d-sector

Saving Punjab farmer

2011-10-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
4 October, 2011

To overcome the adverse long term impacts of intensive farming, Punjab needs to make its agriculture more sustainable and farmer centric.

For over 40 years now, ever since Green Revolution began, the nation has eulogised the Punjab farmer. Newspapers have reported time and again about the visible prosperity ushered in through intensive agriculture. Magazine articles have featured the opulent life style of prosperous Punjabi farmers. The story of the bygone era somehow remains transfixed in our memory, and that perhaps is the reason why policy makers, economists and scientists still continue to live in the past.

For nearly two decades now, Punjab’s underbelly has been gradually caving in. Excessive use of chemical fertilisers has turned the verdant lands poisonous, water mining has dried the aquifers leading to the expansion of the desert, and chemical fertilisers and pesticides have played havoc with the environment and human health. With the input prices climbing year after year and the output prices remaining static, Punjab farmers became a victim of the same economic policies that projected them as country’s heroes. Agriculture has become not only unsustainable but economically unviable.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1709

Poor ideas to remove poverty

2011-10-10T01:56:00.000-07:00

By Gopal Krishna
28 September, 2011

While the Planning Commission has repeatedly failed to provide any worthwhile solution to eradicate poverty, its insincere attempts to deliberately hide the actual number of poor in the country makes one question its relevance in present times.

In an affidavit filed by B D Virdi, Adviser, Planning Commission before the Supreme Court in the PUCL vs Union of India & Others or Writ Petition (Civil) 196 of 2001, the Commission said that any citizen who spends more than Rs 965 per month in urban India (around Rs.32 per day) and Rs 781 in rural India (around Rs.26 per day) “at June 2011 price level” would be considered not to be poor. This is set as poverty line based on the monetary value of some normative expenditure that is deemed essential.

The affidavit submits that “At June 2011 price level, for a family of five this provisional poverty line would amount to Rs.4, 824 per month in urban areas and Rs.3, 905 per month in rural areas. However, final poverty lines following the Tendulkar Committee will only be available after completion of the 2011-12 NSS Survey” by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Till then poor can wait.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1707

The business of knowledge

2011-10-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
26 September, 2011

In the race to keep pace with the educational imperatives of growing population can quality of education be allowed to be compromised? Prakash Jha's film Aarakshan takes a compelling dig against privatisation in education.

Needless to say, you don't come home after watching the film Aarakshan (meaning ‘Reservation’) with a happy-go-lucky feeling, nor do you come away entirely sure of what you've seen. Reality, like the warped mind of the protagonist, is wholly subjective, and the only thing that is clear, crystal clear, is that, howsoever growing and expanding it might be, tuition cannot be a substitute for education.

Prakash Jha is one filmmaker who has carved out his own niche within a Bollywood system that is both intellectually bankrupt and box office driven. Often labelled a political film director, Jha has found it hard to avoid marketing gimmickry to deal with the subject of his recent flick. The politics of ban on Aarakshan film only justified his commercial wisdom.

Despite losing the plot in the first half, Aarakshan remains an important movie that takes a compelling dig against privatization in education. Though the narrative sets up a simplistic good versus evil dispute and a high-caste versus lower-caste conflict, the screenplay nevertheless exposes the unethical commercialization of education as the core issue.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1702

Teary tale of onion trade

2011-10-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
21 September, 2011

The recent ban on onion exports resulted in an aggressive lobbying to revoke the ban as demanded by the wholesale traders. The way Chief Ministers and cabinet ministers joined hands against the export ban, it is obvious that onions have become important political tool.

Concerned by the rising retail prices of onions, government banned its export on September 9 but within 11 days of imposing the ban, the powerful traders lobby forced the government to lift the ban. Succumbing to pressure from the big traders, who normally cry hoarse in the name of farmers, the speed at which the onion trade made the government to bend backwards is a pointer to the monumental failure to curb food inflation.

For over 4 years now, ever since food inflation has hit the roof, I haven’t seen so much of political activity as I have observed in the last few days. Triggered by protest by Nasik onion traders, who had refused to partake in daily auction to demonstrate their anger against the sudden imposition of exports ban, the state NCP chief Madhukar Pichad made appeals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan too deputed his Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-patil and some of his colleagues to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other concerned ministers.

According to news reports, Prithviraj Chavan had himself lobbied with Pranab Mukherjee and Anand Sharma seeking an immediate withdrawal of the ban on onion exports. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar too had thrown his weight behind the agitating traders and had met Food Minister K V Thomas to impress upon him the need to allow onion exports. He forcefully argued in favour of onion exports at the meeting of the empowered Group of Minister (eGoM). Knowing the influence Sharad Pawar wields in UPA II, it was expected that the government would give in.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1701

Save nature, the tribal way

2011-10-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

By Rina Mukherji
18 September, 2011

Nilanjan Bhattacharya's film Johar-Welcome to our world highlights the sustainable practices of our indigenous peoples which they nurtured on the strength of their bonds with the forests.

India has the highest concentration of indigenous peoples in the world- with 635 tribes totaling 84.32 million people- and yet we have only belatedly woken up to the need to recognize the rights of forest dwelling communities. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 was a just step in the direction of conserving our biodiversity. But the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, which shall pave the way for genetically modified crops, threatens to make a mockery of our rich biodiversity and traditional agricultural and food practices, including those of tribals.

Nilanjan Bhattacharya’s film Johar-Welcome to our world is an attempt to focus on a sustainable food culture that our indigenous peoples have nurtured on the strength of the bonds that bind them to the forests they live in.
This documentary, that recently won a National Award for best narration /writing, extensively covers the lives of the Birhor, Munda, Oraon, Asur, Korwa, and other tribal communities in Jharkhand, and dwells on their traditional occupations, which have been unable to bear the onslaught of the westernized model of development, leaving them without means of livelihood, or land to farm on.

Tribal lands all over India yield the major part of the country’s mineral wealth, including iron ore, mica, copper, chromium and coal. Yet, 75 per cent of the tribals live below the poverty line. Tribal hamlets like Amlasole in West Bengal and Kalahandi in Orissa are synonymous with starvation deaths and misery. Whenever dams have come up, it has been on tribal land. And so have wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves. Forest-dwelling tribals have always found themselves marginalized, with the forests from which they gathered produce increasingly being cut down by successive governments - British and Indian, and forest officials denuding forests of the trees that give them their unique character. As a consequence, vast tracts that were home to forest-dwelling tribals are now barren land, with not a single tree in sight.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1700

Greed eyeing green

2011-10-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
16 September, 2011

Is green capitalism a distraction from the real issues that the world needs to address to realize sustainable development?

Henk Manschot, a Professor of Ethics and Sustainable Development at the Kosmopolis Institute in the Netherlands, shocked a global gathering at a conference in the Hague late last year when he revealed how ‘global footprint’ increases as people move up the human development index. As people consume resources to go up on the index, their ecological footprint stretches on additional hectares of land on the planet. ‘If the resource poor billion plus were to gain improved access to basic services such as health, education and portable water, the planet will run out of its hectares,’ warned Manschot.

The warning is imminent although there is no international consensus on how to reach out to the deprived billions. While global food security has yet to be achieved, the outlook for freshwater scarcity and improved sanitation looks bleak. Collectively, these crises are severely impacting the possibility of sustaining prosperity to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for reducing extreme poverty. Top it with growing fossil fuel and energy demand and the cup of woes will spill over like a never-before tsunami of unprecedented nature. The signs are ominous!

Forty years since Stockholm and twenty years following the Rio Summit, the world has slipped backwards on its race to alleviate poverty and on its efforts to reverse the ecological decline. Conversely, obsession with capitalist model of development has acerbated social instability, economic insecurity and job losses. While some of the biggest western-style economies are dragging the global economy with their sovereign debt dramas, the developing world's obsession with economic growth is leading to deepening of the ecological crises.

To pull the planet from the current mess, world leaders will get back to the drawing board yet again. Knowing well that none of their previous commitments to sustainable development have worked, the congregation at Rio in June 2012 will carve out a new global agenda for survival of mankind. Though global climate negotiations have already hit a road block, the leaders are taking a detour to charter a ‘green economy’ pathway aimed at getting the planet back on track. While ‘green' as a colour seems promisingly soothing, its contents are fuzzy and somewhat contentious.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1697

Distressed farmers declare crop-holiday

2011-10-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
15 September, 2011

To revive agriculture and to make farmers debt-free, government must bring in a Farmers Income Guarantee Act to determine the monthly income package a farm family must receive.

There is something terribly going wrong with agriculture. While nearly 40,000 farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have defaulted on repayment to the State Bank of India alone to the tune of Rs 600-crore, hundreds of farmers in the rice bowl of Andhra Pradesh, comprising the fertile and irrigated East Godawari and West Godwari districts, have refused to cultivate paddy this year declaring a ‘crop holiday’.

What may appear to be two completely disconnected events happening in two different geographical regions of the country are in reality a wake up call. Whether it is the northeast or the more productive northwest regions; whether it is Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu or Odisha; agriculture continues to be in the throes of what appears to be a perpetual crisis for survival. What is not realised is that it is actually a crisis of sustainability and economic viability.

It all began from the fertile konaseema region of East Godawari district in Andhra Pradesh where a small farmer Suryabhagwan owning six-acres of land voluntarily announced that he would prefer to work as a ‘coolie’ than to undertake paddy cultivation. Already under heavy debt and knowing that another season of paddy cultivation will only add to his indebtedness, his call for a ‘crop holiday’ soon reverberated. Within a few weeks, the idea of a ‘crop holiday’ in the ongoing kharif season spread like wildfire and more than 1 lakh hectares in the two irrigated districts today lies barren.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1698

Maize Matters

2011-10-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
09 Sep 2011

Backed by government support, maize cultivation has spread to a large area of India to cater to increased demand from the industry. The shift towards maize will not only upset the delicate nutritional balance in dry regions but it will also pave way for agri-corps to push GM maize into India.

The high priests of agricultural bureaucracy have been chanting the mantra of second green revolution for quite sometime. It seems the country is moving towards this through maize revolution. The vast expanse of the countryside in north and southern India is full of standing maize crop. This versatile crop, which can grow in any kind of ecological zones, is changing the agricultural landscape in India.

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UNCTAD finds fault with recovery measures

2011-10-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

By Ashok B Sharma
08 Sep 2011

Instead of regulating the financial system, developed economies are trying to woo the very speculators who created the problem, says a report by the UN agency.

A United Nations report for the first time has taken a dig at the faulty measures being adopted so far to bail out the world economy from the financial crisis which engulfed it since August-September 2008.

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Corruption behind farm-crisis

2011-09-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
07 Sep 2011

Corruption has not only hindered development of India but its role in creating and aggravating farm crisis is no less critical. Corrupt scientists, bank officials and policy makers have pushed farmers to the brink.

I haven’t forgotten that night. Sitting with a group of farmers in a village in Ludhiana district in Punjab, at the height of the Green Revolution, a farmer showed me a bag of fertiliser that he brought from the market.

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Dark clouds over coal based power

2011-09-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

By Shankar Sharma
26 Aug 2011

As supply of coal is becoming uncertain, the future of many coal-based power plants has come under clouds. However, this crisis could become an opportunity if focus is shifted to renewable energy options.

There have been many news reports in recent weeks that a reliable coal supply has become a critical issue for the Indian power sector in recent years, and that because of it the power supply situation is likely to go from bad to worse. The issue has the potential to be a game changer.

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Price-tag for ties with nature?

2011-09-08T02:42:00.000-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
24 Aug 2011

By ignoring the cultural dimension of climate change adaptation, the capital centric efforts through economic valuation of nature and people's relations with it, will alter forever peoples' attitude towards it.

Even at the cost of being refuted, it wouldn't be out of context to prophesise that globalisation of climate change will convert the Himalaya into a new playground for capitalism! Not only will the Himalaya get converted into a repository of Carbon to counter what others have voluntarily emitted but will charge for ecosystem services that it has been gifting to downstream people for several millennia.

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Tightrope walking on LARR Bill

2011-08-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

By Archana Vaidya
18 Aug 2011

The draft Land Acquisition Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill (LARR Bill) is in public domain for discussion. The Bill makes a right start when in the preamble it declares that cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development.

To ensure this partnership LARR Bill seems to have come up with solutions for some of the most vexatious issues that the existing law faces and has introduced some innovative and much needed provisions such as for resettlement and rehabilitation of affected people. However some important issues still have not been dealt with comprehensively and would require more deliberations and debate.

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Bungling government creates an icon

2011-08-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

By S. G. Vombatkere
18 Aug 2011

Unprecedented public support for Anna Hazare's demand for Jan Lokpal Bill has rattled the political class. People power has won the first round of the decisive bout but greater challenges lie ahead.

Over the past four decades successive Union governments of various political hues have not even gotten to the stage of tabling a Lokpal Bill, and combined with a rash of monumental scams in the past couple of years, it has pushed the corruption issue on to the front page.

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Crisis before capitalism

2011-08-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

Ashok B Sharma
10 Aug 2011

As lingering financial crisis in the developed world is casting its shadow on the developing countries, it is time to look beyond capitalism for sustainable and equitable development.

Despite various stimulus packages and waivers, the global financial crisis is far from being over
The slow revival process after the shock of global financial crisis that began from August-September 2008 suffered another major jolt with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrading US economy last week.

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Pushing adivasis to the brink

2011-08-09T05:45:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
09 Aug 2011

On the occasion of the 'International Day of the World's Indigenous People', the policy makers should realize that unless corrective and protective measures are put in place, the adivasis would soon lose their livelihoods, culture and faith to the mad rush to exploit the natural resources.

Today, on August 9, the world is celebrating ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous People’ to acknowledge the important role of tribal cultures and their contribution to cultural and linguistic diversity. This decade is also ‘Second International Decade for Indigenous People’ to highlight and strengthen international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, human rights, environment, and social and economic development.

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Towards conflict free land acquisition

2011-08-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

By Archana Vaidya
05 Aug 2011

Before acquiring lands for development, the governments must ensure that the original land-owners are made stakeholders in the progress, instead of being left behind homeless and jobless.

The Draft Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR), 2011 has been put in the public domain for a period of one month for wider consultation and building consensus. Before we analyse the new draft of the proposed Bill, it is imperative to understand why there has been so much anger, resentment and conflict associated with the compulsory acquisition.

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Time to revive native cow breeds

2011-08-08T03:02:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
03 Aug 2011

Very high milk productivity of Indian cow breeds in Brazil proves that with proper nutrition, veterinary care and genetic development our desi cows can help us meet our growing milk demand. After decades of indifference, policymakers are now turning their focus on native breeds.

Better late than never! Highly concerned by the demand for milk outstripping supply, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has finally decided to develop 900 progeny bulls of primarily native breeds to meet the increasing demand for milk in the years to come.

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BNHS launches revised Field Guide of Salim Ali

2011-08-08T02:44:00.000-07:00

By Atul Sathe
01 Aug 2011

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has launched the revised edition of “A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent” by Sálim Ali and S Dillon Ripley first published in 1983.

The new book in a new attractive avatar is titled “Birds of the Indian Subcontinent – A Field Guide” co-authored by Ranjit Manakadan, J C Daniel and Nikhil Bhopale. Their insights span three generations of avian expertise at BNHS. The book offers a lot more information, illustrations and other features as compared to the earlier book, at an affordable price. The book was released in Mumbai at the BNHS auditorium packed with bird lovers.

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Activists demand National Development Planning Act

2011-08-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

New Delhi,
03 Aug 2011

Several social activists led by Medha Patkar have alleged that the Congress led UPA, instead of progressing from its previous positions has actually retracted to its pre-2006 position through the draft LARR Bill.

“The government has also gone back from the promises made by the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, in 2006, while agreeing to the National Advisory Council (NAC) draft of the legislation. The NAC Draft, in hindsight was far more progressive and comprehensive as it referred to the draft legislation for ‘Development Planning, Minimum Displacement and Just Rehabilitation’. It is an irony that Jairam Ramesh, who has introduced this draft, was part of that NAC team,” said the joint press release issued by the activists sitting on a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

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Odisha's little Gandhians

2011-08-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

By S. G. Vombatkere
01 Aug 2011

After inspection of the villages peacefully resisting the POSCO project in Odisha, the NCPCR has justified the children's participation in the ongoing agitation terming it 'voluntary'.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had sent a 3-member team on July 4, 2011, for an on-the-spot inspection of the area of the POSCO project in Jagatsinghpur District of Odisha. Its objective was to examine whether children were being used, misused or abused by the elders by involving them in the on-going protest against the POSCO project in the area.

