The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
For many developing countries, the un represents half a chance at fair play in an increasingly globalised world. Many see it as their only chance of countering the World Trade Organisation's obsession with free trade. Many of them prefer to strengthen the un rather than create an altogether new World …
Several years ago, when the demand for a separate hill state called Uttarakhand was first raised, I had asked an eminent environmentalist of the region, why was he not actively supporting the campaign. If there were a hill state he would be in a powerful position to influence its forest …
floods sweep through the village, the land is left uncultivable, the wells get filled with pebbles and mud. Agriculture becomes impossible. A cry of despair and despondency from the unfortunate residents would be a common sequel to this. Not in the villages of the Chaksu Block of Jaipur, Rajasthan. Thanks …
the Kandamanur Reserve Forest area, in south Tamil Nadu, earmarked as degraded forest, is fast regenerating. Implementation of joint forest management programme in the region has transformed the forest area as well as the life of residents of nearby villages of Kanavaipatti and Pudu Ramachandrapuram. The two villages have been …
In 1990, senior government officials gathered at Paro to draft broad parameters for the country’s development agenda. The conclusion was the “Paro Resolution on Environment and Sustainable Development”, a statement that redefined sustainability in the Bhutanese context. It read as, “The capacity and the political will to effectively address today’s …
With modernisation has come the pressure on the forests. Though almost three-fourths of the country is still covered by dense foliage, the demands from a growing population can put unprecedented demands on them. Be it for construction, fuelwood consumption, infrastructure development, it cannot be underestimated. At the same time, 60 …
T he challenges that Bhutan is faced with are indeed daring, but rather than taking corrective measures, one cannot deny the fact that the government is taking proactive steps to mitigate the evils of development. For instance, air pollution. Though not of the proportion Indian metros like New Delhi are …
On the road to destiny The tradition-bound Himalayan kingdom readies itself to brace modernism In 1958, when the then Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, went to Bhutan on a state visit, the only way he could reach the capital Thimpu was over land. He demanded to be met at the …
If vehicular emissions are to come down, governments will have to provide incentives to develop and promote the use of cleaner alternatives. In 1999, global passenger car production reached a record 39 million. The global car fleet now stands at 520 million. More vehicles will result in higher emissions. This …
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has drawn up a comprehensive environmental management plan for Panipat. The board, however, has compromised on its standards in the very beginning. It has forgotten some of its clauses for giving the no-objection certificate to a project which entails setting up of new …
the Union government has once again shown how indifferent it is towards the environment. A number of measures to benefit small-scale industries ( ssi s) were recently announced by prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But what was conspicuously missing, though, were policies to curb environmental threats from small manufacturing units …
civil society in India associates the World Bank with economic growth infrastructure, and fiscal stabilisation. This book to some extent confirms this perception. It argues that economic growth alone will create a demand for labour, which would reduce poverty on a sustained basis. This in turn requires macroeconomic stability, sound …
a storm is brewing in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. It is not one that augurs well for a state known for the progress heralded by its computer-friendly and media-savvy chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. The state government is at an advanced stage of signing a memorandum of understanding ( …
scientists at the Australia-based Commonwealth for Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( csiro) have developed a new technology that can clean polluted waterbodies. "The technique, known as the Filtration and Irrigated Cropping for Land Treatment and Effluent Reuse ( filter ), can solve the problems that are often associated with …
i want to share with you the triumph of cussedness. You can call it green cussedness if you will. There is no other word to describe what happened to a small plot of five acres in the little known village of Rewasan in Mewat lying just 60 kms from the …
Peak hour traffic scenario in India is a cartoonist's delight. Hassled motorists, rivers of sweat streaming down their forehead, accusing each other for lack of traffic sense in loud voices toned by the honking of a thousand horns. This is not so in Singapore. It is almost legendary now that …
Many fruits and vegetables are grown in wetlands of Bihar, the most important ones being makhana and singhara. Known as foxnut, makhana (Euryle ferox) is now gaining the status of a major cash crop. Bihar accounts for 75 per cent of country's total output. The fruit has a high nutritional …
There is now a growing recognition that cities can become sustainable only if auto dependence can be reduced. Says Newman, "Rapidly developing cities that have not put in place any physical or economic restraints on traffic, have not built high quality transit system, and have not protected their traditional forms …
Kawar Jheel Bird sanctuary, district Begusarai The Kawar lake, as notified "protected' by the state government on June 20, 1989, is 6311.63 hectares (ha). When it was notified, farmers opposed the move. Local politicians also supported them. "Even the former agriculture minister of Bihar, Ram Jeevan Singh, who is among …
Mass movement The number of mass rapid transit (MRT) stations in Singapore has done away with the need to own a vehicle PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION Percentage of Singapore population living within walking distance of MRT station 30.0 Percentage of Singapore population living within 1 kilometre of the MRT line …
