The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since …
chungli , an industrial city of 300,000 people in Taoyan county, about 60 km from capital Taipei, is witnessing a poli-tical war over garbage. : great wall of trash' has been rising up in the city ever since the local authorities stopped collecting garbage bags from dumps in street corners …
The cycling junkets of the chief minister (CM) of Delhi, Sahib Singh Verma, came to a breaking halt with the sudden turn of events at the Centre. The CM has been pedalling hard on his bicycle to push for - payment of the dues owed by the Centre to the …
the newly-elected Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal's move to provide free irrigation water and electricity to farmers will only harm the economy and the environment, without helping those it is meant to. Anything that comes cheap is overused or misused. Farmers must learn to use irrigation water effectively or …
according to an eminent agricultural scientist, when he first entered Krishi Bhavan (the headquarters of the agriculture ministry in New Delhi), an Indian Administrative Service officer who used to work there told him that he had discovered to his surprise that the building was not situated on the road to …
The anti-corruption crusades of Krishna Bhaurao Hazare (popularly known as Anna Hazare) and G R Khairnar (former municipal commissioner, Mumbai) have received considerable media attention. With T N Seshan also keen to join their ranks, another spirited citizen is likely to take on the mantle of an anti-corruption crusader. I, …
Retired captain Jai Narain Prasad Nishad, 66, minister of state for environment and forests, still looks every inch a soldier, wearing his 20 years in both the Army and the Navy with pride. And the bearing seems to fit comfortably with his earnest plans to "clean up the system' and …
In the 1996 ninth general elections in India, water as an issue figured prominently in at least nine states. Among them all, Nalgonda in the Telengana region in Andhra Pradesh takes the cake. Nearly 500 farmers of the Telengana Jalasadra Samakhiya filed nomination papers, aiming to disrupt the electoral process …
CONSIDERED one of the world's top palaeontologists, conservationists and lately a politician, Richard Leakey has always been in the centre of controversies in Kenya. It is his recent foray into politics after a stormy period as head of the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), that has shocked many and currently invited …
I the only one who remembers the Rio Summit? Am I the Only one who remembers all the noise that American NGOSI environmentalists and internationalists were making about George Bush dillydallying on whether or not to attend the b Sageek (though, in the end he did)? Am I the only …
"IMAGINE: going to the office, wading through streets piled with muck, wearing sloshboots boats ... faces in the crowd hidden behind gas masks ... long queues in front of fair price shops rationing out weekly portions of fresh water (5 litres per head), vegetables and fishImutton. The last homes for …
A FEW months before he was unceremoniously shifted to the ministry of textiles, India's minister for environment and forests Karnal Nath had told a staff member of the Centre for Science and Environment that while usually it @s the job of officials to brief a minister, the opposite was the …
After overcoming the trials and tribulations engendered by apart heid, South Africa has turned its attention to an issue of equality that transcends race: empowering women to play an active role in the nation's political process. A proposal for intro-ducing reservation of seats for women in the country's legislatures is …
MELANCHOLIA, with its miasma of tearful pomp and self-flagellating candour, is turning out to be the US's most unforgettable characteristic. Take Republican senator Bob Dole. "I regret that we have failed the American people again," he said, honking of elephantine angst. His attempts 'last month to ram the Regulatory Reform …
Karnataka: More responsible than men MADHU SARIN IN 1987, more than 14,000 women were elected to mandal panchayats in Karnataka on the basis of a 25 per cent reservation of seats for women. Before the elections, questions were asked about the suitability of women in panchayats. Curiously enough, in many …
The 1992 amendment to the West Bengal Panchayat Act of 1973 did two things: It empowered villagers to choose their path of development and guaranteed representation for women. Previously, gram sabhas existed only in name and the people did not have any democratic decision-making powers. Priorities -- whether electricity or …
MAY 30, 1993, was a historic day in West Bengal. For the first time, voting was held for a panchayat system that endowed villagers with the right to set their own priorities for development. And more remarkable, one-third of the panchayat seats were reserved for women. But the more things …
THE 73RD Constitution Amendment, yet to be ratified by the requisite number of state governments, holds within it the potential for a passive revolution in the Indian countryside. For not only does it constitutionalise a third level of governance in the country, namely the panchayats, it also reserves one-third of …
AL GORE being elected vice-president of the US has delighted environmentalists elsewhere, for unlike his predecessor Dan Quayle, who once spelt potato with an "e" at the end in a schoolroom appearance, Gore is educated. In Earth in the Balance, a recipient of the 1992 Robert Kennedy Award, Gore stimulates …
What prompted you to enter politics? And how significant is your nomination as green party candidate in view of current happenings, particularly in Chile? I didn't take the initiative. Frankly, being a presidential candidate wasn't a part of my scheme of things. In fact, I have never belonged to any …
THE US elections are still a few months away, but conservationists in the country have already cast their vote. The League of Conservation Voters, a non-political lobbying organisation, has ranked the Democrats environmental record over President George Bush's. While the Democrat presidential nominee Bill Clinton's main advantage is his vice-presidental …