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Oceans under threat

2011-08-03T03:57:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
30 Jul 2011

There are heavy pressures on coastal areas and oceans due to the unregulated developmental activity. To save the oceans, we need to put a check on marine pollution, ocean acidification and over-exploitation of marine life.

Earth’s renewable resources are under threat. Having destroyed the grasslands and forests, human actions are causing irreversible damage to the marine ecosystems. The global warming is affecting not only the arctic zones, but also the aquatic life forms in the sea.

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Making the State master of citizens

2011-08-03T03:54:00.000-07:00

By S. G. Vombatkere
28 Jul 2011

The Aadhar project's primary aim is to bring every citizen under the watchful eyes of the state. UID will enable and support surveillance and tracking, irrespective of its declared primary aim of enabling services for the poor.

The Unique Identification (UID) project, also known as Aadhaar, has been pushed into implementation by creation of a UID Authority of India (UIDAI) in 2009. It is slated to spend Rs. 45,000 to 1,50,000 crore with a sanctioned budget of Rs. 3,000 crores without approval of Parliament. Nandan Nilekani, former CEO of Infosys Technologies, has been nominated to head the UIDAI and accorded cabinet minister rank

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Stop CDM for coal power plants

2011-08-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

By Shankar Sharma
19 Jul 2011

It would be criminal wastage of public funding if CDM encourages more coal based power projects on the premise that the super critical technology is to be deployed in the plants. Instead, CDM in developing countries should first focus on efficiency improvements measures in generation, transmission, distribution and utilization of electricity and locally available renewable energy sources.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), under the patronage of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was adopted by most countries as one of the global response to reduce global warming. It permits industrialized countries (Annex 1 countries under Kyoto Protocol) to earn emission credits through investment in sustainable development projects that reduce overall Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries.

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The last hope of common man

2011-08-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
12 Jul 2011

In recent times, the Supreme Court has given some crucial judgements to curb the anti-people policies being pushed by governments in the name of development and growth. Considering the abject surrender of policymakers and media before the corrupt, judicial activism remains the only hope for the marginalised Indians.

In a series of judgements that have challenged the mainline economic thinking, the country’s highest court has struck at the very foundation of India’s growth story. Moving a step ahead of simple diagnosis and introspection, the Supreme Court has taken on the responsibility of cleaning the mess.

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Deceptive intervention for millets

2011-07-12T04:49:00.000-07:00

By Biju Negi
12 Jul 2011

Since time immemorial farmers of Uttarakhand have been growing several nutritious varieties of millets without using any external or chemical inputs. But now the government, under influence of agri-business, is making them dependent on harmful chemicals and costly commercial seeds.

This is organic, officially organic Uttarakhand, and the state Agriculture Department is having ‘minikits’ of chemical fertilizers and micro-nutrients distributed free to its small farmers. Quietly, almost secretly!
These free minikits are part of the “Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion (INSIMP)”, beginning current kharif season in the six districts of Uttarakhand – Pauri, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Almora.

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Carbon Crunching

2011-07-12T04:45:00.001-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
06 Jul 2011

The World Bank has signed an agreement with the state government of Himachal Pradesh for the largest carbon revenue project. However, the conditions of the agreement indicate that instead of putting the carbon revenue mechanism to the competitive advantage of the stakeholders, such projects continue to serve the interest of the clients.

Tucked up in the middle Himalayas, farmers in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh will crunch atmospheric carbon to help rid the Spaniards of their climate woes. In the next two decades, 839,582 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents are likely to be sequestered in over 4,000 hectares of variedly degraded agriculture and forest land in the state.

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Increasing prosperity, disappearing girls

2011-07-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
30 Jun 2011

Contrary to popularly held opinion, the female to male ratio is on decline despite continuous economic growth in India. Curiously, the backward regions with poor education seem to be doing better on child sex ratio in comparison to the better-off areas.

The provisional Census figures released recently brought relief to experts as they saw the marginal decline in the rate of population growth. This euphoria is short lived as the dissection of the census data revealed a shocking feature of declining child sex ratios (CSR). Though there was marginal improvement in the adult sex ratio, it was obvious that the girls were missing from the populations not only in the northern regions, but also in new areas including in the prosperous urban regions of the country.

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In search of sustainable growth

2011-06-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

By Shankar Sharma
24 Jun 2011

The policymakers say that to eradicate poverty, India needs to grow at the rate of 9 percent for the next 20 years. But why ignore the long term social, economic and environmental impacts on the vulnerable sections of our society of environmentally unsustainable ways to growth?

The ‘expert group on low carbon strategies for inclusive growth’ which was set up under the Planning Commission to develop a strategy for India’s 12th Five Year Plan has released its interim report recently.

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Lying down for Justice

2011-06-16T23:22:00.000-07:00

By S. G. Vombatkere
14 Jun 2011

Hundreds of children are opposing the government plan to acquire lands and forests for the Posco plant. This unique action by children is a warning to the policy makers to reconsider their development strategy before it is too late to make a course correction.

The people and especially the children of Dhinkia, Gadkujang, Govindpur and Nuagaon villages in Jagatsinghpur District in Odisha have shown how people matter over governments' plans for development of business corporations at their cost. The children “illegally” lay down on the hot earth in the blazing summer heat and refused to move to allow entry to government officials to take over forest land and their villages for the POSCO mega-project.

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Unhappy! So what?

2011-06-01T23:41:00.000-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
31 May 2011

The social pressure to feel happy has made people more miserable. The market is the sole gainer of this desperate search for happiness, offering unending items and services to make the consumer feel better.

Recent research suggests that happiness may not be bliss, as people who strive for happiness may end up being worse off. Says June Gruber of Yale University, who published the research findings in Perspectives on Psychological Science: "doing things with the expectation that these ought to make you happy can lead to disappointment and decreased happiness." Conversely, being unhappy shouldn't be thought of as a universally bad thing.

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Green projects with red results

2011-06-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
23 May 2011

Mini hydel projects, initially considered by environmentalists as green alternatives for power generation, have become threat to fragile ecosystems. The lure of high returns on investment, in addition to various incentives, created a mad rush among private players leading to destruction of natural forests.

The growth of economy as well as maintaining high GDP growth rate is directly linked to the availability of power. So, successive governments give a push to increase power production.

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The mission unholy

2011-05-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

Rina Mukherji
18 May 2011

India has been under attack for more than a millennium. The wicked attempts to destroy its civilization and denigrate the beliefs of the natives continue unabated despite the nation achieving political independence from the Europeans after the painful partition.

For decades, texts and tomes published in the West have been bombarding us with theories that India is primarily made up of distinct ‘Aryan’ and ‘Dravidian’ racial strains, with the ‘tribals’ and ‘dalits’ comprising the other distinct groups.

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We need new system, not laws!

2011-05-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

By Kuldeep Ratnoo
06 May 2011

To remove corruption, we need to change the alien system of governance which encourages exploitation of public resources for personal benefits. A new law wouldn't make a big difference unless power is decentralised up to the panchayat level.
In our country, where everything, be it a degree to conduct surgery or fly airplanes, or scientific approval to sell deadly technologies, can be ‘ensured’ for a price, it appears that most ‘aspiring and ambitious’ persons have accepted corruption as a ‘necessary evil’. As success is measured in terms of money earned by a person, corruption has become the highway to ‘growth’ and a ‘better life’. Those, who voluntarily opt to miss the immoral flight to ‘higher levels’, get ridiculed, marginalised and pitied by one and all, including their near and dear ones.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1601

More frightened than their corrupt masters

2011-05-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

By Kuldeep Ratnoo
27 Apr 2011

The mass mobilisation across the nation against corruption has terrified the so-called intellectuals who fear rising influence of people over policy making process would be detrimental to their authority and appeal.
Most people in India were stunned by the huge public support that Anna Hazare led campaign against corruption received. But many more were startled to read and hear disapproval of this mass awakening against corruption, and denunciation of the people behind it by the so-called ‘intellectuals and prominent persons of the civil society’.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1593

Cities too need 'nirmal' push

2011-04-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

By Rina Mukherji

India's success in rural sanitation has to be replicated at the urban level, as the rising migration to cities is leading to serious sanitation and health problems.
India spends crores on flyovers, fancy stadia and intelligent buildings to construct world-class cities. Urban slums and the poor are sought to be removed because they make our cities ugly. But are shanty towns in themselves ugly? Aren’t the unhygienic open drains, human and animal waste that actually make them so?

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1587

Public perpetuates corruption

2011-04-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

By Samir Nazareth
13 Apr 2011

Any movement against corruption will not yield results if the citizens refuse to accept their responsibility to oppose it in their daily life. People must realise that if they don't want to sacrifice their personal interests to fight corruption, no law will be effective in curbing it.
t was interesting to see how the so called 'second freedom movement' drew a kaleidescope of people to it. Almost every big city has had a demonstration against corruption and in support of Anna Hazare. Everyone wanted to convert a dream into reality.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1576

Not willing to learn

2011-04-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde

Are our nuclear power obsessed politicians, industrialists and scientists willing to learn from the crisis in Japan? Or they need more disasters like Fukushima to realize their folly?

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1571

The sky isn't the limit

2011-03-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
Climate Change, reducing size of arable land and availability of freshwater have forced some thinkers to explore options of vertical farms. But the capital-intensive nature of farmscraper remains a major concern.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1564

UP goes the Punjab way By Devinder Sharma

2011-03-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

Considering the role of mandis in making Punjab food bowl of country, it is urgently required to set up a nationwide network of mandis in India. Though late, but UP government has taken a right decision to increase their number.

read more @:http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1562

Fukushima rings the warning bell By S. G. Vombatkere

2011-03-14T22:54:00.001-07:00

The accident in the nuclear power plant at Fukushima after the earthquake and tsunami has raised serious questions about the safety of nuclear energy based power plants.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1553

People want Bijli, not bullet By Shankar Sharma

2011-03-10T21:39:00.001-08:00

Rising cases of people's unrest against poorly planned power projects are a matter of great concern and the policymakers must strive to ensure that the proposals are based on overall societal welfare.

read more@: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1552

Budget takes green turn By A. Vaidya

2011-03-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

The budget for the year 2011-12 aims to incorporate green concerns into development aspects and to give a big fillip to renewable energy technologies.

read more @ http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1551

Better late, than never By Devinder Sharma

2011-03-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

Pranab Mukherjee has made a beginning to improve the conditions of the deprived and marginalised sections but the policies need much higher allocations to make any positive transformation in the lives of the poor.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1550

Protect people, conserve wildlife By A. Vaidya

2011-02-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

The revised guidelines of MoEF regarding Critical Wildlife Habitat are not in consonance with the spirit of Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Right Act.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1548

Burning forest to warm body By Samir Nazareth

2011-02-24T22:39:00.000-08:00

The recent GAC report of the World Economic Forum indicates that the business and political powers are still in denial mode on threats emerging from Climate Change.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1545

Changing air in Arabia By Pandurang Hegde

2011-02-22T04:26:00.000-08:00

The overthrow of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world by non-violent people's struggle gives new hope to the humanity. But will these upheavals change the fundamentals of society towards more humane, secular, tolerant of the diversity in ideologies and ecologically responsible behavior?

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1542

Women deliver, but governments don't By Rina Mukherji

2011-02-21T02:46:00.000-08:00

A new book based on a successful model of local healthcare provides valuable lessons for the policymakers to improve India's performance in reducing maternal and infant mortality figures. But are they willing to think beyond the donor based stand alone programmes for public healthcare?

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1540

Diversity deprived education By Sudhirendar Sharma

2011-02-16T21:49:00.000-08:00

As the entire education system has remained urban centric and is now becoming globalised with textbooks heavily borrowing from the western ideas and terms, the majority of children in a vast and diverse civilisation like India do not feel any relationship with the content, leading to alienation of majority.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1538

Market opens for camel milk By Devinder Sharma

2011-02-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

As demand for camel milk is on the rise globally, India can use the opportunity to effectively market the camel milk products and help improve the social-economic conditions of the camel owners.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1535

Corner the corrupt By Ashok B Sharma

2011-02-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

Under attack from Supreme Court and the opposition for its inaction on unearthing the black money deposited in tax heavens, the Government has taken some initiatives in line with global developments but much need to be done to curb the corrupt practices behind continuous wealth drain.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1527

Profitability before environment By Samir Nazareth

2011-02-04T04:51:00.000-08:00

Davos Declaration of WEF 2011 clearly states that long term sustainability is not possible without ensuring profitability. With the profit motive as a cornerstone for the business and industry, any consideration of environmental destruction and social upheaval are inconsequential.

read more @: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1526

Information in the hinterlands By Ashirbad S Raha

2011-02-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

Committed and collective efforts at the grassroots have kept the villagers informed of the issues which matter the most to them. Such initiatives are trying to fill the gaps created by the metro-obsessed mainstream media.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1520

Dismantling mandis to benefit MNCs By Devinder Sharma

2011-01-28T03:53:00.000-08:00

Not withstanding poor management, mandis have played a critical role in ensuring remunerative prices and timely purchase for the benefit of farmers and therefore, India needs improvement in mandi system, not its dismantlement as desired by industry bodies and Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

read more @: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1512

Decentralise India's food storage system By J. George

2011-01-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

Indian policy makers should think beyond erecting huge silos at selected locations to overcome the limitation in proper food storage and delivery. To ensure food security to all, augmenting grain storage capacity in the villages is the best way forward.

read more @: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1511

Macro design behind micro-finance By Sudhirendar Sharma

2011-01-23T23:08:00.000-08:00

Microfinance has emerged as a dubious construct of the financial markets to ensure high income on the otherwise useless capital. That the poor will be trapped in this treadmill of 'poverty capital' has always been part of the microfinance design.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1502

Women lead the resurgent India By Rina Mukherji

2011-01-18T21:37:00.001-08:00

Unlike their counterparts in the west, Indian women had to face lot many hurdles in their efforts to attain economic independence but they have achieved the impossible without giving up their family responsibilities..

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1497

Rediscovering Gandhi By Sushant Sharma

2011-01-16T21:48:00.004-08:00

Gandhi Katha by Narayan Desai is an effort to involve people in the quest to understand the man behind the Mahatma.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1488

India must redefine equity By Samir Nazareth

2011-01-12T21:25:00.000-08:00

The success story of India has few gainers and more losers. Can the disparity be removed by following the policies which widened it in the first place?

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1487

NGOs have failed the people By Gopal Krishna

2011-01-03T03:27:00.001-08:00

By legitimizing the withdrawal of the government in order to facilitate corporatization of entire range of the stateâ€™s functions, NGOs have mortgaged citizens' sovereignty.

read more @: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1475

Fasting without repentance? By Devinder Sharma

2010-12-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu's fast to demand higher compensation for rain-affected farmers is being seen as his pro-farmer stance. But can we forget the miseries his faulty agri-policies brought to the Andhra Pradesh farmers?

