 million vehicles in 2006. The number of cars was more than one million. As the manufacture and sale of vehicles are
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2006: The waterloo year
<img src="image/20070115/5.jpg" align="right"> THE year 2006 will go down as environment's watershed year. This is not because this year we have had extraordinary success in environmental management; there was also no environmental disaster <i>per se</i>. This year must be remembered because the task of environmental management has come to be even more contested and even more challenged. Protests against environmental degradation have grown. But so have efforts to deny environmental concerns or to dilute regulations.
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Guns, saws and double standards
RECENTLY, the Rajasthan High Court, concerned about lesser tigers in the Ranthambore tiger reserve, directed that all vehicles should be denied entry into the park. The response was immediate and
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The politics of inefficient irrigation technology
Call it is one of the unknown Indian ironies. Over many years, the Indian state, through its public irrigation agencies, has systematically taken over the management of surface water systems. It has
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Agriculture: Don't fix is the government's fix
It can be said that Union budget, 2007, is high on symbolism and intent. Most people in and close to power acknowledge that something is spoiling booming India s party price rise, agricultural
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Goa's mining problems
We were standing between a massive mine and a stunning water reservoir. Local activists were explaining to me that this iron ore mine was located in the catchment of the Salaulim water reservoir, the
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When markets do work
Some innovations change lives. A favourite of mine is the village milk collection system, a cooperative model. There s a dairy in the village, people bring in milk, the dairy in
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Efficiency versus democracy
Industrialist Ratan Tata has reportedly written to the prime minister cribbing about delays in implementing big buck projects. In his capacity as the chair of the government s investment commission
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Pricing food in poor India
The government is being severely criticised for the wheat it is now planning to import. Rightly so. India s season for wheat ended a few months ago. When the crop was being harvested the
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Bottled water costs us the earth
The botted water industry is global in nature. But it is designed to sell the same product to two completely different markets one water rich and the other water scarce. The question is whether this
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The China affair: what it means to us
A journalist recently called me to check if I thought that India had the same food consumer product record as China. He wanted to know if we face the problems that are plaguing Chinese exports of
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In credible India
Sometimes, a fortnight can mirror a year. With the year-end approaching, a flashback is usually in order. But recent events have made completely clear to me where we are and where we are headed. <br>
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The laboratory of development
How will vast regions of India, where highly unreliable rainfall makes the difference between famine and sustenance, cope with climate change? Over 85 per cent of the cultivated area in this country
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The Nano-flyover syndrome
Last fortnight, when the world's richest Indian Lakshmi Mittal visited Kolkata, the city of his youth, he was thrilled to see change. Mittal told the media that the biggest difference he saw was the many flyovers dotting the city skyline and "disciplined traffic".