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News and Articles
An anthropologist visits orans in Rajasthan
Posted on 26 May, 2023 10:17 PMIt’s a day in late June 2022. The sun is fierce. I am in Rogda village, in the Aravali hills in Rajasthan. As I walk into the village, I see a big pond filled with water; it was like an oasis. I would learn soon that it is johad, a traditional water harvesting system to capture runoff water during monsoon. I keep walking and now I am amidst trees.
Urgent need for coordinated effort to put out forest fires in Odisha
Posted on 24 May, 2023 10:08 PMLeading members of civil society from across Odisha gathered to discuss their concerns and recommendations in a civil society dialogue hosted by the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability, and Technology (iFOREST) in Bhubaneswar against the backdrop of the state's increasing number of forest fire incidents.
![Forest fires ignited by natural causes, but major contribution of human action cannot be denied (Image: Naveen N K, Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/Bandipur_fires_2019.jpg?itok=hlKIgkfc)
Investments in local risk resilience
Posted on 24 May, 2023 01:33 PMThe G20 Disaster Risk Resilience Working Group and UNICEF convened with delegates from the G20 countries, International Finance Institutions (IFI), United Nations agencies, civil society, private sector and community members to discuss ‘Strengthening Social Protection Systems for Climate and Disaster Risk Management’, in Mumbai.
![Social protection has emerged as an important policy instrument to utilise disaster risk finances (Image: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/climate-change-7477533.jpg?itok=-MHaxn2L)
Conservation and collection practices in the sacred Thal Kedar forest of Uttarakhand
Posted on 20 May, 2023 06:57 PMForests are a primary source of food, water, medicine, fruits, shelter, bedding materials, fuel, fodder, and appliances for agriculture in rural areas, globally. The ‘sacred natural forest sites’ in the Himalayan mountains are a common center of different cultures, social groups, traditions, and beliefs.
![The sacred Thal Kedar forest is a common sacred center for people of different cultures, traditions, and beliefs (Image: Mini Mehta, eUttaranchal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/thal-kedar-mini-mehta.jpg?itok=8x8Qi400)
Bhuj citizens seek restoration of Hamirsar and other water bodies
Posted on 17 May, 2023 10:10 PMHamirsar is a 450-year-old artificial lake that bears the name of Rao Hamir, the founder of Bhuj and Rao Khengarji I's father, who founded the Kutchi Jadeja dynasty.
![Need to resuscitate the traditional water system and expand its catchment (Image: Raman Patel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/View_of_sunset_at_Harmisar_Lake_from_Pragmahal_Towar%2C_Bhuj_-_panoramio.jpg?itok=1wTWWQLS)
Does micro irrigation really save water?
Posted on 16 May, 2023 10:37 PMSince the last few decades, the central government (and also multiple states) has been promoting micro irrigation (drip and sprinkler) under various schemes. These schemes mainly include National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI), On Farm Water Management (OFWM), and now Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
![Use of micro irrigation technology does not automatically result in a reduction in water consumption (Image: Anton: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/Sprinkler_Irrigation_-_Sprinkler_head.jpg?itok=0EXCva4N)
There’s a rare catfish in your well
Posted on 16 May, 2023 10:40 AMA rare species of catfish, has been found in aquifers in Kerala, opening a window to the rich biodiversity that exists even in deep and dark underground subterranean environments where unique organisms survive by adapting to the harsh surroundings informs this paper titled 'Evolution in the dark: Unexpected geneti
![Image Source: By Rajeev Raghavan, Remya L. Sundar, C.P. Arjun, Ralf Britz, Neelesh Dahanukar - Evolution in the dark: Unexpected genetic diversity and morphological stasis in the blind, aquifer-dwelling catfish Horaglanis, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128832101. Link to image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Horaglanis#/media/File:Horaglanis_populi_live.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/Horaglanis_populi_live.jpg?itok=dz53EL50)
Informal plastic waste recycling firms: Impacts on livelihood and health
Posted on 15 May, 2023 09:02 AMA sizeable segment of the workforce in India relies on the informal sector as their main source of income. One such activity is waste management, which is carried out informally or is organised through associations and cooperatives.
![Informal plastic waste recycling firms has increased significantly since the 1990s (Image: Andreas, Pixabay)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/garbage-3552363.jpg?itok=xi7C7zEb)
How do Indian waste to energy plants compare with their global counterparts?
Posted on 11 May, 2023 09:19 AMWith the ever-increasing demand for energy in a rapidly growing economy like India, cheap and sustainable energy is the need of the hour. Waste-to-energy conversion remains a major untapped energy resource in the Indian context.
![EIA suggests lower GHG emission of waste-to-energy plants over landfill (Image: Norbert Nagel,Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2023-05/waste-to-energy_plant.jpg?itok=R28R3fGr)