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1465

Relinquishing its authority By Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon

2010-12-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

MoEF' proposal to set up a new institution to manage the approvals of development projects will bear fruit only if the existing faulty regulatory framework is done away with.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1462

Nuclear bulldozer from Kaiga to Jaitapur By Pandurang Hegde

2010-12-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

By agreeing to set up nuclear plant at Jaitapur, the government has shown its indifference towards massive public opposition and environmentalists' concerns for threat to rich bio-diversity of Western Ghats.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1456

Cancun summit fails to mobilise activists By Soumya Dutta

2010-12-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

Mexico, the host government of COP-16, has sanitised the tourist resort town of Cancun to such an extent that even public protests are petering out due to thin attendances. Today was the protest march demanding exclusion of World Bank and IFIs from climate finance, and a large no of groups joined in the call for this protest, organised at the Palacio Municipal (Municipal office) at downtown Cancun.
further @: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1452

India comes together for farmers By Rachna Arora Verma

2010-12-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Kisan Swaraj Yatra, after 71-day long bus tour would be reaching its last stop at Rajghat (Delhi) on December 11, 2010. The Yatra, as the travelling farmers and activists found, received enthusiastic response from all over the country. One of them shares her experiences as the Yatra concludes.
further @: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1447

Embankments related compensation to drain exchequer By Dinesh Kumar Mishra

2010-12-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Government of Nepal has asked the Government of India to compensate its citizens badly affected by embankments and other flood control measures taken on river Gandak. Will this not lead to a flood of demands for compensation by the victims of similar problems in other river basins like the Bagmati, the Kamala and the Kosi?
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1442

National awakening on farm crisis By Rachna Arora Verma

2010-12-03T03:55:00.000-08:00

Kisan Swaraj Yatra, a nationwide mobilization effort to draw attention to the widening agricultural crisis and to campaign for the need for a sustainable agriculture model, began from Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram on October 2 and will culminate at Rajghat on December 11, 2010. After accompanying the Yatra for weeks, a participant shares her experiences.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1440

Beckoning the devil By Surekha Sule

2010-12-02T22:15:00.000-08:00

As the developed world is moving away from nuclear energy for its inherent risks and heavy maintenance costs, India becomes an eager buyer of obsolete nuclear reactors and harmful technology to please nuclear powers' business lobbies.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1441

Realistic demand forecasting for energy By Shankar Sharma

2010-11-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

Without realistic analysis of the existing conditions, the government agencies push to achieve unrealistic targets for power generation capacity.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1436

India needs a Seed Liability Bill By Devinder Sharma

2010-11-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

The proposed Seed Bill 2010 fails to address the long standing demands of the Indian farmers and remains soft towards the seed companies. Only a seed liability bill can provide protection to the vulnerable farmers.

read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1433

Philanthrocapitalism often acts as a smokescreen to cover 'business-as-usual': Michael Edwards By Sudhirendar Sharma

2010-11-15T22:31:00.000-08:00

Business will achieve much more impact in the world by fixing itself than by trying to fix philanthropy and the not-for-profit sector, where it has little expertise or experience, says Michael Edwards to d-sector.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1429

Don't expect much from G-20 By Devinder Sharma

2010-11-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

Though the economic policies of the industrialised world continue to widen economic disparities, International groups like G-20 have failed to correct the structural problems behind the global economic crisis.
read more @: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1428&idFor=1428

Power sector can ruin Western Ghats By Shankar Sharma

2010-11-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Protecting Western Ghats is crucial for India's environment but the proliferation of the power projects in the region may cause massive and irreversible damage to the beautiful and sensitive mountains.
read more@: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1427

Lighting a green lamp By Ashirbad S Raha

2010-11-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

While India awaits a revolution of renewables to meet its economic and development goals in a sustainable way, the questions regarding the funding and implementation of green energy policies have become louder.

to read further: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1422

Surrendering Indian agriculture before Obama By Devinder Sharma

2010-11-07T21:54:00.000-08:00

Having failed to revive U.S. economy and facing rising opposition back home, President Obama is coming to India with the sole aim to demand drastic policy measures to help revive business of US agri-corps and retail giants.
to read further: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1419

Kala Cola By Shalini Bhutani

2010-11-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

The latest Diwali special advertisement by Coca-Cola uses ancient Warli tribal art for commercial objectives.
to read further: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1413

Climate change, population and gender equity By Rina Mukherji

2010-11-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

Allowing women to make their own reproductive health decisions to control population by ensuring safe childbearing and longer life expectancy is the only solution to save our planet.
To read more: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1412

Squeeze poor, extract profits By Pandurang Hegde

2010-10-29T02:58:00.000-07:00

The microfinance companies in India have finally come under scanner for charging exorbitant rates of interest from poor villagers and using exploitative methods to recover small loans, forcing many poor to commit suicides.
To read further follow: http://d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1410

Smoke or chew, tobacco will kill!

2010-10-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

By Ashok B Sharma
21 Oct 2010

The GATS-India report is a wakeup call to the policymakers and the government that its anti-tobacco measures are not enough to contain the menace.

GATS-India survey says 35% adults in India use tobacco in some or other form
Notwithstanding several anti-tobacco measures of the government, about one million persons die due to tobacco-related diseases every year, and this reflects a higher mortality than the combined deaths resulting from other major diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV AIDS and malaria in India.

The recently released first Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) – India 2010 has revealed that Tobacco is the single most common preventable cause of death in the world after road accidents causing nearly five million deaths annually across the globe. More than 80% of these deaths occur in the developing countries. Majority of cancers, cardiovascular and lung diseases resulting from tobacco use also reflect a very high health cost burden.

As a result of stringent tobacco control initiatives by the developed countries, the tobacco industry has shifted its focus to the developing countries. Countries like India are being targeted as potential markets by the global tobacco industry. According to a projection by 2030, seven of every 10 tobacco-attributable deaths are expected to be in the developing countries.

The GATS-India report is a wakeup call to the policymakers and the government that its anti-tobacco measures are not enough to contain the menace. The central government says that the implementation of The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act 2003 – COTPA – is the responsibility of the state governments. The law provides for banning smoking in public places, ban on all forms of direct and indirect advertisements, ban on sale of tobacco products to minors and within 100 yards of educational institutions.

The central government had launched the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) in 2007-08 in 21 states and 42 districts to field test tobacco control strategies, but the progress of this project is tardy.

India, which has ratified the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004, has a responsibility to contain the tobacco menace.

The central government is planning to persuade farmers to shift to alternative crops. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that while livelihood of tobacco growing farmers cannot be endangered, we must work towards moving farmers and farm workers out of the tobacco farming. Alternative employment should also be provided to the workers in the tobacco industry, he said.

Emphasizing the need for inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive tobacco control strategies, the minister informed about collaboration with agriculture ministry for a project on alternative crops to tobacco and coordination with other stakeholders ministries like human resource development, information and broadcasting, rural development and labour.

GATS-India survey was conducted under the stewardship of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. Technical assistance was provided by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and RTI International.

GATS-India provides information on both, tobacco smoking and use of smokeless tobacco along with varied dimensions of tobacco use including use of different tobacco products, frequency of use, age at the time of initiation and the like. Additionally the report throws light on the other aspects of tobacco use like, exposure to second-hand smoke; cessation; the economies of tobacco; exposure to media messages on tobacco use; and knowledge of health impact of tobacco use.

The high prevalence of tobacco use makes India the second largest consumer in the world. India is among the few countries in the world where tobacco is consumed in oral form. GATS-India revealed that more than one-third (35%) of adults in India use tobacco in some form or the other. Among them 21% adults use only smokeless tobacco, 9% only smoke and 5% smoke as well as use smokeless tobacco. Based on these, the estimated number of tobacco users in India is 274.9 million, with 163.7 million users of only smokeless tobacco, 68.9 million only smokers and 42.3 millions users of both smoking and smokeless tobacco.

The prevalence of overall tobacco use among males is 48% and that among females is 20%. Nearly two in five (38%) adults in rural areas and one in four (25%) adults in urban areas use tobacco in some form. Prevalence of smoking among males is 24% whereas the prevalence among females is 3%. The extent of use of smokeless tobacco products among males (33%) is higher than among females (18%).

The prevalence of tobacco use among all the states and Union Territories ranges from the highest of 67% in Mizoram to the lowest of 9% in Goa. Prevalence of tobacco use in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, Assam and West Bengal is higher than the national average. In most of the states and Union Territories the prevalence of both smoking and smokeless tobacco use among males is higher than among females with exceptions in Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, where prevalence of smokeless tobacco is higher among females than males.

In recent years Gutkha consumption has increased manifold
More than 75% of tobacco users, both smokers as well as users of smokeless tobacco are daily users of tobacco. In India, khaini or tobacco-lime mixture (12%) is the most commonly used smokeless tobacco product, followed by gutkha, a mixture of tobacco, lime and areca nut (8%), betel quid with tobacco (6%) and applying tobacco as dentifrice (5%). The prevalence of each of the smokeless tobacco products, except dentifrice, is higher among males than females. Among smoking tobacco products, bidi, leaf-wrapped tobacco sticks (9%) is used most commonly followed by cigarette (6%) and hookah (1%).

Among both males and females, the prevalence of cigarette smoking is higher in urban areas but the prevalence of all other smoking products is higher in rural areas. The prevalence of each of the smokeless tobacco product is higher in rural than in urban areas, however, gutkha is almost equally prevalent in both urban and rural areas.
The high prevalence of tobacco use makes India the second largest consumer in the world. India is among the few countries in the world where tobacco is consumed in oral form.

On an average a daily cigarette smoker in India smokes 6.2 cigarette sticks per day and a daily bidi smoker smokes 11.6 bidi sticks per day. One-fourth of daily cigarette smokers smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day and more than half of the daily bidi smokers smoke more than 10 bidis per day.

The GATS-India shows that 52 % of adults were exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) at home. In rural areas 58% and in urban areas 39% were exposed to SHS at home. The SHS exposure at home ranged from the highest of 97% in Mizoram to the lowest of 10% in Tamil Nadu. Exposure to SHS in indoor workplaces who usually work indoors or both indoors and outdoors was 30%. The exposure to SHS at workplace was highest (68%) in Jammu and Kashmir and lowest in Chandigarh (15%).

Exposure to SHS at any public places ranged from the highest of 54% in Meghalaya to lowest of 11% in Chandigarh

India has enacted anti-tobacco laws and the state governments are the implementing agencies for most of these laws, however the success of the anti-tobacco drive depends much upon generation of awareness and effective implementation of anti-tobacco measures by both the central and the state governments.

more interesting reads @http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1406

Solar power remains the best bet

2010-10-19T03:31:00.000-07:00

By Shankar Sharma
19 Oct 2010

If we consider the ‘life cycle analysis’ of the costs and the impacts of various energy technologies available to us, solar power technology remains the best possible energy source.

India can rely on solar power from the roof top solar PV systems
A recent article on National Solar Mission (http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1375 ) on d-sector.org by highlighting certain environmental impacts of solar power has in effect conveyed a negative message to the readers on solar power technology which in reality may do more harm than benefit to the society. There have been few other articles also appearing in the media, which while highlighting the environmental impacts of solar power technology, could have been viewed as more objective if they had compared the overall socio-environmental impacts of other energy source technologies with solar power technology. In this regard, a holistic approach including the life cycle analysis of social and environmental impacts is highly essential.

It goes without saying that any action by the human beings will have some or the other deleterious impacts on the nature/environment. So we have to take a very cautious approach such that the overall impact on the environment is minimum while meeting the essential needs of the society. Towards this end we need to consider the “life cycle analysis” of the costs and the impacts of various energy technologies available to us.

In this regard can we say that energy technologies based on fossil fuels, including nuclear fuels, or hydro dams are better than the solar power? In case of solar power technology almost all of the environmental issues are limited to the manufacturing stage of the solar PV panels; and in other stages of its life cycle the impacts are negligible. With concerted efforts the impact on the society/environment can be minimised even in the manufacturing stage of the solar PV panels. Since all these impacts are in one location (of manufacturing) it is much easier to monitor and control.

Can we say so in the case of conventional power technologies? The impacts on society/ environment throughout the life cycle, starting from mining /dam construction till the obsolete power plant structures are decommissioned, are huge, and almost impossible to be eliminated. In case of nuclear power plants, the burden on the society in the form of spent nuclear fuel will go on for tens of generations whereas the benefit goes to only one generation. Conventional power technologies emit almost all the pollutants associated with solar power technology, and many more such as mercury, radio active elements, Green House Gases etc.

More @ http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1401

Put renewable energy on CSR menu

2010-10-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

By Samir Nazareth
12 Oct 2010

Businesses can make a very positive intervention in the society by adding renewable energy projects to their CSR activities, which will help improve the socio-economic conditions of the marginalised.

Villagers can be trained to manage renewable energy projects
(photo courtesy: Panos)
According to the Government, India will need another 100,000 MW of power generation capacity by 2012. However the 2009 Budget document states ‘The growth in electricity generation by power utilities during 2008-09 at 2.7 per cent fell much short of the targeted 9.1 per cent.’

This is something routine as the demand for energy outstrips the efforts taken to meet it. Economic growth and development projects like the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidhyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), a scheme to provide electricity to rural India, increase the burden on the already impoverished central grid. The Budget document recognises this and writes ‘the energy shortage increased, because the growth in requirement (5.1 per cent) was greater than the availability (3.8 per cent).’
Further, electrification under RGGVY does not imply electrification of the entire village nor does it guarantee regular power supply. Thus villages are unable to reap the benefits of electricity though connected to the grid.
The lack of equitable distribution of electricity is a socio-economic problem. Villages and small towns, being socio-economically weaker, do not receive 24x7 power supply, and this only exacerbates their problems. Even as the government builds more fossil fuel based power plants, supply of electricity to the common man is not guaranteed as the power is meant for industrial growth. This top down approach ignores the socio-economic benefits of ensuring electricity is provided to the ‘Aam Admi’.
The fact that the top-down approach has failed is seen starkly in the areas around thermal power plants which suffer daily power outages. This is a slip between the cup and the lip which needs to be bridged. Decentralised renewable energy is a viable method to do so. However, the incentives given by the government for such schemes have not enthused many to get into the fray.

However, companies like North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) in Delhi who are engaged in electricity generation and supply are already planning to install solar panels on houses as part of their business strategy. Such a system reduces transmission losses, reduces demand load and provides extra electricity at almost no cost. The Punjab Energy Development Agency is also planning something similar in a township in Mohali in Chandigarh. Such initiatives have scope to be converted into CDM projects.

At present, most CSR activities revolve around education, health care, alternative employment or maintaining gardens. The innovative spirit that guides corporate India should also guide their CSR activities.

Decentralised electricity generation using renewables and its distribution can become the new frontiers for CSR activities. Such projects reduce load on the grid, bridge the growing electricity deficit, provide regular electricity supply and generate local employment.

As part of a CSR initiative a business can set up renewable energy systems in villages that will be maintained by villagers who have undergone training. Installing a mix of solar panels, wind mills and biogas plants can make a village energy self sufficient.

Cities can benefit too; take the case of Nagpur, in Central India. According to municipal data the city has 659 primary schools, 396 secondary schools, 140 higher secondary schools, 385 junior colleges, 12 medical colleges and 15 engineering colleges. Installing solar panels to meet some, if not all, of their power requirements would reduce the load on the central grid. As these institutions don’t operate 24x7 excess electricity could be fed back to the grid.

Though electricity is a basic requirement the government is clearly unable to provide it to all. Companies need to find ways to become socially relevant. Empowering people through decentralised renewable energy is one such way.
By adding renewable energy projects to their CSR activities, businesses will make a very positive intervention that will go a long way in improving the socio-economic lot of disempowered.

More @ http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1394

Vulnerable wildlife

2010-10-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
07 Oct 2010

The current policies to protect wildlife have failed to achieve intended goals. Can we think beyond borrowed concepts of Protected Areas and empower local communities to take initiatives for wildlife protection?

Several elephants have been killed by fast running trains this year
The Environment Ministry recently announced the plan to declare elephant as India’s national heritage animal and to establish National Elephant Conservation Authority.
Tragically during the same time seven elephants were crushed to death by speeding goods train in Banarhat forest in West Bengal. This is a clear indicator of the reality, the brazen cruelty of human beings against wildlife. We pride ourselves in the holistic outlook of ancient scriptures, depicting wildlife as incarnation of God. Nevertheless, the way we treat the wildlife is appalling. The train driver could have slowed down to save those elephants, instead he opted to mow thorough the herd, showing least concern for the innocent animals that cannot comprehend the fate of hitting a running train. In another incident, a calf elephant was mowed down by a truck on Ooty road near Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. Except few, majority of the people in this country believe and behave as if only people should have the right of way even at the cost of sacrificing the wildlife.

Despite having declared number of protected areas as National Parks and Sanctuaries, the threats to wildlife have increased rather than giving them any protection. The protected areas have increased manifold from 67 in 1970s to 491 in 2000, a rise of 700 percent over three decades. Enactment of the Wild Life Protection Act in 1972 was another step to provide legal protection to the wild animals in our country. But have these policies helped to give protection to the animals?

Having set up protected areas, the government has framed rules and laws to conserve them from outside threats of poaching as well as making it difficult to divert these areas for other purposes. However, in actual practice, the management of these areas by forest department has led to destruction of the protected areas. In Ranibennur Wild Life Sanctuary in Karnataka, specially carved out in deccan plains to conserve the Black bucks, the area is planted with eucalyptus mono culture. This monoculture hinders the growth of natural grass, creating shortage of fodder for black bucks. The planting of grassy patches in higher regions of Western Ghats with acacia auriculifomis has created fodder shortage for Gaur.

In addition to these anti ecological management practices, the state and central governments have given permission to build hydel dams inside the wild life sanctuaries. This is in clear violation of the existing Wild Life Act. Obviously, the pressure of power lobby is very strong to resist and the temptation is to sacrifice the existing reserves that are meant to be a refugee for wild life. The building of infrastructure projects like roads and rail lines across the protected areas is one of the major threats for smooth movement of wildlife in the country. These infrastructure projects lead to fragmentation of the habitats of wildlife, hindering the migratory paths of animals like elephants.

