This inside story forms part of the CDKN Knowledge for Change series, which reflects on the common challenges, lessons and successes CDKN and its partners have encountered in facilitating evidence-based decision-making to accelerate climate action. The aim of this work is to better understand how knowledge and evidence on climate …
BJP replicates Knowledge Commission in Karnataka The Sam Pirtoda-headed National Knowledge Commission (nkc) may have had many run-ins with different arms of the upa government but the good work done by it has finally earned it cross-party recognition. The Bjp-led government in Karnataka recently launched a state panel modelled on …
Green collar jobs involve different management and operational functions in environment-friendly products and services. So, green collar jobs, by definition, include blue- and white-collar jobs. Specifically, they include the design, manufacture, financing, installation, operation and maintenance of green technology and services. A green workforce encompasses professionals such as conservation workers, …
Last fortnight, the National Knowledge Commission (nkc) in association with the Centre for Science and Environment (cse), launched a one-stop shop for all that is green and concerns environment and development issues. "If this is the age of environment, then information will be the key to change - in our …
National Knowledge Commission chief Sam Pitroda pointed out last week that we have 370 universities when we need 1,500. But Arjun Singh is more focused on implementing quotas There are usually two reasons why governments appoint commissions. One, because they genuinely want to make changes and need information on how …
Historically, if we wanted to understand what someone's income level was, all we had to do was ask what country they were from. In the future, this will no longer be true. Instead, we'll ask what level of education they have achieved. This is because information and communications technology is …
The report of the National Knowledge Commission on higher education makes several important recommendations, and after due review they should be implemented in a mission mode for a much-needed revolution. The National Knowledge Commission's report on higher education is one in the series that started with the report of the …
This paper outlines the nature of the linkages between environment and globalization, especially highlighting the fact that these are two-way linkages: not only can the processes of globalization impact the environment, but the dynamics of the environment can also impact and shape the nature of globalization. It begins exploring these …
During one of the meetings of the World Water Commission, which recently submitted its report in The Hague to a bevy of water ministers, a member had strongly emphasised the need for educating politicians about the importance of water. I, however, found that argument incorrect because I have rarely met …
the American linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky once asserted that human beings, apart from being the only species able to communicate through a spoken language, are further endowed at birth with an innate linguistic ability. What Chomsky meant is that the human brain is essentially precon-ditioned to construct the …
as long as those little, green men do not show up, the third stone from the sun - Earth - remains the only planet that can boast of life. In fact, life is in such abundance here that science can often lose track of all the various lifeforms that we …
MONKEYS have an amazing knowledge of medicinal plants. When they fall ill or get hurt they cure themselves by eating plants commonly found around them. A long-term study undertaken by the author in the 1990s in Delhi to determine the effects of food on the health of monkeys, brings to …
IF THERE is One striking feature about the intellectual landscape today, it is the increasing importance of science as opposed to literature or philosophy. Scientists are at the centrestage of intellectual debates on various issues ranging from the nature of the mind to that of the universe. This is in …
The New Science Journalists is packed with the kind of science reporting that is intelligent, well-written, entertaining and educative. The editors of the book, like the participants of the Blinding with Science conference, feel that the general public lacks understand- ing and appreciation ofscience. A few people have suggested that …
MODERNITY meets tradition at the General Informations Service Terminal-National Informatics Centre (gistnic) -- a database on traditional science and technologies of India -- located at the National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi. Here, information on disciplines, ranging from Indian medicine to ancient agricultural practices, can be accessed. This knowledge has …
BELOW a few shimmering points of achievements, the underside of Indian science is a vast abyss of failure and frustration. The contours of the 7th largest pool of scientifically trained personnel in the world are largely unmapped, simply because any social cartographer's exploration into this field makes for a gloomy …
INDIANS have always stored rain water, sometimes enough for several years in anticipation of droughts. In most parts, it rains only for three months -- during the monsoon. The country is full of indigenous water harvesting structures, known variously as eries, kulams, kuntas, cheruvus and johads. They show enormous diversity …
