Political

Himanshu Thakkar has attached herewith a letter just sent to the members of the MEF's Expert Appraisal Committee on the river valley projcets regarding the application of Andhra Pradesh to the MEF for "backdoor" clearance of the embankments to be constructed in Orissa and Chhattisgarh to "protect" the areas of these states from going under submergence due to the Polavaram project. The letter is self explanatory.

To: Mr. P. Abraham, Chairman,& All the members,Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley & Hydroelectric projects, c/o Dr Bhowmik,Impact Assessment Division, Ministry of Environment and Forests, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110 003

Sub: Objections to EC for Polavaram Multi Purpose Project

Dear Chairman and members of the EAC on River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects, We have come to know from the agenda notes of the 23rd meeting of MoEF's Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects to be held on Feb 16-17, 2009 that the committee will be considering Polavaram Multipurpose Project in Andhra Pradesh by Government of Andhra Pradesh (No. J-12011/74/2005-IA.I) for the proposal for the construction of the embankments to protect the lands in Orissa and Chhattisgarh from going under submergence due to the proposed Polavaram project.

Since its foundation in 1968, the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) has facilitated the sharing, promotion and use of knowledge so that governments, professionals and organisations can better support poor men, women and children in developing countries to obtain water and sanitation services they will use and maintain The Source Water and Sanitation News Service from IRC provides news in English, French and Spanish with an emphasis on rural and peri-urban areas in developing countries. The current Source South Asia Water & Sanitation News edition has a wide range of articles. Some highlights are: Asia: Unilever to replicate Project Shakti on other international markets - http://www.irc.nl/page/46761 Afghanistan: OCHA Humanitarian Action Plan's Appeal for water and sanitation - http://www.irc.nl/page/46636

Author(s):Dr K Palanisami, Dr C Ramasamy, Dr Chieko Umetsu

ISBN:9780230634916

Imprint:Macmillan Publishers India

Copyright:2008

Trim Size:8.5"x11"

Pages:300

Binding:Paperback

List Price:Rs. 750.00

Language:English

One of the impressive developments that have taken place in Indian agriculture after independence is groundwater development and management. India is among the foremost countries in the world practicing large scale irrigation. However the gaps between potential and utilization has been increasing over the years. Groundwater Management and Policies consists of contributions grouped under four themes viz., six research articles on Increasing Water Efficiency / Productivity, three on CPR in Recharging Groundwater, six papers on Groundwater Management and Coping Mechanisms and six on Water Policy Issues.

Agropedia is a comprehensive, seamlessly integrated model of digital content organization in the agricultural domain. It aims to bring together a community of practice through an ICT mediated knowledge creating and organising platform with an effort to leverage the existing agricultural extension system. Agropedia is envisioned to be a one stop shop for all kinds of information related to Indian agriculture. The practice of crop knowledge models has been defined and developed for the first time worldwide to create architecture for accumulating known codified and approved information about crops, with the support of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Rome. These KMs are the structural representation of knowledge by using symbols to represent pieces of knowledge and relationships between them, which can be used to connect seamlessly to the knowledge base in agropedia using semantic tools. KMs have been represented using Concept Map (C-Map) Tools .

In order to sensitise people towards health and hygiene, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Government of Bihar, WaterAid and UNICEF have taken up a month long Gram Gaurav Yatra to promote sanitation in Bihar. PHED Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey announced the launch of Bihar Gram Gaurav Rath Yatra on January 28 that embarked on a Movement towards the noble mission of restoring human dignity and the self-esteem of rural Indians through the "GRAM GAURAV YATRA".

The following article is the latest update of an overview of Kosi floods by SSVK. It reveals the ineffective handling and inadequate supply of materials by the Government in the flood hit regions. It also points out the activities done by various organizations and SSVK itself.

EMPIRES OF THE INDUS : THE STORY OF A RIVER - by Alice Albinia

Pages: 366 ISBN-978-0-7195-6003-3 (978-0-7195-6004-0)

Format: hardback / trade paperback

Price: £20 / Rs. 550

Publisher: John Murray, U.K. Empires of the Indus is a comprehensive study of how the river Indus and its waterways have changed the history of the Indian sub-continent. Water is potent: it trickles through human dreams, permeates lives, dictates agriculture, religion and warfare. Ever since Homo sapiens first migrated out of Africa, the Indus has drawn thirsty conquerors to its banks. Some of the world's first cities were built here; India's earliest Sanskrit literature was written about the river; Islam's holy preachers wandered beside these waters. This perhaps captures the essence of this Guardian First Book 2008 awardee, Empires of the Indus , The Story of a River, by Alice Albinia.

The International Conference on Water Resources Policy in South Asia was held in Colombo from December 17-20 at the Taj Samudra. The conference inauguration took off with a grand opening in the presence of 150 guests including special invitees from Sri Lanka.