The selfish human being is so obsessed that he does not want to give space to animals to move during the night time. The ban of traffic in some parts of wild life areas in Karnataka has had positive impact on the movement of wild life. But the transport and tourist lobby is very keen that this ban is lifted in order to allow free movement of people and goods at the cost of sacrificing the wild animals that get killed due to heavy movement of vehicles. Blessed with greater ability to think, the human beings have a role and responsibility to allow wild life to survive and move in the forests. Instead of abiding by this responsibility, most of us seem to absolve ourselves and show our brute strength of superiority to destroy the wild animals. The mowing down of elephants by the running train is the clear manifestation of this brute violence.
In the midst of this gloomy situation, we have unique examples of communities showing rare courage and compassion to conserve wildlife. The Bishnoi sect in Rajasthan and Haryana has shown that it is possible to live in harmony with wild life as well as continue farming activities. We can still see chinkaras roaming in their agricultural fields. Their commitment to protect the wild animals is legendary, as they have stood their grounds against powerful bollywood actors like Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan for their involvement in the poaching case. Similarly, the villagers in Kokre Bellur in Karnataka have shown that they can conserve the rare birds through community initiatives.

Ignoring the traditions of community conserved wild life initiatives spread over different landscapes in the country, the Government of India adopted the elite model of Protected Areas, a borrowed concept from United States. Under this initiative, the divide between “wild nature” and human beings was forced upon the people living around the National Parks and Wild life sanctuaries. These protected areas are the tourist spots for the elite to watch wild life. The increased conflicts between these protected areas and communities living around this region are a clear indicator of the failure of the ongoing wild life conservation policy in India.

The existing policies to address the issue of decreasing wildlife as well as the increasing threats to their survival have miserably failed. The tiger and elephant projects have not been able to provide the basic security for their survival. We need to review these failed initiatives and formulate a practical wildlife policy that can meet the conservation goals as well as protect their existing habitat.

http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1392

Who will save Goa?

2010-10-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

By Hartman de Souza
03 Oct 2010

Wild rush to mine Goa has almost ruined the once beautiful coastal state. Alarmed by the widespread destruction, citizen groups have come together to bring some sense to the government’s development planning, but politicians continue to give a hoot to their concerns for nature.

Goa has seen unparalleled exploitation of natural resources

While the Expert Panel appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to look into the status of the Western Ghats had its day-long meeting at a conference hall in the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa on September 27, there is every likelihood that the strong attack launched by citizens' groups and others against the mining industry will be diluted if not waylaid.

At the outset it must be said that the possibility of this bleak outcome must be set against the major gain of this day, which was that Goa-based scientists, architects, writers, scholars and several citizens' groups formed a consortium of common interest that is sure to torment several Goan politicians who depend on mining to fill their coffers. This is not as far fetched as it may sound.

Many of these politicians have made billions through legal and illegal mining operations in Goa but in the process have killed innumerable forests, springs and aquifers of the state. Not to be left behind, the remaining netas have also bought huge tracts of agricultural land and forests, and now wait for the environmental clearances to come through. The story doesn't end here.

When some Goan economists claim that mining is the backbone of the economy, in reality they mean that either politicians and influential officials have turned mining barons or running companies that lease out mining machinery, or own a fleet of barges; or that every Goan official from Road Transport Officer to Police Inspector's level probably owns a few trucks to haul out the ore.

But to come back to the MoEF's Expert Panel that heard what Goans not dependent on mining had to say:
In a 100-minute presentation that drew the expected frowns from those in the industry, they set before the Expert Panel, perhaps for the first time in Goa, the most comprehensive and damning of cases against mining in Goa.

At least one of the panel members, Dr. V.S. Vijayan, a distinguished agricultural scientist, maintained that there should be a total moratorium on mining activities. He echoed Goan claims that a detailed social audit of the mining industry be the need of the day, and certainly not the Chief Minister's much flaunted 'new' Mineral Policy that was conceived to ensure the mining in Goa continues unabated. Lest it be forgotten citizens' groups have long been clamouring that regulations be honestly enforced, and that the extensive damage of earlier mining operations be repaired before any new activities are even contemplated.

Will this be the case? That is a moot point.
Professor Madhav Gadgil, an eminent scientist with the reputation to back him, while chairing the proceedings of the Expert panel admirably, appeared less than willing to disclose either his cards or his heart. He began the morning with a rather long-winded regurgitation of his past achievements in negotiating the terrain between the environment and that magical word, 'development'. However, considering his own admission that the Konkan Railway Corporation totally disregarded the changes he had painstakingly suggested, we may not have the most potent advocate for our magnificent Ghats.

While the morning session provided fact and figure by way of enlarged Google-generated maps, an exhibition of photographs of mining-devastated areas, elaborately marshalled writing, impassioned argument, and a dossier of all this in each panel members hands, the afternoon alas, was given to spin-doctoring.

In a power-point presentation redolent of fake public meetings in the mining areas, the industry's young representative, blissfully ignored figures and statistics given in the government's own Draft Regional Plan, and trotted out reasons that are both painful and false. According to them:
75 per cent of the state population is employed in the mining industry; major tax paying industry giving 25% of Goa's GDP; environmental measures will be taken care of by the new Mineral Policy; social programmes by way of bus stops and clinics and water tankers; planting five to six million trees every year.

Their solutions to the problem of mining in Goa are ridiculously simple and predictably enough, backed by the politicians. That illegal mining be curbed by government, that wider bypass roads be cut through forest lands for higher capacity carrying trucks with air-conditioned cabins. Right now ore from Karantaka coming into Goa has made life around the Anmod Ghat and below a living hell of trucks. The mining industry wants a railway in! As if on cue, a senior member of the industry reminded one and all that if the mining would stop, as it did in Kudremukh, it would fan a Naxalite movement!

In the discussion that followed, Professor Gadgil, before he left for a meeting with the Chief Minister, took pains to tell those concerned with the effects of mining to tone down their rhetoric and give suggestions that could improve the mining industry. While those in the industry opened their notebooks and duly took pen in hand, one trusts that both they and Professor Gadgil got an understanding of the only suggestion that was really made, namely, that a moratorium against mining be enforced and earlier leases cleared under false circumstances, be revoked.

Professor Gadgil perhaps, is not to know that nearly every single one of the Environment Impact Assessment studies mandatory for clearance have been fabricated by one Hyderabad-based laboratory with an office in Goa now; or how independent scientists who have scrutinised these have laughed at the pathetic job made of even fudging data, of 'Siberian salamanders' given home in Goa, or even, 'rivers of Gujarat' for that matter. Professor Gadgil is certainly not to know that the bulk of new clearances in the virgin foothills of Quepem and Sanguem were given by the MoEF panel headed by the infamous Dr. Majumdar, a scientist on the board of at least two mining and mining-related companies, who was then forced to resign. It is because of this obvious conflict of interest if not chicanery, that environmentalists, their lawyers and civil society ask that those earlier leases cleared, be revoked.

Whether one dwells on whether this destructive industry will be caught out or not, the scene perforce shifts to whether the Expert Panel, given their eminence and standing, are inclined to see the trees and water before the state and the central governments see the low grade ore beneath just waiting to be sent to China.

Too many intellectuals in Goa are now disturbed with the regularity that some scientists and environmentalists in Goa have shifted their allegiance to the mining industry, taking on board the myth that mining is the backbone of the Goan economy, and then, rationalizing this outrage in casuistry that would make even a Middle Ages monk blush with shame.
More @ http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1379

Military ties for industrial interests

2010-10-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

By S. G. Vombatkere
01 Oct 2010

A careful examination of deepening strategic ties between India and U.S.A. has become necessary, particularly when direct military-to-military dealings are proposed sidelining democratic functioning.

It is necessary in today's world of intimately linked national economies to strengthen and deepen economic and cultural ties between all nations in the interest of peace. This would also be a positive move to effectively combat the scourge of terrorism synergistically. But if economic ties are predicated on ‘fighting terror’ by the use of police and military force and trade in military hardware and software, it would imply that the military-industrial complex (MIC) has an increasing role in economic ties, presaging ill for the whole world and particularly for those countries that join in strengthening such ties. This is especially as USA has made the first-ever step in formally corporatizing armed conflict and confirming the legendary power of USA's MIC by converting ‘combat operations’ by regular U.S. troops in Iraq to ‘stability operations’ by US-paid contractors such as Halliburton in the guise of military disengagement.

Military-to-military relations
A day before the Ninth Anniversary of the horrendous 9/11 attack-cum-tragedy in USA, leading Indian daily The Hindu reported two events indicating deepening strategic ties between India and USA [1, 2]. The on-going defence engagement of ‘military cooperation and inter-operability’ [3] and defence equipment procurement was proposed by US Admiral Willard during his visit to New Delhi, to be expanded to a ‘much richer dialogue’ including the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) and Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), to go ‘beyond bilateral exercises and sale of military hardware’. It is acknowledged that the top-most US military commanders have a US foreign policy role in addition to their military role [4]; thus these two Agreements, designed ‘in order to slice away bureaucratic procedures for the armed forces to work with each other’ need to be considered seriously in the public domain.

Speaking of the Indian military, Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi notes that "Our political leadership is highly uncomfortable in dealing with the military directly and prefers to let the bureaucracy do so." [5]. Thus effectively, the military's contact with the elected Executive is through the bureaucracy, giving bureaucrats a large degree of control that the military resents even while it unhesitatingly accepts civilian control. It is easy to blame the bureaucracy for this, but the historic and on-going failure of the political leadership in maintaining contact directly with the Defence Chiefs, cannot be wished away. (Creation of a Chief of Defence Staff post would overcome the problem, but this has been successfully stalled by the bureaucracy for years notwithstanding the cost to national security).

Willard's suggestion to ‘slice away bureaucratic procedures’ in military-to-military contacts seeks to further weaken the existing weak link between India's military and its political leadership by taking the bureaucracy out of the loop. This is interference in India's internal affairs and government functioning, and dangerous for India's security. Thus, even in the present scheme of skewed civilian-military relations within India, it must be ensured that the bureaucracy is not ‘sliced away’ from direct India-US military-to-military interactions; the elected Executive must urgently get its act together in the interest of national security.

Logistic support
The LSA clearly envisages providing logistic bases for the US military. This needs careful thinking-through; it could be the thin end of a wedge commencing with providing facilities for docking or landing, victualling and re-fuelling for US military ships and aircraft, later expandable to ammunitioning that includes stockpiling US weapons protected by US military personnel stationed on Indian territory. The serious problem with this is, a US weapon stockpile is an attractive target for militants and terrorists, and a successful attack can well become reason for USA to multiply its military presence on Indian soil, even without this provision built into the LSA.

Bad science joins paid science

2010-09-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
27 Sep 2010

Entire India, more so its young scientists and students, is left embarrassed and ashamed after expose of ‘copy and paste’ job done by the heads of India’s top science academies to push GM food into India. While these academy heads continue to cling to their posts despite being exposed of disgraceful deeds, the incident only confirms the widespread corruption and incompetence in India’s academic and research institutions.

Citizens of India are vehemently opposed to GM food

I still can't overcome my disbelief. Such 'distinguished' scientific bodies, and such a shoddy report. I have always said there is good science, and there is bad science but this report transgresses all earlier known brackets, and I have no hesitation in saying that the Inter-Academy Report on GM crops (see the pdf copy of the report here: http://bit.ly/cQbyCI ) does not even qualify to be put in the category of bad science.

It is Gutter Science.
The Inter-Academy Report on GM Crops -- prepared by the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Medical Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences -- and submitted in September 2010 to the Ministry of Environment & Forests, is no better than the introductory write-ups any graduate student of biotechnology would come out with. In fact, I have a collection of a large number of papers/analyses written by graduate and post-graduate students who seek my comments/views that I would rate much higher than this Inter-Academy report.
The Inter-Academy Report on GM Crops is in fact a disgrace to Indian science. That Indian science was on a downhill path was never in question, but that it had already slipped into a cesspool is a revelation. I wish the presidents of the six Indian Academies had at least read the 19-page report prepared by the Minister for Environment & Forests Jairam Ramesh (and which is available on the website of the ministry) at the time of announcing the moratorium on Bt brinjal early this year, and they would have known what academic excellence means.
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh had imposed a moratorium on Bt brinjal’s release until there is widespread scientific consensus on its environmental and biosafety aspects. The Inter-Academy report fails to answer any of the concerns/questions that Jairam Ramesh had raised in his paper.

The Inter-Academy report therefore is not a scientific inquiry, but a cheap public relation exercise on behalf of the GM industry. This is a scientific form of corruption, and has to be condemned in as strong words as possible.

You have probably read in newspapers how the key parts of the report -- which supports genetically modified (GM) Bt brinjal’s commercial release -- have been plagiarized from a biotechnology department newsletter. According to a news report titled 'Experts Admit GM brinjal Report Faulty' in The Telegraph (Sept 27, 2010): "Six Indian science academies had earlier this week approved the limited release of GM brinjal for cultivation in a joint report that contained 60 lines of plagiarised text, a near verbatim reproduction of an article in a biotechnology advocacy newsletter which itself had lines extracted from an industry-supported publication.
"This is unfortunate — we are devastated. This should not have happened,” said M. Vijayan, the president of the Indian National Science Academy, and a senior faculty member at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.

Another press report ‘Academies copied to push for Bt brinjal’ on India Today website says: “India's top science academies have done the unthinkable. They have copied and quoted extensively from an industry lobby report to give a clean chit to the controversial genetically modified (GM) brinjal. Key portions and data in the much touted Inter-Academy Report on Genetically Modified Crops have been lifted straight from a report of a lobbying group funded by seed companies, including Monsanto and Mahyco.”
“.. it turns out that the academies have relied heavily on data generated by US based GM lobby International Service for the Acquisition of Agri- biotech Applications (ISAAA). They have recommended the commercial release of Bt brinjal and the lifting of the moratorium imposed on it by Ramesh. Earlier, science and technology minister Prithviraj Chavan had plagiarised from reports by the same ISAAA in a letter to cabinet colleague A. Ramadoss while defending Bt brinjal.

“…The similarities in the ISAAA report and the Inter-Academy report go on without anyone getting a hint about the source of the data. No references or citations have been given, as is normal with any scientific document.”
[See the news reports at http://bit.ly/9K6D2l and http://bit.ly/adBJo6 ]

'Right' is right but what is left...

2010-09-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

By Sudhirendar Sharma
24 Sep 2010

UN General Assembly in July 2010 adopted a resolution to recognize water as a fundamental human right, but does it make any difference to the nearly 900 million people without access to clean drinking water?

Over 128 million people in India do not have access to safe drinking water

For them the law of the land does not exist. Ever since discharge from a sugar mill first reached the village in 1955, Kalapani has continued to remain a cesspool of effluents. Apart from the households located on raised land, the entire stretch of cultivable land in the village has been waterlogged. Women use boat to ferry themselves out of the village to take the nature’s call. Collecting drinking water remains an ordeal as there is no end to water woes for the villagers.

Situated along the embankment on river Baghmati in Sitamarhi district of Bihar, the village has literally been trapped between the devil and the deep sea. If it were not the raised embankment, the effluents would have drained into the river. But that was not to be and with the law favoring the powerful, the industry has been able to secure cushion for its reprehensible attitude. Neither the state nor its administrative machinery has been able to uphold the constitutional provision of a right to water in Kalapani

Unlike most countries where the lack of explicit reference to a right to water in the national legislation necessitates creativity in enforcing the right through the courts, the constitutional provision (Article 21) wherein a right to water has been subsumed under the ‘right to life’ has long been violated across India. The right to water has existed in letter but not in spirit. No surprise, therefore, that over 128 million people in India do not have access to safe drinking water and this number is growing.

Is a right to water legally enforceable? Can a complaint for human rights violation be filed for non-compliance? The 1990 Kerala High Court judgement in Attakoya Thangal v. Union of India recognized the fundamental importance of the right to water but could not go beyond mere assertion that “...the administrative agency cannot be permitted to function in such a manner as to make inroads into the fundamental right under Article 21.”

The court was hearing the petitioners who had claimed that a scheme for pumping up ground water for supplying potable water to the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea would upset the fresh water equilibrium, leading to salinity in the available water resources and causing more long-term harm than short-term benefits. In its judgement, the court could only request deeper investigation and monitoring of the scheme as it recognized the right of people to clean water as a right to life.
The crux is that while the state has several basic obligations to provide their citizens with drinking water, the affected persons have ineffective possibilities to claim these rights in the court of law. Because the right to life is understood in a very narrow sense, individuals can only file a complaint if their life is threatened through the lack of access to water. However, if those who complain can get water from another place their claim can no longer be held valid.

Does adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly in July 2010 to recognize water as a fundamental human right make any difference? Experts argue that the adoption of a ‘human right to water' by the UN General Assembly may seem a breakthrough but in reality it is no more than a statement of good intent. The existence of right to clean drinking water, reflected within a right to life, in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights hasn't made any difference thus far.

Such legal provisions notwithstanding, the irony is that world over 884 million people have no access to clean drinking water. According to legal experts, international laws give little scope for individuals to achieve government action by emphasizing individual claims. Since such laws cannot force the state to fulfill its duties, the World Health Organization (WHO) is in favour of an enforceable right to clean drinking water.

