The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
to protect traditional knowledge from getting stolen by bioprospectors, the department of Indian systems of medicine and homoeopathy (ism&h;), Union ministry of health and family welfare and National Institute of Science Communication (a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research organisation), have launched a traditional knowledge digital library (tkdl). It contains …
Kagjitola Bhagalpur Bihar. The struggle of 500 families on the banks of the Ganga is to the country's fisherfolk what the Chipko movement was to the forest people of India. In early 1980sit fought a successful battle against landlords and forced the state government to allow traditionalfisherfolk to fish in …
IN SAURASHTRA region of Gujarat, most farmers grow one crop per year. Around Junagadh district in the southern part of the state, peanut and castor are the main cash crops. Peanut gives the best returns, but will only thrive with a heavy monsoon. If the rains are weak, the more …
The Indian Biodiversity Bill has been cleared by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and is now before the house for approval. Not before time. Given that it has been over nine years since we signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd) and that the bill has been drafted and redrafted it …
A river tells its story through its geological history and the life that it supports. Much can be revealed to the discerning observer, as in the case of the Indravati river, which traverses the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. The predominantly tribal population here, whose livelihood depends on this river, is …
The biodiversity bill has finally been approved by the Parliament standing committee on science, technology and the environment. The last time the bill made it to Parliament in May 2000, it was referred to the parliament standing committee for further deliberations. Having a national biodiversity became essential after India signed …
they might well be the modern-day buccaneers. To further their research, agricultural and pharmaceutical companies often tap local communities for traditional knowledge relating to the use of biological resour ces. The conglomerates lose no time in appropriating this painstakingly assimilated information. And make a fast buck by developing products based …
Whether the granting of a varietal patent on basmati rice to an American firm by the us Patent Office is a "victory' as the government maintains, or a defeat as most ngo s maintain, is not the issue. The issue is to chart out a clear and time bound strategy …
Traditional water harvesting systems, such as tanks locally called "talabs', are an integral part of every village in Madhya Pradesh. Varying in size from less than an acre to a hundred hectares or more, talabs were built by rulers and communities several hundred years ago using the traditional knowledge of …
Kerala is setting the trend for the rest of country in more ways than one. Recently, an action plan was formulated to protect the state's biodiversity. The Peechi-based Kerala Forest Research Institute ( kfri ) has drafted the Biodiversity Conservation Order 2000, which has been approved by the Kerala biodiversity …
the Union ministry of health and family welfare along with the department of Indian systems of medicine (ism) is planning to set up ayurvedic centres in various hospitals across the country to treat cancer patients. An expert panel will be soon constituted, which will finalise the proposal and list the …
SUSTAINABLE forest management has been practiced since time immemorial. The Arthashastra records management of forests and wildlife during Kautilya's rule. There were 18 forest laws during the Mauryan period. But the centuries-old indigenous knowledge, developed after careful observations of natural and physical environments, is today a victim of neglect or …
Shahdol: A thousand tanks now Shahdol literally means one thousand tanks in Hindi. Of its 2,772 tanks, 584 have been renovated in the past 15 months and have enough water to irrigate 3,000 hectares or quench the thirst of 400 villages and their large livestock population, thanks to the tank …
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 …
people's participation. Competitive political populism. A state government urging people to take up rainwater conservation on a big scale. These are the hallmarks of Madhya Pradesh government's effort to take up water harvesting in a big way. The year 1999 started off with a bad drought in western Madhya Pradesh. …
water harvesting is no longer a subject for academic discussions or committee room confabulations. It is a living subject today for thousands of devotees whose numbers are growing by the day. Today 5,000, five years later 50,000, and 10 years after 500,000
it was an event that sparked hopes. At a two day conference titled Meri gaon ki kahani, meri zubani, (The story of my village in my own words),water harvesters from four states
