Books and Book Reviews

Uttarakhand is blessed with an immense amount of natural resources such as forests, wildlife and water, but if you are looking for some research-based information that quantifies, classifies and organizes this information, there isn’t much out there.

Kosi, one of the most vibrant rivers of North Bihar begins its journey at a height of about 7000 m in the Himalayan range. After entering the plains, the bed of the Kosi widens drastically and it spreads over 6 to 10 km.

The report released at UNDP, New Delhi on February 14, 2013 attempts to consolidate the significant amounts of information available on water and sanitation in India and also aims to examine the key current challenges in the sector; both the threats and opportunities for the water sector in India.

Dr Aidan Cronin, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist, UNICEF gives a sneak preview to the report

Video courtesy: UNICEF

This article presents a review of the book 'Governing international watercourses' by Susanne Schmeier - a book that has been called 'a stunning piece of work' by Aaron T. Wolf. The author examines the river basin organisation as a key institution for managing international watercourses. The book follows a three-part structure of developing theory, refining it, and then discussing three case studies. By emphasizing that more trans-boundary events are focused on cooperation rather than on conflict- with a far smaller percentage being violent conflict - it carries a message of hope.

This article in Economic and Political Weekly is a review of the edited book Handbook of Climate Change and India: Development, Politics and Governance by Navroz Dubash. The author of the article states that the book is an important addition to the body of knowledge on the subject of climate change. The articles in the book are written from diverse view points by authors who are activists, researchers, diplomats, policymakers, and politicians.

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