Ironically, even if a right to water becomes legally enforceable it neither ensures quantity nor quality of water. The state is under no obligation to ensure either. As geogenic contamination is getting widely prevalent in groundwater and anthropogenic sources are polluting most surface water sources in the country, reduction in fresh water supplies is leaving the population at a higher risk. Not without reason are 21 per cent of all communicable diseases attributed to contaminated water supplies in India.

The varied implications of a constitutional provision of a right to water, enshrined in the right to life, leave the citizens in a precarious condition. As the state cannot be held accountable for non-delivery of water (both in quantity and quality) to peoples’ doorsteps, it leaves people with little option but to rely on bottled water as a reliable source of drinking water. Millions of people already do so, as a right to water has essentially meant a right to buy water.

More @ http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1376&idFor=1376

Solar Mission ignores environmental impact

2010-09-22T00:48:00.000-07:00

By Shawahiq Siddiqui
21 Sep 2010

Contrary to popular assumptions that there is 'zero' environmental impact of solar energy development in the country, there are serious potential environmental risks associated with National Solar Mission that can not be ignored.

Solar energy production could have adverse environmental impact
India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is considered to be the most important Mission to reduce GHG emissions phenomenally without compromising the country’s increasing high economic growth rate. No wonder, it is one of the core national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The JNNSM aims to generate 22 GW by 2022 ( by the end of 11th Five Year Plan), by harnessing about 5,000 trillion kWh solar energy potential in a phase wise manner with the use of appropriate technology and by developing substantial solar manufacturing capacity within the country.

Amongst the three identified important phases under the JNNSM, Phase-I (2009-2012) aims at producing solar generation capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 MW (a quantum leap from the current installed capacity) and is considered to be the most important phase as it aims to achieve various objectives including rapid scaling up of domestic solar equipment manufacturing, consolidation and expansion of ongoing projects for various applications and promotion of local manufacturing capacity and establishment of solar technology parks or Solar Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPP). The total area to be covered with solar panels is 40 million m2 excluding the land required for setting up solar manufacturing units for scaling up domestic manufacturing of equipments in the country.

On environmental aspect, the Mission envisages that there is “zero” environmental impact of solar energy development in the country. While it is correct that there is no environmental impact of harnessing energy from the Sun and there are no environmentally harmful end products due to generation of electricity or heat from the solar panels, the JNNSM undermines environmental implications related with land requirement for solar installation, environmental impacts of manufacturing solar photovoltaic and solar thermal cells and establishment of solar manufacturing plants that should have been equally considered and may have serious environmental ramifications due to the involvement of hazardous waste and processes in the manufacturing of solar equipments and cells.

Solar power being one of the most land intensive electricity generation options requiring 5-10 acres/MW, there could be huge pressure on land which could give rise to increase in conflicts for land. There are also possibilities of developers acquiring more than required area for developing solar SEZ and so forth. Currently there is no land use plan envisaged under the JNNSM. Further, there are no standards in place for land acquisition required for solar manufacturing plants and power stations. Mandatory Land leasing for utility power scale plants is one of the options to provide equitable solutions to the original land owners. There is a need for programmatic Land Use Plan for all solar projects and manufacturing units.

Due to solar thermal power plants, there would be huge pressure on water resources, especially in dry and arid areas that already face scarcity of water. Solar Thermal requires large volume of water for cooling down the steam. Water being a contested resource in dry and arid areas there is a need for revisiting the scheme for installation of solar thermal plants in sun rich but water scarce states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat. So far there has been no attempt to understand the implications of solar thermal plants on the water resources in dry areas. Water is also required in huge quantities for washing solar panels as dust accumulated on the panels would reduce the efficiency of solar panels in trapping sun rays. There is a need for laying down normative water use standards for solar power plants.

For manufacturing solar modules and wafers, the current SPV technologies in India use certain hazardous chemicals such as silicon compounds, cadmium compounds, germane and polyvinyl fluoride. Other substances that will be used in manufacturing solar cells, modules and panels include argon, cadmium compounds, selenide gas, EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate), germane, polyvinyl fluoride (Tedlar), silane, and silicon compounds. The use of these chemicals in large quantities releases hazardous substances as effluents and release of toxic gases. Given the scale at which solar manufacturing is anticipated in India there is going to be enormous release of hazardous chemicals and gaseous substances in the environment. Needless to say the regulators have not thought about it.

The workers in the solar manufacturing units will be exposed to hazardous substances and toxic gases. The raw material used in solar manufacturing poses various kinds of health risks such as possibility of silicosis due to use and handling of silicon in large quantities. Cadmium used in manufacture of solar modules can cause cancer. Besides the fumes emitted during the process can cause various respiratory and skin diseases. In case of accident the chemicals stored in the SPV unit can cause immeasurable damage to the health and environment.

Ignoring the above concerns, the Mission document doesn’t see the role of regulatory bodies enforcing environmental norms in the country. Accordingly, a number of regulatory instruments that can be used for sustainable expansion of solar energy industry have been ignored. The crucial being the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2009 which does not include solar industry as an activity requiring Environmental Clearance. Currently, EIA can be conveniently done away with by the developers as under the current EIA Notification activities under a threshold financial limits and size do not require EIA. Further, it is also unclear whether CSP projects would be included as Thermal Power Plants under activity 1(d) of the EIA Notification, 2009.

Also, the Hazardous Chemical Rules 1989 do not include a number of notable toxic and hazardous chemicals that are being used in the present solar technologies.

More @http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1375

Unfair share, uncertain futures

2010-09-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

By Shalini Bhutani & Kanchi Kohli
20 Sep 2010

As the world finalises an International Regime on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), concerns in India remain regarding the efficacy of National Biodiversity Authority to ensure that the commercial entities share their benefits with the local communities and guarantee biodiversity conservation.

Institutional and legal mechanisms to conserve biodiversity are there,
but where is the will?
Around this time governments representing over 193 countries of the world are negotiating an International Regime (IR) on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) under the multilateral environmental agreement – Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The IR is meant to be finalised at the CBD's next Conference of Parties (COP) scheduled in October 2010 in Japan. In 1993, after this treaty came into force, each member country was to enact its own legislation towards conservation of biodiversity and the regulation of biological resources accessed from its territory.

India finalised its Biological Diversity (BD) Act in 2002 and its implementing Rules in 2004. These legislative dictats are meant to streamline procedures when non-Indians and corporate entities use any biological material for research or commercial activities. The intention is the distribution of wealth generated and a fair share of benefits guaranteed for local people when any local resources or traditional knowledge from their areas is so utilised. India's Guidelines for such 'benefit sharing' are still in draft form.

Since 2005, when the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was set up in Chennai, it has worked to implement the BD Act. It has granted approval to over 325 applications seeking access to India's biological material. The requests for access from applicants mostly government institutions and private enterprises have varied from research, commercial utilisation, IPRs as well as third party transfer of the material. The approval procedure mandates consultation with a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) to be constituted at village and urban ward levels. The law also requires the consultation to be followed up with the finalisation of an agreement laying down conditions for use and the terms of benefit sharing.

In one such instance in 2007, the NBA entered into two agreements with PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited. Some facts need to be mentioned here. PepsiCo is a US multinational company and its Chair and CEO is also the head of the US-India Business Council. And till date the US is not a party to the CBD. These were 'benefit sharing' agreements, one for commercial access and the other for third party transfer of Kappaphycus alvarezii, a particular type of sea weed to Malaysia. The company paid INR 37.26 lakhs to the NBA for a type of dry sea weed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) accessed around the Gulf of Munnar area in the southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu. PepsiCo signed a yearlong agreement with the NBA to export this to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines for commercial utilisation in the food and cosmetics industry.

When this approval took place, the State of Tamil Nadu neither had any local BMC nor the required Tamil Nadu State Biodiversity Board. This remained the situation till December 2007 when the agreement was signed. Thus there was no means by which mandatory consultations were held with the local communities – the potential “benefit-claimers”, as defined in the law. Till date none of these structures have come into place. However, as per due procedure laid out in the legislation, the NBA would have got a sum equalling 5% of benefits claimed as 'administrative costs'.
In reply to a Right to Information application, in July 2010 the NBA admitted that the money received from Pepsi is “yet to be ploughed back to the benefit claimers”. The delay is explained by the fact that guidelines for utilisation of such monies deposited in the National Biodiversity Fund are yet to be finalised.

But there is more to this story. In 2004, following the Tsunami tragedy, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) offered 'Tsunami Assistance' to India. One element of this was micro-enterprises which entailed setting up self-help groups with forward and backward market linkages. In the planned implementation, over 200 micro enterprises were conceived of and multiple women’s groups were federated into societies. They were to focus on the production of commercial activities for e.g. sea food products, dairy products, etc, including sea weed products. In the latter half of 2005 the Tamil Nadu Government issued Government Orders granting subsidies for sea weed cultivation to 19 special village Panchayats across 5 districts in the State.
It is yet again visible how international financial institutions by the nature of projects they propose, pave the way for the entry and operation of large corporations. All this in the name of rehabilitation and livelihood support for affected communities. The ADB part loan part grant to India thus actually aided PepsiCo sea weed cultivation plans, ensuring the company contract growers! PepsiCo also facilitated bank loans to the coastal communities through the State Bank of India. PepsiCo has been doing sea weed farming in TN since 1999. In 2000 the license for the particular kind of cultivation was obtained by the company from India's Centre for Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI).

Therefore, not surprisingly, in its Agreement with the NBA, PepsiCo suggests that the local communities are already getting benefits from it on this sea weed cultivation programme. The company states that it provides training to the women, facilitates bank loans and guarantees a buy back from the SHGs.

There is no indication that the NBA questions this when determining the quantum of benefits to be shared. If the company can cite pre-NBA benefits, surely the NBA can point to the pre-NBA profits from sea weed export that the company has made! Since the agreement was signed by an authorised representative of the NBA, the logic of the company is accepted. Is this a fair share of the benefits as per CBD, leave aside the issue of biodiversity justice?

On the contrary there is obvious silence of the NBA, which is also meant to be the topmost biodiversity conservation body in the country, on the issue of bio-invasion by the non-native red weed in very close proximity to a Coastal Marine Reserve. In 2008, it was reported that the algae, Kappaphycus alvarezii, has invaded coral reefs in the marine reserve in the Bay of Bengal. “Experts are trying to establish who let the seaweed escape into the wild: a government lab, a multinational company, or careless farmers”, an article in Science Magazine said.

So the world may get an International Regime and a country may have its Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) law, but there is no guarantee that agreements signed hereafter will be life-changing for local communities. Or that biodiversity conservation will be guaranteed either. The benefits to businesses will surely continue, now “legally”.

Bamboo for sustainability and growth

2010-09-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
18 Sep 2010
While we celebrate the International Bamboo Day, it is essential to recognize and propagate the multiple uses of Bamboo in providing livelihood security to poor, protecting land from degradation as well as in mitigating climate change.

Bamboo is a major source of livelihood in North-east India
(photo: Pandurang Hegde)
Bamboo is an important part of rural livelihood in many countries, especially in developing counties like India. Due to its versatile nature and multiple uses, it is also called ‘poor man’s timber’. Though it grows tall like a tree, it belongs to the grass family. It can withstand the drought as well as flood. During the annual floods in Kosi region in Bihar, it is the bamboo that helps the flood hit villagers. Even during Tsunami, bamboo came to the rescue of people rendered homeless to erect shelters at short notice.

There are more than 70 genera divided into about 1,450 species of bamboo all over the world. India is second only to China in terms of bamboo diversity having more than 130 bamboo species spread across 18 genera. The North Eastern states are the store house of bamboo diversity with 58 species belonging to 10 genera.

Bamboo is grown on 9 million hectares in India, covering almost 13 per cent of the total forest area of the country. In addition, nearly 1.75 million hectares of bamboo area lies outside the natural forest area. The total production of bamboo is 5 million tons per year.

Though Madhya Pradesh has the highest area under bamboo forests, the bamboo culture thrives in the North Eastern region. From the tender shoots as a delicacy food item to the rice cooked in the hollow of raw bamboo, it is part of the everyday life. From house construction to flooring, agricultural implements, the bamboo pervades the life and culture. We find the most artistic skills in bamboo weaving in these regions. Millions of families are dependent on bamboo resources for their livelihood in India.
The advantage of bamboo is manifold compared to monoculture tree plantations. It grows in forest like natural formations either in monocultures or mixed stands among other tree crops. After planting, the fast growth of bamboo clumps start yielding after 4 to 7 years. It can become part of agro forestry practice in small land holding. New bamboo plantations may curb the pressure from deforestation by serving as wood substitutes. It can be planted to reclaim severely degraded sites and wastelands. It is good soil binder owing to their peculiar clump formation and fibrous root system and hence also plays an important role in soil and water conservation.

Climate change and Bamboo
Recent studies suggest that bamboo is more effective plant than trees in increasing carbon stocks through sequestration of carbon. The researchers studying bamboo plantations estimate that a hectare of bamboo has the potential to sequester between 12-14 tons of carbon every year above the ground. Additionally, the extensive root system builds up the carbon sink faster than trees.

When bamboo forest is managed by annual harvesting of mature culms it can sequester more carbon, especially if harvested products are converted into durable products like bamboo furniture or household timber. It can be a good substitute for energy intensive products, thus helping to reduce fossil fuel based products. It is used in over 1500 applications, but until recently the life span of these products was short. However, the upgradation in processing techniques has enabled to manufacture durable products that have longer life, mainly in housing components and furniture.

The international community, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as well as Indian government have overlooked the potential of bamboo to address the issue of climate change and enhance livelihood opportunities. Compared to growing trees, a bamboo plantation would repay the investments in carbon development costs within first four years. Moreover, when mature bamboo is harvested, it would fetch handsome net revenues providing employment opportunities to people, mainly artisans. In fact the Medar community in Karnataka is entirely dependent on bamboo weaving, producing items like baskets. They are the poorest groups belonging to the lowest caste among Dalits. One of the ways to strengthen their economic situation is through enhancing bamboo stocks.

The carbon credit business world wide is in billions of dollars. Large high tech projects as well as those which destroy natural forests like micro hydel projects get carbon credit benefits. Contrary to these dubious carbon credit ventures, bamboo plantations can bring the carbon credit business at the doorsteps of poor, marginal communities. If CDM as well as those agencies that are aiming to address the issue of climate change include bamboo as one of the tools to mitigate climate change, it would yield ‘poor man’s carbon credits’.

While it has many positive impacts on climate change, one should also be aware of the negative impact. Gregarious flowering of bamboo in North Eastern part of India and in some regions of Western Ghats may lead to releasing of large amounts of carbon in the form of dry bamboo. There is an urgent need to evolve a rationale policy to procure and utilize enormous quantity of bamboo crop after the flowering. Ignoring this would cause a devastation of fire that would engulf the diversity in the region.

Though India has launched the National Bamboo Mission in 2007, the implementation of this mission is not only slow, but it has failed to address the enormity of the issues related to bamboo. May be, the step motherly attitude meted out to the North Eastern states is one of the prime reasons for such gross neglect of poor man’s timber and negation of bamboo culture. A proper understanding and empathizing with the bamboo culture and financial and technical support would have unleashed the bamboo revolution that would have uplifted the living standards of people in this region.

It is high time the national action plan to address climate change in India incorporates these ideas in ‘green mission’ as an important tool to address the issue. Additionally the government should take this to international flora and give due credit to bamboo.

India's strategic hot potato

2010-09-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

By S. G. Vombatkere
11 Sep 2010

Willingly or forced by global developments, India got into an uncomfortable strategic embrace with USA and invested heavily in Afghanistan's reconstruction. But as USA is desperately looking for a way out of Afghanistan, India may soon find itself in a difficult situation.

Manmohan Singh is keen to further strengthen Indo-US relations
Exactly nine years ago the world stood aghast at the real-time TV screening of the audacious, coordinated attack on WTC and the Pentagon and trembled when, weeks later, USA invaded Afghanistan in retaliation to what was understood as an Al Qaeda attack masterminded by Osama bin Laden. This was first seen as a knee-jerk reaction to retrieve American pride and prop up USA's international image, but soon enough the world interpreted it as a strategic move to gain a secure foothold in Asia. This interpretation was confirmed when USA subsequently defined it as a Global War on Terror (GWOT) and invaded Iraq to execute “regime change” there.

