A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) pre-study – A Snapshot of the World’s Water Quality: Towards a global assessment has found that water pollution has risen across three continents-Asia, Africa and Latin America, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk. The WWQA pre-study, conducted in 2013-2015, was initiated by the UN-Water Thematic Priority Area […]
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The idea of inter-linking Indian rivers is nothing new. Originally mooted by Sir Arthur Cotton during the days of the British Raj, to transfer excess water from perennial Himalayan rivers to the rain-fed peninsular rivers , the scheme was revisited by Dr K L Rao, the then minister for power and irrigation in the cabinet […]
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Mangroves are highly specialised ecosystems characterised by salt-resistant plants thriving in the intertidal areas along sheltered coasts and estuaries in tropical and sub-tropical regions. They are commonly found in the latitudes between 24ºN and 38ºS and cover up to 75 per cent of coastlines worldwide. Mangroves, often termed as the tropical rainforests of the sea, […]
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Climate change is an environmental challenge confronting all countries across the globe in varying degrees of intensity. Across Africa, Asia, North and South America and Europe, the adverse effects of climate change have manifested over the years as ozone layer depletion, continental global warming, shower of acid rain, extended fires, melting ice, rise in sea […]
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The concept of a smart city emerged in Europe in the early 19th century. However, the connotation of a smart city means something quite different in the Indian perspective. The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India, released guidelines to make our cities city smarter a short while ago (MoUD, 2015). According to these […]
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India is facing a rapidly growing energy demand, which will likely double by 2030. In order to meet this demand, India has set one of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in the world—100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2022 (pib.nic.in, December 15, 2015). This target is good for the Indian economy, the climate, […]
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Riding the commitments and initiatives by the G7 and G20 nations in 2015, and the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal on Sustainable Energy for All (SDG 7), besides the commitments made by 195 countries to limit global warming to well below 2o C at the United Nations Framework Convention […]
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The recent global macroeconomic uncertainties including plummeting commodity price cycles, currency devaluation in Brazil, the cost reduction strategies of the firm, the falling economic growth in China, the lowering capital expenditure (CAPEX) investment on infrastructure projects have had tremendous impact on the firm level competitiveness and the underlying earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization […]
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After a year and a half of work, the 16- member panel headed by Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman has failed to come to any decision on India’s official poverty line. Instead, it has recommended setting up yet another group to do the job (Hindustan Times, September 12, 2016). The last eight years have seen three expert […]
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The last few decades has seen a lot of attention being focused on climate change and the increasing level of greenhouse gasses in the environment. Recent studies have clearly suggested that concentration of global carbon dioxide level has gone up from 398.13 ppm (July 2015) to 401.72 ppm (July 2016) (ESRI/NOAA, 2016). It is imperative […]
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