In 2023, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded a total of 399 disasters related to natural hazards. These events resulted in 86,473 fatalities and affected 93.1 million people. The economic losses amounted to US$202.7 billion. The 2023 earthquake in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic was the most catastrophic event …
Benchmarking is an effective tool to improve performance. The 2007 Benchmarking and Data Book of Water Utilities in India provides information on water utilities in 20 cities of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The analysis and profiles in this data book would be useful in identifying new …
Credit is one of the important inputs for rural development. The results will largely depend on the effective use of credit, and linkages developed with other requirements for the enterprise. The study on rural credit from various agencies such as commercial banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and District Rural …
The contradications of our rural credit system are somehow camouflaged by the "achievements" of disbursed targets and, of recent, by the success of programmes like doubling of agricultural credit. The time has come when we need to seriously look into the emerging possibility of zero-credit based organisation of production by …
Constructed wetlands (CW) are being increasingly used worldwide to treat domestic wastewater by applying various technological designs. The systems are preferentially used due to simple technology in principle, reliable operating conditions and the potential to remove total nitrogen by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. Oct-Dec 2007
The triumph of dairy industry is extremely influenced by operations, viz., procurement of milk, processing and distribution of milk and its products. Among these three components, milk procurement is the edifice of the dairy industry on which economic efficiency of dairy industry lies. Efficiency of milk procurement is heavily dependent …
Mulberry sericulture is a labour-intensive industry in all its phases, namely, cultivation of silkworm food plants, silkworm rearing, silk reeling and other post cocoon processes. In the global context, silk accounts for about 0.2 per cent of total textile fiber production. However, in value terms, silk stands for high value …
Livestock are almost an integral and inseparable component of the farming system in the state of Uttaranchal. The rural poor have sustained themselves in difficult conditions, and in their endeavour, livestock continue to be their active partner. Oct-Dec 2007
UK's consumption-based emissions analysis challenges conventional wisdom Carbon emissions of a country have been calculated on the basis of production of goods and services, until now. Emission control has been seen as a case of management at sectoral fronts like electricity and transport. A study reveals the futility of such …
On the night of October 1, 1998, when Salman Khan went hunting blackbucks, he was explicitly warned not to do so in the Bishnoi area because only a few have managed to get away from them. Yet Khan and his co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam, along …
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was introduced in 2005 with Rs 50,000-crore central aid. Another Rs 50,000 was to be raised from the private sector. The aim was to develop 63 cities into model sustainable areas. 226 projects worth Rs 18,728.73 crore have been sanctioned already under …
Until a decade ago, Kim Li Loi, Canton and Hot Wok, restaurants in the Chinatown locality of eastern Kolkata's Tangra district, collectively served as a tannery among scores of others run by Chinese immigrants. But a December 19, 1996, Supreme Court order directed these and other inner city tanners from …
new York mayor Michael R Bloomberg announced recently that the federal department of transport had awarded more than us $350 million to New York to implement the mayor's alternative plan to reduce traffic congestion. With the us $350 million, New York plans to modernise mass transit and improve quality of …
On August 17, 2007, the government of Lithuania formally decided to take the European Commission to the European Court of Justice over reduced co2 emission allowances (carbon quota) for the next carbon trading period of 2008-2012. With this, it becomes the seventh country from eastern Europe to take legal action …
Agricultural diversification has been a well established traditional farming strategy adopted individually or collectively by Indian farmer or farming communities since time immemorial to minimize risk associated with specialized production system and to ensure household food security. The state of Chhattisgarh has launched a massive crop diversification programme to support …
Agriculture is the key sector in India's economy, which has not been subject to the economic reforms. The continuous decline in the growth of output in agriculture sector, has recently invited attention of the government which has come out with a plan for development. Agricultural development is an essential condition …
Estimates show that India will produce 180 million tonnes (mt) of steel by 2020. Consumption of stainless steel has risen 14 per cent in the last 15 years in the country
India's Targeted Public Distribution System (tpds) gives subsidised essential commodities to economically weaker households. Till 1997, the system had supplied subsidised commodities to all Households under tpds are classed as Below Poverty Line (bpl) and Above Poverty Line (apl) groups based on income. bpl is further divided into bpl and …
daily commuting in metros can harm your eyes. Research by the Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, the Venu Eye Institute and Research Center and the Dr Rajendra Prasad Center for Ophthalmic Sciences says exposure to vehicular air pollution damages the surface of human eye. The results were published …
If households in Delhi replace four ordinary bulbs with four compact fluorescent lamps (cfls), their annual savings would be around Rs 273 crore. Startling figure. The highly energy inefficient incandescent light bulb is on its way out. Replacing it is the new-generation and more energy-efficient cfl (see box: Energy efficient). …
