Bangalore has traditionally been strong on voluntary initiative and this has spawned a new public private partnership venture to come to grips with the city's intractable problems. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Karnataka and prominent NGO Janaagraha have taken the lead to form Bangalore City Connect.
Five weeks after Dr GD Agrawal went on a fast unto death, the Union government agreed to temporarily stop construction of the Loharinag-Pala hydroelectric project. The project is a mere 25 km from the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, which is from where the Bhagirathi-Ganga originates.
Lakshman Oraon and his wife Sarla are no ordinary farmers. On less than an acre of land, they grow paddy, tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Their crop of paddy has just been harvested and you can see the dry remnants sticking out of the soil. But they are getting ready for a second major crop. It could be wheat with mustard and pulses in the margins.
If you are talking about the Himalayas, then Mountains of Concrete is not a very apt title for a report in many ways. In fact, when a meeting to launch this report in Delhi was announced, some officials of the water resources establishment were angry. They felt this was an insult to the dam building plans of the government.
For as long as they can recall, Kol tribals in the Chitrakut district of Uttar Pradesh, depended on the forest for food and livelihood. The jungle was an old and trusted friend yielding nutritious mahua, anvla and chiraunji. Tribals could earn money by selling such forest produce and by plucking tendu leaves. But since the last five years, this tried and tested support system is crumbling.
The Annam festival held in the last week of December 2008, in Thiruvananthapuram is the first event of its kind. It is a brave attempt to bring focus to the growing concern over the present food habits in Kerala and the deleterious effects they are having on public health.
It seems India just can't save its little babies. Globally 9.7 million babies under five die and 2.1 million are in India alone. Around 27 million births occur in India every year, but 1.7 million infants die before one year and 1.08 million within one month.
A national mission to make investments in 63 Indian cities over seven years has run half its course, but there are concerns about how projects are being chosen and whether all the money and effort will finally deliver an improved and inclusive urban environment.
In a majestic release of bottled-up fury, the Kosi has swept across half of Bihar. The river has gone back to a course it once followed many years ago, inundating roadways and farmlands and leaving an estimated three million people homeless. None of the manmade structures meant to tame the river has been of any use.
Green buildings eat, drink and spend less. Societies that worry about their resources encourage their architects and construction companies to be conservationist. The Indian Green Buildings Congress (IGBC) has been trying to encourage a change in priorities. It faces the challenge of sensitising builders even as the backlog in infrastructure presents a huge business opportunity.