USA's global strategic interests are by now well-defined, and the shocks delivered to Afghanistan and Iraq have been integrated into the way in which the world views USA. US President Obama's recent commitment of withdrawing US troops from Iraq is nothing but outsourcing warfare and corporatizing conflict, since “combat operations” by troops becomes “stability operations” by US-paid mercenaries operating out of US bases in Iraq to maintain hold on the ground.
Strategic partnership

After 9/11 attack, New Delhi thought that USA had at last become aware of cross-border terrorism of which India had been complaining for years. But Pakistan being the long-time seed-bed for terror attacks against India and then becoming a strategic partner of USA, and that too for GWOT, made New Delhi's complaints somewhat ineffective.

After 2004, New Delhi, under a Congress-led UPA government with known “Americanophiles” at the top of the pile, began to cosy up to the US administration, going so far as to say words to the effect that India loves G. W. Bush.
Thus it came to pass that in Washington in July 2005, Indian PM Manmohan Singh and US President G. W. Bush issued a joint statement on a framework agreement for India-USA civilian nuclear cooperation that came to be known as the 123 Agreement. However, this N-deal was overshadowed by the provisions of the Hyde Act enacted by the US Congress in January 2006, which is an India-specific legislation (titled “Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006“) that visualises India having a foreign policy “congruent with” that of USA, and actively participating in USA’s efforts to implement sanctions against Iran if that country fails to conform to USA’s checks on its acquisition of N-weapons.

While certainly India was not bound by the Hyde Act, it is necessary to understand that the provisions of that legislation were part of USA’s foreign policy to bring as many countries as possible under its influence, if not control, for its global designs. Thus, notwithstanding New Delhi's protestations to the contrary, the 123 Agreement overshadowed by the Hyde Act was in fact nothing less than a strategic convergence between India and USA. Indeed, following this, there have been several army, navy and air force joint exercises between India and USA with the stated aim of enhancing military cooperation and inter-operability.

Locked in a strategic embrace
To emphasize the fact of it being a wide-spectrum strategic tie-up, it needs to be noted that the nuclear framework joint statement was issued on 18 July 2005, and on the same day, the Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture (KIA) Agreement was finalized and the KIA Working Group formed. And just two days later, on 20 July 2005, the KIA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Indian PM Manmohan Singh and US President G. W. Bush. It is left to conjecture whether India was being railroaded into strategic linkage with USA.

On March 3, 2006, US President G. W. Bush was in New Delhi, and he and PM Manmohan Singh signed the Joint Statement on India-US Strategic Partnership with emphasis on civilian nuclear cooperation, but including KIA. This came to be known as the Indo-US Nuclear Treaty, which raised a furore in Indian politics and nearly caused the UPA government to fall when the Left Parties withdrew their support.

It is not out of place to note that the USA's KIA Board gives official status to US seed and food MNCs like Archer-Daniels-Midland, Monsanto and Walmart since their representatives are US KIA Board members, while the Indian KIA Board has full representation of industrial interests with the sole “representative” of the agricultural sector being Dr. M. S. Swaminathan. The purpose of highlighting this is to show, firstly, that the Indo-US Nuclear Treaty was the trojan horse with the little known and even less debated KIA Agreement (which gives free rein to US MNCs and impacts India's food security) in its belly, and secondly, that the strategic tie-up was carried out with political stealth. Of course, with the MNC-friendly provisions of the nuclear accident liability bill, it is clear that for USA at least, the nuclear deal was meant to resuscitate and hugely benefit moribund US nuclear corporations. In sum, India is locked in a strategic embrace with USA, a fact internationally well recognized.

Presence in Afghanistan
India has ancient and modern cultural and economic ties with Afghanistan. New Delhi's interests in Afghanistan also coincided with undoing Pakistan's influence there, and the US invasion was a convenient excuse to upgrade its “soft power” and regain its former strategic depth. However at present, Indian presence there is opposed by the Taliban and Pakistan because New Delhi supported the 10-year long Soviet occupation of Afghanistan which was opposed by CIA-sponsored Taliban trained in Pakistan.
The US occupation of Afghanistan post-9/11 placed Pakistan's influence in Afghanistan in a subordinate position relative to its earlier dominant position following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989. This, along with the India-US strategic partnership and USA's happy acceptance of India's role in Afghanistan, led to New Delhi providing monetary aid for Afghanistan and actively assisting in infrastructural construction and re-construction by sending manpower.

It should be clear to any perceptive observer of Afghanistan that the rules of the contemporary “Great Game” imposed by USA in Afghanistan would last only so long as the US military has a presence in that country. Even though New Delhi knew the history of the impossibility of subjugating the fiercely independent tribal people of Afghanistan, as the British and Soviets know at their cost (never mind the cost paid by the Afghanis), the inevitable withdrawal of USA from Afghanistan was apparently not considered when New Delhi jumped into Afghanistan with both feet.

Thus, New Delhi as USA's strategic partner, went ahead to help Afghanistan with monetary investment – while people starve at home and there is no money for education and health, India pledged to invest $1.2 billion, becoming the second largest contributor of funds after USA – and also sent Indians to undertake construction work in the face of attacks by the Taliban. India's Kabul embassy is its largest in the world and India has re-built two previous and opened two new consulates in Afghanistan. All this shows India's level of commitment to “re-build” Afghanistan and maintain an enhanced diplomatic presence; predictably, this has enraged Pakistan.
New Delhi's investment in Afghanistan in construction and re-construction work is considerable. Border Roads engineers and Indian military personnel have been airlifted to construct roads and other infrastructure such as a new Parliament House, erecting power transmission lines and a sub-station to supply Kabul with 24x7 power, building the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway, sinking tube wells in 6 provinces, running sanitation projects and medical missions, lighting 100 villages with solar power, and building a dam. In addition, India has given three airbus aircraft to Afghanistan's Ariana airline and offers scholarships for studies in India to young Afghans. All this may add up to cost New Delhi around $1.2 billion – a huge amount considering that India's internal development suffers at least partly due to lack of funds.

The Afghan hot potato
When USA begins to consider withdrawing its military from Afghanistan, it is obvious that Pakistan will strenuously endeavour to regain its former influence, and it follows that India would be forced into a difficult position due to its considerable investment in Afghanistan being at stake. Its position may by similar to a man putting a hot potato into his mouth – he cannot chew or swallow it and he cannot spit it out either; and it burns his mouth. New Delhi appears to have already acquired the hot potato by its involvement in Afghanistan, and may put it “into the mouth” when US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

To put a finer point on the matter, some questions need to be asked: Will India be able to withstand the combined might of Pakistan, the Taliban and al Qaeda on its own in Afghanistan? Will it be worthwhile to pump Indian troops into Afghanistan at enormous cost in order to “save face” and protect Indian interests in Afghanistan? If so, for how long would India remain committed militarily in Afghanistan and, more importantly, will there be an exit policy? Or will New Delhi pull out of Afghanistan a tad earlier than USA does (at the risk of displeasing its senior strategic partner), and write off its huge investment in Afghanistan as a financial misadventure?

The die is cast; the act is committed. Now only time will tell; but the tale it will tell will surely be an unhappy one. Either way, it will have huge repercussions at home.

Who will feed Uttar Pradesh?

2010-09-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
08 Sep 2010

State governments are competing with each other to grab fertile lands of farmers and transfer these to industry. But with increasing population and decreasing arable land, feeding the people will become a huge challenge for states like Uttar Pradesh in the years to come.

Already marginalised and ignored by the policy makers, Indian farmers
resent land grab by government and industry

India is witnessing a thousand mutinies. Pitched battles are being fought across the country by poor farmers, who fear further marginalisation when their land is literally grabbed by the government and the industry. From Mangalore in Karnataka to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, from Singur in West Bengal to Mansa in Punjab, the rural countryside is literally on a boil. Large chunks of prime agricultural land are being forcibly diverted for non-agricultural purposes.

While the continuing struggle against land acquisition for instance by farmers in Aligarh, which took a violent turn and became a political ploy, is being projected by media as an agitation by farmers for higher compensation, the reality is that a majority of the farmers do not want to dispense with their ancestral land. They are being forced to do so. The most critical, but until now ignored, aspect of this land grab is that it has serious implications for food security.

Let us take the case of Uttar Pradesh. The state has the largest population in the country, and is also the biggest producer of foodgrains. Western parts of Uttar Pradesh, comprising the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, have been considered part of the green revolution belt. In addition to 4.10 crore tonnes of foodgrains, it produces 1.30 crore tonnes of sugarcane and 1.05 crore tonnes of potato.
Uttar Pradesh produces more foodgrains than Punjab but because of its huge population, it is hardly left with any surplus. What is however remarkable is that Uttar Pradesh has been at least feeding its own population.

This situation is bound to change soon if the government continues with its land conversion policies. The proposed eight Expressways and the townships planned along the route, along with land being gobbled by other industrial, real estate and investment projects are likely to eat away more than 23,000 villages. Although Mayawati government has dropped the townships along the Yamuna expressway, but the company that is investing in real estate claims that as per their pact with the State government, they have to be given land in an alternative location.

Former Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh has in a statement said that one-third of total cultivable land of Uttar Pradesh will be eventually acquired.

This means that out of the total area of 1.98 crore hectares under foodgrain crops in Uttar Pradesh, one-third or roughly 66 lakh hectares will be shifted from agriculture to non-agriculture activity. Much of the fertile and productive lands of Western Uttar Pradesh will therefore disappear, to be replaced by concrete jungles. In addition to wheat and rice, sugarcane and potato would be the other two major crops whose production will be negatively impacted.

As per rough estimates, 66 lakh hectares that would be taken out of farming would mean a production loss of 140 lakh tonnes of foodgrains. In other words, Uttar Pradesh will be faced with a terrible food crisis in the years to come, the seeds for which are being sown now. Add to this the anticipated shortfall in potato and sugarcane production, since the area under these two crops will also go down drastically, the road ahead for Uttar Pradesh is not only dark but laced with social unrest.

Already lagging behind most other states in socio-economic development, Uttar Pradesh will surely see surge in hunger, malnutrition and under-nourishment. We can only imagine the socio-political fallout of the misadventure that the government is attempting with such a massive takeover of fertile land.

What is not being realised is that Uttar Pradesh alone will send all the estimates of the proposed National Food Security Act go topsy-turvy. At present, as per the buffer norms, the government keeps between 200 lakh tonnes to 240 lakh tonnes for distribution across the country through the Public Distribution System (PDS). In the last few years however the average foodgrain stocks with the government have been in the range of 450 to 500 lakh tonnes.

Even with such huge grain reserves, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has expressed his inability to provide 35 kg of grain per month to every eligible family. Imagine, what will happen when Uttar Pradesh alone will put an additional demand of 140 lakh tonnes. Who will then feed Uttar Pradesh?

Policy makers say that with rapid industrialisation the average incomes will go up as a result of which people will have the money to buy food from the open market and also make for nutritious choices. But the bigger question is where will the addition quantity of food come from? Already, Punjab and Haryana, comprising the food bowl, are on fast track mode to acquire farm lands. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are building up ‘land banks’ for the industry and Rajasthan has allowed the industry to buy land directly from farmers setting aside the ceiling limit.

Internationally, the food situation is worsening ever since the 2008 food crisis when 37 countries were faced with food riots. Even now, food prices globally are on an upswing. As Russia extends the wheat export ban till the next year's wheat harvest sending global prices on a hike, deadly food riots were witnessed last week in Mozambique killing at last seven people. According to news reports, anger is building up in Pakistan, Egypt and Serbia over rising prices.

Knowing that the world can witness a repeat of 2008 food crisis that resulted in food riots in 37 countries, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for a special meeting to discuss the implications.

Extended drought and resulting wildfires have caused a 20 per cent drop in wheat harvest in Russia sending the global wheat prices on a spiral. Wheat futures obviously would take advantage, and according to Financial Times wheat prices have gone up by 70 per cent since January. India may therefore find it difficult to purchase food from the global market if it thinks it can bank upon the international markets to bail it out. This is primarily the reason why several countries, mainly China and the countries of the oil rich Middle East are buying lands in Africa, Lain America and Asia to grow food to be shipped back home for domestic consumers.

Gone are the days when a worried Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, while addressing the nation on Aug 15, 1955 from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi said: "It is very humiliating for any country to import food. So everything else can wait, but not agriculture." That was in 1955. Fifty-five years later, in 2010, UPA-II thinks that food security needs of the nation can be addressed by importing food. Land must be acquired for the industry, because the industrial sector alone will be the vehicle for higher growth. There can be nothing more dangerous than this flawed approach.

Theatre of the absurd

2010-09-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

By Hartman de Souza
03 Sep 2010

Niyamgiri and its tribal inhabitants are saved, at least for the time being! But before we begin to sing praise of the government and its minders, isn't it prudent to review the actions and inactions of the same government which remained a mute spectator, even an active facilitator, while destruction of the Niyamgiri hill continued unabated for years?

Dongria Kondh tribals had to struggle for years to convince the world of their rights
Sorry for not breaking this news earlier.I am sure many of you already know it. I was travelling in Niyamgiri the last few days. Yes, Victory at last!! Niyam Raja, the Mountain God will not be harmed by the bauxite miners!! Many thanks to all of you for your support to the cause. The people are celebrating in Niyamgiri. Of course the battle is half won with Vedanta's monstrous refinery still active. Also Vedanta is eyeing other verdant hills in the region. Then justice is yet to be given to Arsi Majhi's family as well as Lado Sikaka. There are other threats as well like branding innocent tribals as Maoists. Then there is a pending case in a green court against Vedanta by the Dongria Kondh. So, we are yet to reach the final destination. But nevertheless, a great victory for all. More power to the people!

An activist writing on Facebook

In naming the behemoth he created Vedanta, harking to a brahminical sage who posited the outside world as being an illusion and as far from reality as Niyamgiri is from his mansion in London, Anil Agarwal plays a cruel joke on us. Not only is his mine, alumina refinery and smelter, ‘maya’, and, vedantically speaking, not there at all either for the Adivasi or misguided activists to see, equally deceptive is the satisfaction that he may have been thwarted in his quest to be the richest Indian on this terribly fragile and far from illusory planet.

Cynics of course now see the decision of the MoEF as little more than a superbly stage-managed spectacle intended to introduce to India and the world, a prince-in-waiting, or, as his party’s spin doctors will have us believe, a knight in shining armour rallying to the cause of this country’s largely ignored if not abused antipodal populations.

To those in tune with the skulduggery afoot, the high-minded posturing of Rahul Gandhi recalls a political cartoon of the 60s showing a well-heeled American tycoon, cigar in mouth, doling coin into the grateful hands of an impoverished African with his right hand while reaching out behind his back with his left hand, to loot a large bag marked with the dollar sign.

Out of decency one must ask whether public memory has become as short as day-old text messages. Whether this country has become so craven it will choose to delete the many anomalies that crop up in this seven year itch when Vedanta (and its beneficiaries) tried to bulldoze their way to the bauxite?

Vedanta’s seven year greed around Niyamgiri had three components, namely, the mining operations, the alumina refinery and the smelter. The refinery project at Lanjigarh was granted approval as far back as September 2004, in all likelihood with the willing consent or even behest of the PMO. There were serious violations in the clearance procedure, a fact challenged by at least three petitioners including the Wildlife Society of Orissa before the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court. The same committee recommended that the environment clearance granted be revoked since it was based on misrepresentation and concealment of information, that the MoEF had granted undue favour to the project and had moreover, approved the project in haste. The MoEF (under D. Raja, now the infamous Telecom minister) opposed the recommendation and prayed to the Supreme Court that the project be approved since there would be no impact on either the tribal populations or wildlife.

Despite this damning report, the Supreme Court approved the clearances since the MoEF itself was keen that Niyamgiri be mined!

The plot now thickens: Vedanta’s smelter plant is located at Jharsuguda and construction on this also started prior to government clearance and approval. A petition to the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) the Delhi High Court saw a cost of 50,000 rupees imposed on Vedanta. But Vedanta’s case, argued by no less than Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress M.P. and party’s senior spokesperson, went under the hammer in 2009, again, somewhat surprisingly, because the MoEF supported the projects, legal warts and all.

In early 2009 Rahul Gandhi had his dress rehearsal in Niyamgiri, promising the same Adivasi bussed in last week that he would not allow mining in Niyamgiri. While he flew off by helicopter to see how the Dalits in UP were faring, on April 28th 2009, the mining project at Niyamgiri was given its environmental clearances by the MoEF.

In June 2009, the clearances were challenged by 25 Adivasi and two other petitioners, including a reputed earth scientists, before the NEAA on the grounds, funnily enough, that Environment Impact Assessment reports (mandatory before any clearance) were prepared two years after the so called Public Hearing on the matter (another farce!).
Hearing for this case was held twice every month over a year and some, by which time Jairam Ramesh had already become the environment minister. Perhaps not fully clued in yet on his Blackberry, the minister maintained there was no need for a Public Hearing and that all environmental concerns were carefully considered. As late as May 2010 in fact, his ministry held before the NEAA that Niyamgiri had been approved after taking due diligence and that it was essential for the development of the area.

