| Eco-logic / Darryl D'Monte |
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Sweden's green agenda
Ninety-five per cent of all Swedes believe it is important to do something about climate change; two out of every three think it is very important. Sixty Stockholm families have embarked on a novel experiment related to 'smart consumption'
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Oil or water? Getting our priorities right
Worldwatch's new Vital Signs 2006-2007 seems more concerned with rising oil prices than with depleting water resources More... |
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Breathing life into farming
The guarantee of 100 days of work in a year cannot by itself provide food security. The trick, says alternative technologist K R Datye, lies in using the NREGA not to build roads but to regenerate the land and create permanent rural assets which will facilitate sustainable livelihoods More... |
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Man does not live by bread alone
Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness, like E F Schumacher's concept of Buddhist economics, Hazel Henderson's compassionate economics, and the modern measure of Happy Life Years, is a recognition that progress is inextricably linked not with material growth or financial gain but with the absence of suffering or samsara. Darryl D'Monte reports from the world's last Shangri-La More... |
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Confused about climate
Journalists reporting on the arcane science of climate and the environment have to grapple with new and often conflicting theories and findings from scientists and sceptical environmentalists virtually every month. What does the bewildered journalist do in the circumstances? More... |
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Why some civilisations survive and others die
Is it ecocide and the depletion of natural resources that is responsible for the collapse of the Mayan and other civilisations? Is it natural disasters, or socio-political cataclysms that are responsible for societal decay? Jared Diamond's new book discusses these issues More... |
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Amartya Sen: A man for many seasons
Is multiculturalism different from pluralism? Can an individual have several different identities at the same time, none of them conflicting? These questions are at the core of Amartya Sen's new book, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny More... |
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Turning mill land to mall land
The Supreme Court's recent verdict on the sale of mill lands in Mumbai has implications for the future development of all cities in India, and the redevelopment of derelict industrial lands in other cities More... |
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Everybody loves a good flood
Although the intensity of floods has been increasing, it is not primarily due to deforestation. It is the failure of the so-called modern world to come to terms with this natural phenomenon that is aggravating the situation. As long ago as 1937, the chief engineer of Bihar, Captain G F Hall, said that by building embankments "we are storing disaster for the future" More... |
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Saving the tiger, the Indian way
If relocating the 66,000 families that live in India's 28 protected areas is not feasible, the solution, according to tiger task force chairperson Sunita Narain, is to include the tribals in the protection of this endangered species, giving them a share in the profits from the tourist trade in the sanctuaries More... |
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Saving the tiger, the Indian way
If relocating the 66,000 families that live in India's 28 protected areas is not feasible, the solution, according to tiger task force chairperson Sunita Narain, is to include the tribals in the protection of this endangered species, giving them a share in the profits from the tourist trade in the sanctuaries More... |
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The media: Holding up a mirror to ourselves
Is the media no more than a mouthpiece for those in power? More... |
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GIS and tell
Geographic Information Systems are a way of compiling and presenting electronic data in an intelligible and ordered manner, especially significant in disaster management. India has made some inroads into this new technology, but will 'security considerations' and lethargy come in the way of its development? More... |
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2015: 334 million Indians will still lack access to safe water supply
Inequities in water availability are a reflection of unequal development within the country. 13% of Delhi's citizens do not get water supply every day; 40% of households in Madhya Pradesh are not supplied even 40 litres per person per day. Even if we achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the population without access to drinking water and sanitation by 2015, 244 million people in rural India and 90 million in urban India will still not have access to safe, sustainable water supply More... |
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Katrina or Cassandra?
Last year, weather-related losses crossed $100 billion for the first time, and 30 million ecological refugees were displaced by drought, flood or other environment-related causes. Whether it's New Orleans or Mumbai, the lessons are virtually identical, as climate change intensifies across the globe More... |
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Secret pact on climate change
The United States recently unveiled the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, a regional pact that seeks the support of the world's most populous countries to bypass the Kyoto Protocol, take a "business-as-usual" approach and solve the global warming crisis through technology rather than global law More... |
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Brave new media world
There's little doubt that we are in the New Media Age, where art, design, computing, architecture, writing, journalism and entertainment converge. But is too much being made of the benefits? Will a blogger ever enjoy the credibility of a seasoned journalist? Or an artist create a masterpiece on a computer? More... |
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The Economist vs the Green Mantra
Market forces could prove the environment's best friend -- if only greens could learn to love them, says The Economist in a recent cover story. Rubbish, says Darryl D’Monte. Economics and ecology have always been uneasy bedfellows More... |
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Indian solutions for Indian waste
India generates mind-boggling quantities of waste: 320 million tonnes of agricultural waste and 4.4 million tonnes of hazardous waste every year. But Indian garbage, which consists of around 85% organic matter, is not suited to the burn technologies that we are importing from the West to manage our solid waste. What are the alternatives? More... |
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World Bank shifts gear on water privatisation
There appears to have been an imperceptible shift in the World Bank's stand, away from privatisation being the only answer to the world's water crisis, towards a more pragmatic approach of public-private investments. On World Water Day, March 22, Indian non-government organisations and civil society groups will review trends towards private investments in the country More... |
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Citizens who seek redress
A citizen in India tends to go to the public authorities 13 times to get a single complaint redressed! But increasingly, citizens are putting the State and its governance under the scanner. At a recent workshop 'Developing Mechanisms for Public Accountability in Urban Services', experts emphasised the ways in which citizens are being empowered to seek redress More... |
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Modern 'emperors' imperil monuments
Jat soldiers who captured Agra burnt hay inside the Taj Mahal to keep themselves warm. The British hosted balls on the Taj's marble terraces and rented out its mosques to honeymooning couples. Centuries later, nature and man continue to undermine this World Heritage Site More... |
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