Minimum interference, maximum yields
Cultivation with the least amount of human intervention can yield rich harvests and does not degrade the soil
Search Results
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The Root Of All Evil
Laws meant to protect the forests are doing exactly the opposite. Funds for afforestation programmes are pocketed by the corrupt and land remains denuded in the process
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Battle zone: Humans vs elephants
Afterwards, an eerie silence envelops the field. There is only the crop
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Science cannot be a minion to wealth
A journalist without the pretensions of a scientist that's how JOHN MADDOX, editor of Nature for 15 years, would like to see himself. On his recent tour of India, Maddox talked to SUMANTA PAL on what went wrong with science and scientific establishment
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Is it time for Asia to abandon the dream of an effective multilateral climate treaty and adopt new approach?
<p><em>For growing economies the stress has to be on patterns of natural resource use and not on the status of natural resources; that is, dealing with the causes rather than the symptoms of the problem
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Carving oases in drought prone Kutch
The Shree Vivekananda Research and Training Institute has made a name for itself, helping villagers in Kutch district. Among its innumerable projects are solving water problems, soil conservation and dairy farming
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Global sustainable development goals: Sustainability is about the use, Distribution and scarcity of natural resources - Eradicating poverty and saving the climate
<p>With relations between countries now being shaped by geo-economics rather than geo-politics, an emerging issue is to what extent the United States, China and India, all populous countries and top tier
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Initial thoughts on the elements for a draft decision
<p><img alt="" src="http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/media/iep/homepage/msanwal_blog.jpg" style="width: 610px; height: 119px; margin: 14px;" />Technical examination and periodic assessmentswith respect
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"There can be no development without women"
REACHING Doongri, a picturesque village perched 1,750 m above sea level in the Pindar valley in Chamoli district, is a daunting task. The nearest bus stand is at Narayan Bagad, 12 km away and at a height of about 1,100 m. From there, a narrow, slippery mo
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Moving towards commercialisation
MNES anticipates that its financing in the last two years of the Eighth Plan will be augmented by about Rs 1,300 crore, with the additional funding coming mainly as external assistance from the World Bank and GEF.
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Soaking in the sun
The US is trying to revive solar thermal power technology
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Six firms express interest in solar power generation
Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency will invite proposals soon Officials will visit Germany and Spain where large solar photovoltaic power plants have come up Programme to encourage generation of grid quality power from megawatt-sized solar plants CHENNAI: Half-a-dozen companies have expressed interest in implementing the recently unveiled national programme on solar power generation in the State. Noting that this is only in the formative stage, a senior official says that soon the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency will formally invite proposals from these companies, and specific projects will be formulated at the end of this process. Also, as part of firming up its plan to promote solar energy, the State Government has decided to depute to Germany and Spain the Agency's two senior officers, including its chairman-cum-managing director Mohan Verghese Chunkath. The two nations have been chosen since most of the recently installed large solar photovoltaic power plants have come up there. Distribution losses An official document of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy states that in view of the large potential of solar energy in the country, the Ministry has launched a demonstration programme to encourage grid quality power generation from megawatt-sized solar power plants. Besides capacity addition, the proposed plants could help to tackle peak load operations and reduce distribution losses caused by voltage drops in several regions. Under this programme, registered companies, as project developers, would be encouraged to set up solar power projects on a build, own and operate basis. The Ministry will provide generation-based incentive up to Rs. 12 a unit for solar photovoltaic and Rs. 10 a unit for solar thermal power fed to the grid. Proposals from each developer with a maximum aggregate capacity of 5 megawatt (MW) will be considered. Totally, the Government will provide incentive for installation of 50-MW solar power projects. The projects with an aggregate capacity of 10 MW in a State will be considered for support. However, preference will be given to the projects from the States where the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions have announced, or about to announce, tariff for solar power. The Centre will also provide an incentive of 10 paise a unit to power utilities and one- time incentive of Rs. 2 lakh per MW to the State nodal agencies for their assistance in implementation and monitoring of the projects. The generation-based incentives announced by the Centre are over and above the tariff that will be determined by the commissions and should not go into the calculation of tariff, the document says.
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Private sector reluctant to invest in water, power projects
ISLAMABAD (February 16 2008): The government is confronting a tough time in attracting private sector's investment in water and power projects as the government has lined more than 40 development projects for Public Private Partnership (PPP). As an informal cut of around 70 billion on 2007-08 PSDP allocation has been placed, the government has speeded up the process of putting the development projects for investment from private sector both in and outside the country, sources told Business Recorder. The investors are not coming forward according to the expectations of the government in hydro-electric and water projects, especially the planned big reservoirs as the government is yet to remove certain reservations about these important projects, the sources said. The planned Basha, Munda and some other projects have been lined for PPP mode of execution. However, there are certain reservations of the private sector's investors on these projects. The government will have to give a resettlement action plan of these projects before taking these projects up with private investors, according to the sources. The sources, however, said that there was overwhelming response from private sector to fully or partially fund projects in other sectors especially the communication, water supply, sanitation, sewerage and solid waste management. Pakistan needs at least 10 percent GDP allocation for development budget, around 20 billion US dollars for one year. This is a huge amount that is actually more than the annual tax collection, which the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made in the past. For the year 2007-08, the tax collection target is little over Rs one trillion and there are indications that FBR would not be able to meet the target, the sources said. In this scenario the PPP mode for taking development agenda forward is must, the sources said. The government has established an independent cell in the planning and development (P&D) division to refer almost every development projects to Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF), an autonomous body to look for investors in launching development projects. The Planning Commission, according to the sources, is required to do a lot to make the projects implementation mechanism neat and clean. This will be a pre-requisite for attracting local and foreign investors in investing in the development schemes. There is a need that the government should do it swiftly in order to maintain the overall growth, Pakistan has achieved in the recent years. A recent World Bank report says that Pakistan is suffering from dearth of infrastructure in water, irrigation, power and transport sector. The report enlists corruption as one of the main reasons that hinders the development drive in Pakistan. Delays in projects' implementation, lack of skilled workforce and implementation of some development schemes on political basis are other factors for unreasonably slowing the development process. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008
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Staple diet on the rot
Tonnes of potatoes rot due to the dysfunctioning of two cold storage units in West Bengal, polluting the eco system and upsetting the economy
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Bidding low for first ever US emissions auction
Most of the permits to pollute set up for auction by the US Environmental Protection Agency could not be sold, as the bidding failed to reach the designated minimum price.
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Change of heart
Green tax measures are welcomed in various states of America
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On deadly grounds
Polluting industries choke the ecosystem of a Nepal village
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Pollution Pvt. Ltd.
A polluting industrial unit in Gujarat continues to operate, despite the state Pollution Control Board issuing notices to shut it down
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In court
Settlement with Naveda
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Female bias?
Environment can lead to a skewed male to female ratio environment can influence the ratio of males to females in plants as well as in human beings, say studies done by two different teams of scientists. In case of plants, it is an aspect of demography balancing the population. For us, it is an environmental effect whose cause can be traced back to our activities. It has been seen