In a best case scenario, the MoEF can now only issue show-cause notices to Anil Agarwal and a host of other mining magnates in at least 10 other states. The show will go on. When, as some legal minds are saying, the anomalies may go all the way to the doors of the Supreme Court, fuelling hysterical rumours of suitcases of money changing hands in various cities and countries, where is the reason to smile or, at the very least, believe that justice will prevail?

Moreover, for all the roses thrown at his feet, one must not forget this minister's prevarications, irritability with straight questions, and indeed arrogance when conducting public hearings over the infamous BT brinjals...or the fact that his government and him chose to wilfully ignore the repeated telecast of farmers in Andhra Pradesh (before they were taken off the air) who had already grown the damn brinjals and were proudly thrusting them up to the cameras at the hearing in Hyderabad! Who gave them the seeds pray and why has no one been brought to book?
On the other side is still the Posco project, guilty of violating the laws but now expected to be cleared by the PM himself, the fundamental reason of course, above any law of the land, and certainly above public opinion, is that high-growth-rate India should not frighten away foreign investment with something as petty as environmental 'intransigence'.

Before we pat ourselves on the backs and pop out the corks, there's also the matter of a dam in Andhra Pradesh and the Adivasis there soon to have water flowing above their noses. There's Sterlite in Tuticorin, where, a week or so back, in collusion with the police, activists protesting the project were arrested and detained. There's still Coca Cola in Kerala, contesting a decision that the world and its mother knows went against the company? There's the farcical situation of Goa, where no one, not even the most ardent activists can tell you exactly which mine is legal and which is not, such the legal skulduggery at work, such the impressive technique of throwing activists to the mercy of wolves in the courts.

But then, why should this information be made easily available when you have provision for the RTI, a state-sponsored device intended to keep you from the truth as long as it takes to have illegalities brought within the ambit of the law. In Goa there are over 400 illegal stone-quarrying businesses, but since politicians and their functionaries have a hand in this trade, the government in Goa now proposes to make these quarries legal! They will do this in a court, thumbing their noses at us…
Isn't this the bottom line? Robber barons doling out the money and starting the work, knowing full well the machinery will be put in place to grant them the necessary clearances...

To read more, follow the link :http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1357

Growth without governance

2010-08-31T23:39:00.000-07:00

By Vikas Chawla
30 Aug 2010

India can take pride in its high economic growth rate but shoddy implementation of government programmes force majority of citizens to live without basic amenities.

Good governance can be described as a term in which public institutions allocate resources judiciously, monitor implementation of projects and meet the socio-economic aspirations of people. It also involves establishing transparency in government systems to ensure equitable, effective and hassle-free delivery of public services to the citizens.

Post independence, government of India has initiated several programs to alleviate poverty and improve the socio economic conditions. Thousands of crores of rupees have been spent on subsiding food, promoting education, providing low cost housing, improving rural infrastructure, waiving of loans etc. But because of poor governance, inefficiency and corruption, government efforts are not resulting in tangible results on the ground.

The end result is that most Indians lack provision for health, education, food, housing, employment, transport, drinking water, infrastructure, security, pollution control & basic sanitation.
In spite of rapid economic growth, the social sector indices portray a very poor image of India. Some stats are worse than even the war torn sub-Saharan African countries.
More than a third of India's people live below the poverty line

India ranks 171 out of the 175 countries in the world in public health spending

An estimated 72% of Indians still lack access to improved sanitation facilities

Of the 2.5 billion people that defecate openly, some 665 million of these live in India

India currently has the largest illiterate population of any nation on earth

About 49 per cent of the world's underweight children are in India

Dismal scenario in public education
After so many years of independence, 35% of the population is illiterate and only 15% of the students reach high school. That is in spite of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, education cess, mid-day meal, national policy on education and the thousands of crores spent annually in education sector.

Due to poor governance and lack of political will the most critical sector i.e primary education, has been ignored. We have to suffer the ignominy of being the nation with most number of illiterates in the world.
There is a genuine lack of will power in today’s politicians to translate government goals, objectives and policy priorities into tangible economic benefits for poor people.

Politics and Governance
The most surprising factor in India is that people will not necessarily vote for those political leaders or parties which provide or promise good governance. People mostly vote on the basis of identity and it is very easy to sway them. Political parties also engage in vote bank politics and focus more on populist measures rather than focussing on improving the socio economic condition.

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Capacity sans sustainability

2010-08-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

By Shankar Sharma
31 Aug 2010

In view of the social, economic and environmental impacts of fossil fuels, and their limited availability, India needs a paradigm shift in its approach towards the energy sector. A detailed critique of Integrated Energy Policy is put up here for objective analysis by concerned experts and stakeholders.

Energy is a crucial sector of our economy, so much so that per capita availability of energy is considered as an indicator of economic prosperity. However, the social, economic and environmental impacts of demand/supply of energy are so huge that only a holistic and objective consideration of all the related issues will enable a sustainable and effective national policy. In this context the recommendations of Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) have been analysed in this critique.

While there are many good recommendations in IEP, the review indicates that IEP has recommended large growth in the installed/production capacity of various energy sources by 2031-32 ignoring the huge deleterious impacts of such a growth on our society. Long term impacts of such growth on environment and bio-diversity have not even been discussed. In this context alone the IEP recommendations have failed in the expectations of a welfare society.

In view of the social, economic and environmental impacts of fossil fuels, and their limited availability, country is in urgent need of a paradigm shift in the way it views the energy sector. The escalating demand for energy must be objectively considered in the correct context of greater needs of the society such as clean air, water and healthy food, and the inescapable limits of the nature in supporting such a demand. In this regard it becomes obvious that the conservation and enhancement of our environment and bio-diversity must not be compromised in order to meet the unabated demand for energy.

Within the energy sector, there is a critical need to: clearly differentiate our needs from wants/luxuries; recognize the fact that fossil fuels are fast running out; focus on improving the energy efficiency to international best practices levels; effectively deploy all the alternatives available to meet the legitimate demand; and harness the renewable energy sources to the optimum extent. Suitable tariff policies, including a feed-in-tariff for renewable energy sources, should be implemented to heavily discourage wastage of a precious national resource such as electricity, and to encourage very high efficiency in its usage and local production.

We should acknowledge that the energy security will not be feasible as long as we fail to manage the effective demand, and as long as we rely heavily on external resources. Inequitable supply of limited energy amongst various sections of our society, which is prevailing at present, must be set right as a priority. In view of the Global Warming impacts on our densely populated society the usage of fossil fuels should be minimised in the short run and eliminated in the long run.

Subsidized electricity by a State Government to any category of consumers should be only by advance payment of one year’s subsidy amount. A comprehensive policy to encourage widespread usage of pubic transport systems should be implemented; usage of private vehicles should be discouraged keeping in view the huge cost of fuel imports and the pollution impacts; old and inefficient vehicles should be eliminated on a rigid time scale.

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How Green can be the Green India Mission?

2010-08-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

By Shankar Sharma
26 Aug 2010

The proposed Green India Mission would fail to make significant difference if the policy of sacrificing the existing natural forests for the so-called developmental programmes continues unabated.

One of the 8 Missions under National action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is Green India Mission (GIM). Its draft Mission document states the main objective as doubling the area for afforestation in next 10 years. This mission has a budgetary proposal of Rs. 40,000 crores. As a new initiative the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has sought comments from the public on the Mission document.

While the main objective of the Mission looks very noble the ground realities prevailing in the country indicates that the Mission’s chance of bringing commensurate benefits to the society does not appear to be great. As has been happening since independence, large tracts of thick natural forests of very high ecological value all over the country are continuing to be diverted for non-forest purposes. There are enough indications that this trend will continue in the foreseeable future, thereby threatening the few remaining patches of natural forests in the country. Even if the GIM succeeds in doubling the area for afforestation in next 10 years, the practice of diverting the existing natural forests for non-forestry applications will definitely negate the meager benefits that may accrue from such additional afforestation. Unless the trend of diverting thick natural forests all over the country to non-forest purposes is discontinued, the proposed expenditure of Rs. 40,000 Crores on GIM may become a net loss to the society.

Whereas our society considered it essential to build large number of roads, railways, dams, airports, power plants, mining infrastructure, industries, resorts, townships etc at the expense of forest/green cover, the necessity to maintain a good forest cover is being ignored. Though the forest cover at the time of independence was estimated to be more than 40% of the land mass, and the National Forest Policy recommends that 33% of the land mass should be covered by forests and trees for a healthy environment, our practice of continuing to divert forest lands for various “developmental activities” will bring this percentage much below even the present low level of 24% in the country.

Despite three important Acts of our parliament namely Environmental Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Wild Life Protection Act aiming to provide adequate protection to our natural wealth, the unscientific and unrestricted growth in economic activities within the forested areas has resulted in grave threats to our forest wealth to such an extent that the government has now realised the need for increasing the forest cover.

While there are many illegal activities which are resulting in depletion of forest cover; some activities like permission for monoculture such as acacia and rubber plantations, forest resorts/jungle lodges, expansion of nearby human habitats into forest areas etc are hastening the depletion of forests. Without effectively controlling such activities of forest destruction, GIM cannot have a meaningful role in protecting our environment.

It is almost impossible to notice the diligent compliance of the letter and spirit of Indian Electricity Act 2003, and National Electricity Policy, though salient features such as efficiency, economy, responsible use of natural resources, consumer interest protection, reliable supply of electricity etc would have led to the protection of our natural forests.

A recent statement by MoEF has indicated that about 35% of the coal reserve belts in the country are in ‘No Go’ areas because they are below thick natural forests. But there are also reports of massive lobbying to permit coal mining in such areas too, in order to cater to a large number of additional coal power plants. Bending the relevant rules to permit coal mining in such areas will reduce the thick forest cover of highest ecological value, which can never be compensated by GIM.

World Charter for Nature was adopted by consensus by UN General Assembly in 1982. It has provided some guiding principles for protecting biodiversity. Some key principles so enunciated are: (i) Activities which are likely to cause irreversible damage to nature should be avoided; (ii) Activities which are likely to pose significant risk to nature shall be preceded by an exhaustive examination; their proponents shall demonstrate that the expected benefits far outweigh potential damage to nature, and where potential adverse effects are not fully understood, the activities should not proceed; (iii) Environmental Impact Assessment should be thorough, be given sufficient time, and be carried out in an open and transparent fashion.

The power sector leads the so called developmental activities having huge impact on our forest cover and the bio-diversity. Large size conventional power projects such as coal based, dam based, or nuclear energy based power plants need large tracts of forest area to set up coal/nuclear mines, power plants, reservoirs, transmission lines, staff colonies etc. Pollutants, emissions and wastes from the power plants also have huge deleterious impacts on quality and size of the total forest area in the country.

In this context it is deplorable that the Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) as developed by the Planning Commission has not even discussed the impact of such large increase in total installed power capacity on the forest cover and bio-diversity. IEP has projected an increase of about 500% in the total installed power capacity in the country by 2031-32 comprising increase of coal power capacity from 80,000 MW to 400,000 MW; hydel capacity from about 36,000 MW to 150,000 MW; and nuclear power capacity from about 4,500 MW to 65,000 MW. While the huge impact on our natural resources because of the increase in installed power capacity from a level of about 1,500 MW in 1948 to about 160,000 in 2010 is clearly visible, further increase by 5 times in next 20 years can devastate the entire nature.

A large number of dam based hydel power projects, which are being planned in many parts of the country including almost all the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan states, will also lead to massive destruction of forests, unacceptable levels of interference in the natural flow of rivers, and will also threaten critical bio-diversity
While the huge impact on our natural resources because of the increase in installed power capacity from a level of about 1,500 MW in 1948 to about 160,000 in 2010 is clearly visible, further increase by 5 times in next 20 years can devastate the entire nature.

It is pertinent to note here that the perceived need to increase the power generating capacity in the country has arisen because of the huge inefficiency in making use of the existing power infrastructure. As long as our society fails to undertake necessary steps to make the power sector highly efficient and accountable, the missions such as GIM to increase the green cover and to contain the GHG emission can have only very meager success. This misconception of the need for large additional power capacity has to be corrected urgently by measures such as objectively identifying the legitimate demand for electricity, highest possible levels of energy usage, demand side management, and widespread use of new & renewable energy sources.
The thinking process of many agencies of the government and many regulatory institutions, which consider the forests as expendable to achieve economic development, have to undertake a serious introspection of the scenario in which environmental clearance for hydel projects such as Gundia hydel project in Karnataka and Athirapally hydel project in Kerala within thick forests of Western Ghats are being considered.

In order to protect our forests, green cover and general environment a different paradigm of ‘development’ is needed, and the civil society has to take active participation in decision making processes. If the estimated budgetary provision of Rs. 40,000 Crores on GIM is to be well spent, the ministry of environment and forests will have to take effective steps in conjunction with other concerned ministries and state governments to minimise the destruction of the existing natural forests.

Food storage or wastage?

2010-08-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

By Pandurang Hegde
25 Aug 2010

To tackle food storage crisis in India, government should adopt two-pronged approach of encouraging large size foodgrain silos in states with surplus production and de-centralised foodgrain procurement and storage in other regions.

In most storage sites, jute bags packed with foodgrains lie in open
(photo courtesy: NDTV)
The damage of food stocks in Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses has made news headlines recently. The Supreme Court (SC) had to intervene to give stern warnings to the government to put an end to destruction of the food grains. It also asked the government to distribute the stocks to the poor and malnourished. This is not the first time the apex court has given such strong warnings. In the past too SC had asked the central government to initiate actions regarding proper food storage, but still no action was taken. It is a national shame that even for routine government function, especially in case of foodgrain storage, the judiciary has to intervene to reprimand the government to perform its constitutional duty.

As usual, the Food Ministry has not taken these warnings seriously. The Food Minister declared in Rajya Sabha that, “All reports on rotting of foodgrains are not factually correct and quite exaggerated. There are only certain cases of damage and we have suspended some officials”.

Despite facing innumerable hardships, the farming community of India has produced good results as the food grains output increased to 231 million tonnes in 2008. As we claim to be a Super Power in waiting, the rampant malnutrition and prevalence of anemic children and women to the extent of 48 percent of population is a definitive indicator that we have failed to feed the hungry. Under such critical circumstances, it is a criminal to waste food grains. Ironically our food storage methods are not only inadequate but also antique and outdated. In tropical climate, there is an acute need to invent methods of food storage that can deal with the high moisture content causing fungus and reduce damage by rodents.

Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) made the Central and State Government aware of the problems of food storage way back in 1956. “If the problem persists after warning was issued more than five decades ago, it only means that Government is not serious in shoring up the storage facilities to keep up with the expanding production” said Dr Parpia, the ex Director of CFTRI. Despite the Government being warned in advance of the impending storage crisis, the intentional neglect on the part of the Food Ministry and the casual approach of the Planning Commission is a clear indicator of non-performance. They have miserably failed to provide policy support towards strengthening the food security.

At present, the food ministry hires space from private operators to store food paying higher rent. At the same time there are reports of state warehousing corporations renting out the storage facility to agricultural multinational corporations, instead of storing the foodgrains procured by FCI. These contradictory facts reveal the failure of the ad hoc policies of the food ministry in dealing with the food storage crisis.

These facts prove the insensitivity of the politicians and the bureaucrats in dealing with the essential commodities like food crops. They neither care for the farmers who produce the food nor are they interested in helping the poor to ease their hunger. The farmers produce food with their hard-earned labor and scarce financial resources, but instead of reaching the hungry stomachs it gets destroyed by the policies of the government.

Though the wastage of food grains is estimated to be Rs 60000 crores annually, in real terms the cost will be much higher. We need to add the costs of growing these crops, input costs for fertilizers, power, cost of water, and the labor costs of farmers. Adding these costs the estimate of the loss incurred by food grains wasted in the country would be around Rs 100000 crores annually. This is two times the food subsidy costs incurred in a year. If we take into account the environmental costs, of soil erosion and effects on water quality, it would be much higher.

The solution to food storage

In order to find solutions to the food storage, the minister of state for food K V Thomas toured China with some FCI officials. Impressed by the Chinese methods of food storage, the minister announced a further study team visiting China to learn about the modern warehousing construction and preservation methods of food storage.
We should definitely adopt good and practical techniques form China, but we should not ignore the time-tested methods of food storage that have been in practice in rural India.

