This brochure offers decision-makers in the real estate and energy industries, as well as urban and municipal developers, a broad overview of the topics of decentralised energy generation and supply, and raises awareness of the goal of decarbonisation by 2050 at the latest. The advancing digitalization in the construction and …
FOR INDIA'S aged citizenry, some good news lies ahead. The country is expected to have 76 million 60-plus people by the turn of this century, but the government's response remains blinkered to pension schemes. Now, many voluntary groups have taken on the work of providing care and warmth to the …
AT THEIR most convivial, Indian NGOs tend to keep a wide no-person's-land between themselves and the government. So when Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao called for voluntary organisations to cooperate with the government in order to eradicate poverty, they considered the possibility with lips pursed in doubt. They made …
Non-governmental organisations have accused the Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) of succumbing to pressure from the Rajasthan mining lobby and de-reserving a part of the Sariska National Park to allow mining. MEF reiterated the area of the park is 866 ha, 279 ha less than the previous figure …
Although about 4.5 per cent of Australia's population is of Asian origin, local whites know little about Asia's economy or culture. But today, growing economic ties with southeast Asian countries have made it imperative for Australians to understand the East. Changing Times, a series of film clips, examines Australian assumptions …
ESTIMATES of air pollution in Delhi caused by various sources vary, except in the case of vehicles. K P Nyati of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), says about 70 per cent of the air pollution is caused by vehicles, about 20 per cent by power plants and the rest …
RESPONDING to the lack of awareness on environmental and developmental issues in the country, some non-governmental organisations are trying to spread information in these areas on two fronts. The first is by providing news to agencies and individuals involved in environment-related issues, which is essentially an updating programme. The second …
Who organised this meeting and what was the specific purpose of this convention? The meeting was convened by the Global Infrastructure Research Foundation (GIRF) of Japan -- a body set up 10 years ago, with the Japanese government and business community as members, to sponsor very large infrastructures spanning countries …
BRITAIN'S voluntary bodies should be stripped of their charitable status, says Voluntary Action, a report published by the home office of the UK. The report, which is a comprehensive review of 1,200 organisations and hundreds of local groups in 14 different communities covering one million people, recommends that tax concessions …
NEGOTIATIONS on how to structure a more democratic Global Environment Facility (GEF), which will finance the environmental treaties signed at the Earth Summit, broke down once again in Cartagena, Colombia, in December 1993. Participating countries were unable to agree to the proposed changes to restructure the GEF, set up by …
THE EXPERIENCE of Kudumbam, a voluntary organisation based in Tamil Nadu's Pudukottai district, shows organic farming is more readily accepted by villagers when propagated by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) than by individual farmers. Kudumbam disseminates knowledge on organic farming through its Tamil monthly, Pasuthalir. With the help of the local …
Simultaneous cultivation of several crops , using organic manures and pesticides, can raise productivity, says Karnataka's L Narayana Reddy. CATTLE urine fights pests such as white flies far more effectively than chemicals such as malathion; besides, dung manure doesn't lower paddy productivity, says organic farmer L Narayana Reddy, of Sorhanese …
Inhabitants of the Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Rajasthan are to be moved once again. The STR authorities have decided to relocate 20 villages inside the sanctuary to sites outside it because, they contend, the villagers are taking a heavy toll of the reserve forest, which is made up chiefly …
Developed countries are insisting on greening GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) to minimise environmental degradation that could be caused by unshackled international trade in the post-Uruguay Round era. But this may result in barriers to trade with developing countries and also bring about a new range of protectionist …
Person 1: These international meetings get tiring, don't they? Person 2: Well, more tiresome than tiring. Person 1: Anyway, I think it's good that we are finally beginning to recognise environmental problems at the international level. My name is Donna Dogood. I used to work with the US Environmental Protection …
EVER SINCE the Earth Summit last year in Rio de Janeiro, there has been a spate of literature on sustainable development. Suddenly there is money aplenty for seminars, conferences and publications on every aspect of the subject. Suddenly corporations, multilateral agencies and even governments are anxious to fund research or …
The proposed National Environment Tribunal bill has sparked off a debate in legal, environmental and industrial circles. The bill, expected to be tabled by the government in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, proposes a national tribunal devoted to environmental matters and the settlement of compensation for accidents. It has, …
THE FUNDAMENTAL theme of organic farming or natural farming is its ecological approach: It makes maximum possible use of organic wastes, originating from the farm, to keep up soil fertility. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which has 360 member organisations in more than 65 countries, unites their …
IT IS THE season of the kerempt or "big rains", and the sky is often overcast. Four hours south of Addis Ababa, with the rain turning the roads into swamps, it is a different world. The sense of helplessness, the sense of waiting, the dependence on nature -- it's there …
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that do not help in the government's family planning programmes may get debarred from receiving government funds. Since the beginning of October, the government has made it mandatory for NGOs that draw government funds to promote family planning. The decision came in the wake of an unequivocal …
"IF TISSUE culture companies can make profits, why can't villagers?" asks C R Raju, who has developed a tissue culture technique that he claims is cheap and easily transferable to the people -- a feat research laboratories are still to achieve. Raju developed the low-cost technique as part of voluntary …
