Political

In 2000, in response to a Supreme Court order, the Government of India formulated and enacted the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules (hereafter referred to as the Rules) to mitigate a burgeoning solid waste crisis. Pollution from haphazard municipal solid waste disposal was gravely jeopardizing public health, thereby undermining the nation’s development gains.

The Rules’ prime objective was to protect public health and the environment by minimizing disposal of waste in landfills, thereby aligning the government’s municipal waste management policy with its commitments to international treaties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, control the production of persistent organic pollutants, conserve finite resources, and achieve broad development targets.

This is the seventh book by CAB International in the series on Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management.

This report is a part of a series of papers that analysed the baseline data from all countries where the program was implemented.

Venue: Siri Fort Auditorium, August Kranti Marg, Khel Gaon, Delhi

Description:

Agriculture in India is passing through a crisis. Farming has become a loss-making proposition. However, an increase in productivity does not always require higher investment. Farm yields can be enhanced by improving the methods of cultivation. The film revolves around the new system of rice intensification method of cultivating paddy that requires less water, pesticides and fertilizers.

The film is directed by Biju Toppo and Meghnath Bhattacharjee.

With an annual rainfall of more than 1200 mm, this region has truly pristine and under-developed ground water resources. The water related issues are more complex in the hilly areas. Some of the most concerning issues that affect the current water scenario in the Eastern Ghats are pollution of water sources (springs & streams) leading to poor health, illiteracy and ignorance resulting in improper hygiene and sanitation practices. The burden on women and children is also high since they have to walk a long distance to the springs/streams for fetching water.

It documents the approaches in a context where the state government agencies responsible for construction and management of rural water supply systems have been found to be facing limitations in O&M arrangements.

The traditional approach to provision of rural water supply in India has been supply driven, with emphasis on norms and targets and on construction and creation of assets, but with very little concern for sustainable arrangements for better management and maintenance of the facilities built. The viewpoint that users are ‘beneficiaries’ rather than empowered stakeholders among the service providers has led to alienation of the users.

Organizer: National Institute of Advanced Studies

Venue: Lecture Hall, NIAS, IISc Campus, Bangalore

Description:

Five years have passed since the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government passed the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act in 2005. Altogether there are around 1200 SEZs in different phases of development today. Analyzing the development and distribution of SEZs in different parts of India in the last five years gives us some ideas about the political geography of special economic zones in India.

This talk will draw on this analysis and the personal experience of the speaker in struggles against various SEZs in India including the proposed POSCO SEZ in Orissa which has received a very strong farmers’ resistance.

Last month Punjab has been declared as the over all best state in the country by India Today news magazine for the third conjunctive year. It is good to have a prize for Punjab and state government has immediately taken this as an opportunity to have publicity campaign for its achievement. But there is another side of the picture also which shows doom, distress and destruction is fast engulfing this land of five waters. It is a Water-Chaos in the Punjab.

The Orissa Inter Agency Group (IAG) is a consortium of 21 humanitarian organizations actively involved in humanitarian responses in the state of Odisha. Besides coordinating and collaborating with the member organisations, the state government and other agencies with similar mandate it also provides quality assistance to people affected by disasters.