Being an agricultural country, each region in India has evolved storage methods to preserve the food grains. In the villages we have grain gola, made from wood or local material that protects the grain from moisture and rodents. In most cases they use neem leaves or plant based pest resistant methods to repel pests and fungus. However, these silos like structures are small and they are suitable for storing village produce for a year or two. These time-tested methods are being abandoned in recent times as they are replaced with the concrete godowns, with support form central and state government under rural godowns scheme. Lack of maintenance, inadequate means to control moisture has led to failure of these rural warehouse projects.

Production of mountains of grain through intensive methods of high input agriculture calls for a different approach to store the food grain. The creation of grain silos as in the western countries is one of the options to store the food grains. Though it is capital intensive, it helps to prevent the moisture and control rodents. In contrast to this, in majority of the government godowns in India, grain is stored in open in jute gunny bags, which cannot prevent the moisture and can easily be destroyed by rodents and pests.

The best solution in a country like India is to adopt two-pronged approach of decentralized policy of procuring and storage of food grains at village level with community support and large-scale grain silos in regions like Punjab and Haryana. This will help to reduce the losses and increase the life of stored food grains.
Are our policy makers willing to adopt these practices?

More @ http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1345

Weather aberrations may exacerbate hunger

2010-08-23T03:26:00.000-07:00

By Devinder Sharma
20 Aug 2010

The devastation wrought by aberrant weather conditions in several parts of the world has posed a larger question about the implications climate change has for food security of a nation.

Food self-sufficiency becomes critical during a natural calamity (photo
courtesy: Washington Post)
Something terrible is happening to the weather. And it is happening right across our home. From the cold desert of Ladakh to the plains of Bihar and Jharkhand, extreme weather conditions have played havoc. In neighbouring Pakistan, unprecedented floods, including in the arid region of Sindh, have hit more than 14 million people. Latest estimates point to 4 million people rendered homeless.

For some strange reasons, rainfall received due to cloudburst in Leh on a single day was higher than the highest in Cherrapunji. Normally, Leh has been known to receive precipitation in the form of snow only. Although rains had appeared in the Ladakh cold desert for some years now, but such intense downpour defies scientific explanation. In Pakistan, what caused the floods was also a massive downpour, more than what it normally receives in a month.

If you think such weather fluctuations are only happening in India and Pakistan, you are mistaken. Severe drought and wildfires have been raging in Russia for almost a month now. A dense layer of dark cloud hangs over much of Russia. Not only in north-eastern India, parts of Africa and eastern United States are also reeling under a severe drought.

Seemingly disconnected, these extreme weather conditions are being increasingly linked to global warming. While the official machinery grapples to ascertain the extent of damage, scientists are now trying to ascertain the causal reasons. Many believe that such drastic weather aberrations are because of global warming, but the linkages are still not that clearly defined.

Whatever be the reasons, the devastation wrought by aberrant weather conditions in several parts of the world has posed a bigger question about the implications it has for food security. Already, Russia and parts of Africa have lost wheat crop in millions of acres. In view of the loss in harvest, Russia has already banned wheat export. Pakistan is also contemplating food imports to tide over the shortages emanating from the deluge.

In the past too, Australia and Canada had low wheat harvests necessitating large cuts in grain exports. Again, wheat harvest in both these countries had been impacted by distortions in the usual climate pattern thereby pushing global food prices. This only goes to show how precarious and at the same time crucial is for every country to maintain food self-sufficiency.

As has been witnessed earlier in 2007-08, when food prices shot up globally, resulting in food riots in 37 countries, even for countries which had foreign exchange reserves to fall back upon there was no surplus food available in the global markets. While this has necessitated the scramble to scout for fertile land in other countries for crop cultivation and shipping the food back, domestic economic policies are being designed to drive out farmers from agriculture. I don’t understand the logic of farmland grab in foreign countries when agriculture back home is sacrificed for the sake of industry.

Unmindful of the growing threat to food security from resulting global warming, India too is busy acquiring good fertile lands for industrial purposes, real estate and infrastructure. In Uttar Pradesh, for instance, 26,000 villages will disappear when all expressway projects are completed. Since 1980, more than 9.8 lakh hectares of tribal land in the country has been diverted for industrial projects. In addition, over 1.5 lakh hectares of land is to be acquired only for Special Economic Zones.

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Silent resistance awakens government

2010-08-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

By Ashirbad S Raha
17 Aug 2010

With the government appointed expert panel also finding the proposed Vedanta project hazardous to Niyamgiri hills and the Dongria Kond community residing there for centuries, the tribals' struggle to save their culture, livelihoods and land has got a major boost.

Tribal soldiers of a silent war in a candle light protest in Delhi
(photo: Ashirbad Raha)

Being a tribal, Kunni Kadraka’s natural instinct is to greet a person with an innocent smile. But of late, the smile does not reach her lips. The innocence and cheerfulness in her mind is entangled in fear.

Her dreams and smiles are threatened to be devoured by the voracious appetite of a corporate giant but the hope to survive all odds is still breathing. A battle she started with her folks sans any financial or political support is finally being noticed.

But for Kunni, who lives at Bundel village in Orissa's Kalahandi district, the war is far from over. She is a member of Dongria Kond community that is defending their lands, livelihoods and culture against Vedanta Resources, a mining company listed in London Stock Exchange. The global mining giant has plans to mine about 70 million tonnes of bauxite for commercial exploitation from the environmentally sensitive Niyamgiri Hills.

However, the poor tribals’ consistent struggle against the destruction of their revered Niyamgiri hill by the global company has begun to bear fruit. A four-member panel appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests has reported that the mining giant consistently violated several laws in Niyamgiri, encroached upon government land, yielded clearances wrongly and illegally built an aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh, Orissa.

Though a GDP growth rate obsessed government may find avenues to discard the observations of its own expert panel, but some environmentalists see the latest report as a useful weapon to protect the threatened Niyamgiri hills. Some activists even hope that this stern report could finally lead to the shutting down of the company's project in Orissa.

For Kunni and the entire Dongria kond tribe, Niyamgiri has never been just a hill but their God which they have been worshipping for thousands of years. Perhaps, it is this sentiment that has given them the courage and optimism to continue their fight to save Niyamgiri. This, to them, was a war that had no midway solution.
On being asked about what Niyamgiri means to her, Kunni’s otherwise calm face lights up as she says, “For us, Niyam Raja (Niyamgiri) is our purpose for existence. From our food, water, air to our livelihood, all come from Niyamgiri. It’s our God.”
Vedanta, however, plans to mine their ‘God’... and that too illegally and with muscle power. In fact, to rope in the Konds, it has constantly propagated the idea of bringing 'prosperity' to the tribe.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a journalist who has been following the Niyamgiri struggle for some years says, “Vedanta promises good homes, jobs and ‘better lives’ to the konds for giving up their demand but the company doesn't realise that for these tribals, despite being away from the winds of growth and development, survival has never been an issue. The rivers, streams, forest produce and even medicinal plants of Niyamgiri have sustained them properly and hence there is no question of providing better lives.”

Undoubtedly, the Niyamgiri Hills are extremely rich and significant both culturally and ecologically. Being the source of Vansadhara River as well as a major tributary of Nagavali River (both rivers cater to the drinking and irrigation needs of lakhs of people in south Orissa and Andhra Pradesh), Niyamgiri boasts of miles of some of the most pristine forests in Orissa inhabited by a number of vulnerable wildlife species including tiger, leopards, sloth bear, pangolin and palm civet. It is, however, anybody's guess how bauxite mining will affect the mountain and its flora and fauna.
The last few years have been difficult for the villagers in the region. They accuse the company of intimidating them to give up their cause. Kulesika Basko of Kadraka village in the adjoining Rayagada district says, “Ever since Vedanta has come in, we cannot leave our ladies and the elderly alone in the village. They are always accompanied by some male members. Earlier the men folk would carelessly venture into the forest for collecting the produce but now there is always a fear that the company's hired men might harm our families.” And not to forget the fact the refinery at Lanjigarh that Vedanta has already put in place is alleged of gifting diseases like tuberculosis to the Konds.

And it’s because of these irreversible ecological, cultural, social and societal damages caused by the project that Vedanta is now facing stiff resistance not just by the Konds but an expanding international community that is rallying for the cause.
Supporters like Bianca Jagger, Arundhati Roy, Michael Palin, Survival International, Amnesty and Action Aid, have already been instrumental in bringing to the fore the plight and danger that linger over the Niyamgiri. And the results have been quite remarkable. Over the past three years, major Vedanta shareholders have withdrawn their investments from the company. Most recently, Dutch pensions giant PGGM withdrew investments worth $16 million. Earlier this year, the Church of England sold its shares. In 2007, the Norwegian government divested its shares in Vedanta followed by Martin Currie, a Scottish investment company in 2008, clearly raising questions about the company’s credibility.

“The fact that the international community has recognised the Niyamgiri struggle is the first sign of our victory. It’s a tough struggle but we have all the reasons to feel hopeful. If we can drive out the British rulers and earn our Independence then why can’t we save Niyamgiri,” says Bratindi Jena, Tribal Thematic Head, ActionAid India.

Earlier in March this year, a team of experts from the Indian government had slammed Vedanta for its mining plans in Niyamgiri. The investigation prompted by a series of complaints made to the Ministry for Environment and Forests clearly concluded: “This acquires importance in the context that disruption of the habitat and the way of life of this Primitive Tribal Group (PTG) cannot be remediated or compensated, and may lead to the destruction of the Dongria Kond as a PTG. This is too serious a consequence to ignore.”

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Protect or perish

2010-08-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

By Carmen Miranda
13 Aug 2010

With nature's power in full demonstration in various parts of the world, isn't it time to review the environmentally unsustainable economic and development models that we have been following?

India is yet to comprehend the environmental cost of western model of
economic growth (cartoon by Carmen Miranda)
As we watch the news these days, it is like watching a doomsday Hollywood movie about the end of the world as we know it, full of spectacular devastation. The scientific predictions about the effects of climate change are materialising in a terrifying way before our eyes, as we watch the images unfold and listen to the reports in horror and disbelief.

The Earth’s climate is in disarray and becoming extreme, just as climate scientists predicted. Times are changing and the trend is clear - the weather is determining the changes in our times and it is not towards progress and development, but havoc and chaos. Whether scientists link the current events to global warming or not is not the issue. The issue is we are having a good demonstration of nature’s power in action.
Right now, Portugal, Russia and British Columbia are being ravaged by fire, while Pakistan, China and parts of Central and Eastern Europe are facing a deluge of water and in Greenland an iceberg four times the size of Manhattan has separated from Petermann Glacier - the largest single ice chunk loss in the Arctic since 1962.

The scale and speed of devastation is frightening; and despite its technological advances and capacity to destroy life and environment, humanity is practically reduced to the capacity of cavemen when it comes to coping with the forces of nature.
The Earth’s climate is in disarray and becoming extreme. The trend is clear - the weather is determining the changes in our times and it is not towards progress and development, but havoc and chaos.

We should become more cautious about defying nature, as in no time all ‘development’ can be wiped out instantly as we have seen on our TV screens, by forces of nature in an unimaginable scale and speed that can instantly take us back to ground zero and eventually to year zero.

Do the frequency and magnitude of these dramatic events act as alarm bells for our policy makers and economists? Can we expect them to make the connections between climate change, development models, economic policies and their impact on the environment? Or they are going to carry on with business as usual, oblivious to it all?

This is the time to double the effort and speed of implementation of India’s National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) 8 missions. Although a highly criticized plan, it is nevertheless the only plan we now have to cling on to, and make it work. However, I suspect that all the good intentions and plans of NAPCC missions are pretty much just on paper, shrouded by the smog and dust from the fast expansion of industries, mining, power plants and deforestation deemed as necessary for economic growth and development – despite having serious impact on climate.

The NAPCC document states from the start that “India is faced with the challenge of sustaining its rapid economic growth while dealing with the global threat of climate change.” I would like to know who exactly is forcing the pace of ‘rapid economic growth’ and is the country really dealing with the threat of climate change? What is the point of somehow managing a rapid economic growth, if the process itself destroys the long term prospects of maintaining that growth and prosperity?

The recent approval of more than 80 new coal based thermal power plants, which are yesterday’s global warming technology, makes it obvious that climate is not a priority for the government. Huge areas of forest land converted for mining and other developments also indicate that climate change is certainly not part of the equation, when weighed against economic growth.

There is no doubt that India’s primary goal is development at all costs. Although all that development could be wiped out instantly by weather events as we have recently seen, there seems to be no sense of urgency in tackling the issue. Absence of clear targets and timetables for action in the NAPCC shows a lack of commitment in dealing with climate.

Isn’t it time to slow down, and reconsider the very economic and development models we are following, which by all accounts are unsustainable and contribute to the environmental degradation and climate vagaries the planet is experiencing?

India must redefine what development and infrastructure investment means. It needs a new road map of development that looks towards long term prosperity, which is more sustainable and concentrates on developing solid foundations for the nation. By solid foundations I mean lifting the estimated 421 million people from extreme poverty, hunger and ignorance, and ensuring water and food security, and building adequate forest cover and a clean environment in the next 10 years.

It is a known fact that all large urban centers in India will suffer serious shortages of water by 2020, and by 2050 the whole country will be affected. Without water, economic growth is meaningless. Extensive deforestation of large surface areas of the earth has resulted in significant changes in water and radiation balance of the planet, which exacerbates changes in the climate, so it also makes sense to be more stringent about forest clearances and more dynamic about afforestation.

Isn’t it high time we pause and reconsider priorities and policies and think about prosperity based on human development growth instead?

Crouching data, hidden forest

2010-08-10T03:31:00.000-07:00

By Kanchi Kohli, Manju Menon and Vikal Samdariya
06 Aug 2010

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has taken steps towards transparency and inclusiveness in its conservation approaches, but the forest clearance process remains shrouded under mystery and should be open to public scrutiny.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) revamped its website in October 2009 in an attempt to present itself as a transparent ministry that proactively discloses its decisions and their basis. One cannot deny that the MoEF's website and its press releases are more prompt than ever before. But, does that actually mean one can take what is given to us as the truth?

Let us attempt to examine this in light of the figures that the MoEF has sought to disclose with regards to the forest clearances it has granted. As per the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, if any activity, industry or process requires the diversion of forest land for non-forest purpose, permission needs to be sought from the MoEF prior to the commencement of such an activity. Since 1980, this procedure has ensured that there exists a certain rhythm through which all those who seek to use forest land have a prescribed procedure that they must follow.

Grant of forest clearances is not a mere mechanical activity. Any such land use change proposed has implications on not just the ecological nature of the area in question. Most often, take over of forest land for an industry, mine, dam or even just plantations, has far reaching impacts on the lives and livelihoods of people who live on and off these areas.

So, where do we stand today with regards to the forest land that has been allotted for other kinds of use? If one looks at figures received through Right to Information (RTI), the MoEF claims that between 1980-2009, a total of 11,37,686.70 hectares of forest land has been ‘cleared’ for non-forest use. One fourth of these clearances (not in number of clearances to projects but in terms of the total area) came in the period of 2004-2009. This amounts to 3,55,160.62 hectares of forest land.

But these figures cannot be relied upon for any idea of what is really the state of forest land in the country. Statistics are put out every year in the annual reports of the MoEF, the State of Environment report, and there are heated discussions, debates and disagreements on the total forest cover of the country. However all of these are based on poorly collated data that is full of inconsistencies and errors.

A recent example of this came to light when Kalpavriksh filed two RTI applications seeking data on the diversion of forest land. The responses received in both show contradictory information. Data received from the first RTI reveals that during the 12 month period from April 2008 to April 2009, MoEF allowed diversion of 61,607.82 hectares of forest land (both in principle and final clearance). When compared with the information received under the second RTI which provides data of a 20 month period of total land diverted from April 2008 to December 2009, the figure is reduced to 43,635.66 hectares.

However, the many questions that arise from these discrepancies go beyond reconciling figures on paper? For a bureaucracy such as the MoEF or the Forest Departments of state governments, these may only be challenges of accounting. But these discrepancies in the methods of data entry and book keeping have real consequences for people living on or off forest lands. Numbers are always political. When the Ministry says the country's forest land has increased, what do we have to compare with? Which forest land has missed finding a place in their records, or has landed up as double entry?

For a Ministry that is committed to becoming transparent and inclusive in its conservation approaches, the forest clearance process begs amendments that will make it open to public scrutiny. It has remained firmly shut to the public so far and there is no space for public participation in the processes of cost-benefit analysis, valuation of forests and other steps that are involved in the grant of forest clearances. Not only will the quality of decision making become more democratic by allowing public participation, but the Ministry may perhaps find partners in ironing out its statistical flaws. Ironically, the only official mechanism to ‘see’ the unfolding of FCA processes is the RTI, which in the current case has not helped to find the answer!

The revelations by the MoEF does not render much confidence by which one can make a full claim about the state of the forest land that has been continually diverted.

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