Political

Organizer: Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India

Content and Image Courtesy: Centre for Education and Documentation (CED)

CED is registered Public Trust, all of whose activities are its information centres, now in Bombay and Bangalore.

Organizers:

• South Asian Fund Raising Group (SAFRG)
• Sundaram Medical Foundation (SMF)

Venue: Sundaram Medical Foundation Auditorium, Dr. Rangarajan Memorial Hospital, Chennai

Description:

In this workshop, our international fundraising experts - Julian Marland and Surat Sandhu - will introduce participants to the basic principles of major gift fundraising, which has been such a success in American universities for many decades, and is now being successfully adopted in other not-for-profit sectors in many other countries. They will demystify the process of asking for large amounts of money and give participants examples of successful strategies.

Content and Image Courtesy: Plan India

Plan India is a part of Plan International, one of the world's largest child centred community development organisations. The basis of Plan’s work lies in its commitment to the principle of equality and rights, developing the capacity of civil society to enable them to meet their needs and replicating successful models that have worked.

Content and Image Courtesy: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

The Environmental Health Group at LSHTM is undertaking a three-year randomized, controlled trial in Orissa, India to investigate the impact of improved rural sanitation on diarrhoeal disease and helminth infection.  The grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation includes three years of funding for a PhD studentship at LSHTM to participate and support various aspects of the study, including design and data analysis.  A principal focus of the studentship will be to investigate the use of previously installed latrines, assess the impact of sub-optimal latrine use on exposure to faecal pathogens and improve methods for assessing latrine use.  While the student will develop the actual research plan, it is envisioned that the work will involve a cross-sectional study in Orissa to assess the extent to which latrines installed during the past five years have been fully adopted by householders. In addition, the researcher will undertake a trial of a “smart” technology for assessing latrine use and compare this with more conventional approaches.

These "Guidelines for Assessing the Risk to Groundwater from On–Site Sanitation (ARGOSS)" were developed to provide guidance on how to assess and reduce the risk of contamination of groundwater supplies from on–site sanitation systems and are aimed at those responsible for planning low cost water supply and sanitation schemes. The manual developed by the British Geological Survey has been field tested between 1999 and 2003.   

This report prepared by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) provides an assessment of impact of climate change in 2030s on four key sectors of the Indian economy, namely agriculture, water, natural ecosystems & biodiversity and health in four climate sensitive regions of India, namely the Himalayan region, the Western Ghats, the Coastal Area and the North-East Region. This is the for the first time that such a comprehensive, long term assessment has been undertaken based on rigorous scientific analysis for the 2030s (all previous assessments were for the 2070s and beyond). 

The Ministry of Environment and Forests today notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. These Rules have been drafted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to ensure better conservation and management and to prevent degradation of existing wetlands in India.

The report by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses is premised on the fact that India is facing a serious water resource problem and is expected to become 'water stressed' by 2025 and 'water scarce' by 2050. It raises fundamental questions about the forces driving water demand and the political dynamics of riparian relations, both in terms of hindrances and opportunities, amongst states in the subcontinent. Rivers, a crucial source of water resources, physically link upstream and downstream users and at the same time create barriers.

Ecological Sanitation is a new approaching sanitation where there is minimal water use and where human waste can be used as fertilizer. It is a truly sustainable approach.