Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
india has rejected a report of the World Commission on Dams ( wcd ) that discussed the problems related to the construction of big dams. The government representatives also boycotted a meeting to discuss the report. The Union ministry of water resources sent a circular to its officials, asking them …
goa' s rivers criss-crossing the picturesque state lie neglected and almost forgotten today. And campaigners working to highlight the importance of the local riverine network say it's high time that these rivers are given a fresh lease of life. There are nine rivers in Goa namely Terekhol, Chapora, Baga, Mhadei, …
The message of community based water harvesting is spreading - not just in India but also globally. The Food and Agriculture Organisation ( fao ) now sees "increasing water harvesting and water conservation" as a key challenge for ensuring food security. For a large number of people, especially those who …
The 2000 monsoon didn’t keep its date with Dulaiben, 60, resident of Thoridi village in Amreli district of Gujarat. Her eyes stare down the road in the hope of the water tanker that brings 5,000 litres of water for the 600 residents once every week. Her two sons migrated to …
The Employment Guarantee Scheme ( egs ) of Maharash tra is said to be the only one in the world that guaran tees employment on demand. This was for the first time an employment generation programme was conceived to create productive works at the village level. The absence of social …
During the 1999-2000 drought, Down To Earth ( dte ) reported that five villages in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had enough water during the drought because of the water conservation activities they had undertaken. dte revisited these villages, reeling under the second successive drought. Unlike last year, some of these …
An analysis of the government's failure at drought relief shows some clear loopholes that are not very difficult to plug for a government that is worried about its political future. The most important thing is to plan decentralised, village-level institutions to both manage drought relief and come up with strategic …
The biggest hurdle in providing the much-needed drought relief is corruption in the government machi nery. Rajasthan has spent almost Rs 6,500 crore on drought relief works like employment generation, fodder distribution and drinking water facilities in the past 45 years. Another Rs 628 crore has been spent in the …
A national plan for the elimination of polyclorinated biphenyls (pcbs) was recently adopted by the Argentine government. This has been done to phase out the harmful chemicals by 2025. "Once we conduct an inventory of the existing pcbs we will introduce a bill banning their use,' said Oscar Massei, secretary …
Very little scientific literature is available on the chiru (Tibetan antelope, Pantholops hodgsoni ). Most articles about the animal, if not all, are based on the research conducted by George Schaller, director of science at the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York. Schaller found in 1995 that there are around 75,000 …
fifty of the 69 rivers in Europe have poor ecological quality and most European countries have inadequate environmental monitoring systems, a new report states. Water and Wetland Index by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( wwf ) assessed the ability of freshwater systems in 16 European countries to meet …
Almost 3,000 tonnes of dangerous pesticides stored at nearly 1,000 sites around Ethiopia are threatening the health of millions of people and contaminating the soil and water resources. "These pesticides are time bombs,' says Belay Ejigu, the country's deputy agriculture minister. The pesticides got accumulated due to mismanagement. A severe …
A proposal to give remuneration to scientists and engineers in accordance with their work is on the anvil in Pakistan. "The allowances and other financial benefits would be offered to scientists and engineers on the impact factor of publications of their works at different international journals and its citations,' said …
Ground water levels in Kathmandu , Nepal's capital , are falling because of increasing industrialisation and urbanisation.This was stated in the State of Environment Nepal 2001report , which has been prepared by the government with the help of several international non-governmental organisations (NGOs).Studies prove that more than 50 percent of …
The Supreme Court has stayed a project of the Uttaranchal government to build a highway from Kotdwar to Ramgarh, following allegations that the proposed road will pass through the Corbett Tiger Reserve and destroy thousands of trees. Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has also requested the prime minister to block the …
the world's largest rookery of the highly endangered Olive Ridley turtle, Gahirmatha beach in Orissa, is fast becoming their largest graveyard, too. This year's record-breaking mass nesting of 800,000 turtles sent waves of jubilation among conservationists. But, the figure of 6,000 dead turtles washed ashore ebbed this jubilation. Last year …
sewage and industrial wastewater have been treated and reused in India for agriculture for well over 100 years, and in industries for the last 30-40 years. In spite of this reuse, there is a great untapped potential if some other options are also considered. Groundwater recharge with freshwater, for instance, …
india 's ancient tradition of community-based water harvesting is declining and being replaced by the role of the state in water management. This is promoting a wasteful and profligate consumption pattern in the country. Not only surface water, even groundwater resources are also being overexploited and polluted. Therefore, it has …
nepal's forest bureaucracy is set to follow the footsteps of its Indian counterpart. What was hailed as a radical community forest management (cfm) programme is on the brink of a complete, disastrous makeover. The Forest (Second Amendments) Bill, 2001, to be soon placed in parliament for approval, will strip the …
