Ecology and Environment

This report has been prepared by the members of the working group set up by the Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India on the issue of “Entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs". The introductory chapter sets out the context of the report. The immediate context is the work of the Forum over the last 4-5 years, and the learning that this particular issue leads to many water conflicts in India.

Using the data generated from a baseline survey on a sample of 6,990 households covering six districts, this paper attempts to assess the relationships between agriculture, food security and nutrition for children, adolescents and married women of reproductive age.

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is a policy document prepared by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. It has been prepared keeping in mind that India's economic need to tap its natural resources needs to be tempered with the need to maintain ecological balance.

Author: Mohanasundar Radhakrishnan 

Organizers: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay
                             Thadomal Shahani Engineering College (TSEC), Mumbai

Venue: Thadomal Shahani Enginnering College, P G Kher Road, Off Link Road, Bandra (West), Mumbai

Description:
IIT Bombay is organising Workshop on "Environmental Statistics for Professional" jointly with TSEC, Mumbai.

The objective of the proposed Four Day Training Workshop on Environmental Statistics is aimed at familiarizing the teaching community on the application of appropriate statistical techniques, exclusively to environmental systems. The faculty will demonstrate application of various probability and statistics techniques to environmental problems. The training would hopefully help in teaching the subject at their respective Institutions, in a structured manner.

The Ganges river system originates in the Central Himalayas, and extends into the alluvial Gangetic Plains and drains into the Indian Ocean at the Bay of Bengal. In the upstream mountainous regions, hydropower is the main focus of development with mega and micro projects either under construction or being planned in both Nepal and India.

After the main river channel reaches the plains, it is highly regulated with dams, barrages and associated irrigation canals. All this infrastructure development and abstractions affects the river’s flow regime and reduces flows, which, in turn, impacts downstream water availability, water quality and riverine ecosystems. Furthermore, there are concerns that climate change is likely to exacerbate the water scarcity problem in the Ganges Basin. Therefore, modeling the hydrology of the basin is critical for estimation, planning and management of current and future water resources.

Guest post by: Amita Bhaduri

The public art outreach project was organized by the Max Mueller Bhavan in association with the Government of Delhi and the Goethe-Institut (Hamburg, Germany) as a part of the “Year of Germany in India” programme opened on 5^th of November, 2011. The art exhibition which continued till the 19^th of November co-curated by artist Ravi Agarwal who is also a practicing environmentalist (Director, Toxics Link) along with German artist, Till Krauser attempted to create a pulsating synergy between the Yamuna and Elbe rivers.

Gigi Scaria’s - The fountain of purification

Photo courtesy: Rocky Thongam

This is a 24 ft installation representing a four storey apartment complex that draws Yamuna water, purifies it at various levels and dispenses it from the top in the form of a fountain.

Sohail Hashmi, an author, film-maker, one of the founders of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) and a true Dilliwala on 5 December 2011 at the India Habitat Center. The presentation woven around photographs of the city's step well

The most affected will be Tamil Nadu followed by Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala leading to floods, overflowing of dams and damage to property. Assessments of the earthquake in Sikkim are now ready as information is finally available.

This report prepared by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) examines how information related constraints in poor rural areas are being overcome and how information technology is being employed to the benefit of people in South Asia.

Poor people are constrained by limited access to information and poor communications technology. The research looked at the use of ‘information communications technologies’ (ICTs) in providing agricultural extension services, getting timely market price information, finding out about rural wage labour opportunities, helping rural communities to build a sustainable asset base and understanding crop diseases and soil nutrition.

The results of the research bring together rigorously tested practices and methods of applying ICTs for improving rural livelihoods. Each research study has investigated how and to what extent a specific ICT intervention made a difference. Together it shows how ICTs have empowered rural people and transformed livelihoods in agriculture: by filling information gaps, raising awareness, building skills and extending social networks.

The focus was on agricultural communities, as Asia’s poor and middle-income countries have primarily agriculture-based economies. However, a broader ‘livelihoods’ approach has been taken to ensure that we observe the variety of ways ICTs can have an effect on rural communities. The scope of the research took into account the range of on-farm and off-farm productive and reproductive activities that support farming households and communities.