Governance

This link on the CAG website provides the details of an international conference that was held on 15-16 March 2010, in the backdrop of the environmental audit proposed by the the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, for management and conservation of the environment .

The purpose of this conference was to deliberate on the causes of pollution, action taken by governments and civil society to address this and environmental, management and legal interventions needed to put lakes, rivers and ground water on the path of sustainability.

More than 20 experts on water and water pollution issues were invited to share their views as panelists during the conference. Apart from these distinguished panelists, the heads of supreme audit institutions from countries like Austria, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan were also present to share their experiences regarding audit of water pollution in their countries.

Content Courtesy: DevNetJobsIndia

• Programme Officer-Water

Haritika

Location: Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh
Last Date: September 25, 2010

Sridhar Gangolli, an artist with the concern about the life and the living, is once again on the pitch of art. In each of his works of art, he tries to be fresh and spontaneous. He bats with the objects and bowls some thoughts, thus he makes his art.

This set of case studies is a part of a book prepared by Lokayan in collaboration with the Planning Commission titled “Seeds of Hope", covering themes of agriculture, biodiversity, education, forestry, governance, health, movements and water. The case studies related to agriculture and food security are summarised below:

A two day workshop on "Safe guard Future drinking water supply in Odisha", was organised on 29-30 April 2010. This event was as a result of cooperation between Gram Vikas, UNICEF, Deltares and ICCO (organisations involved in water supply and sanitation) and evolved out of a felt need to engage people from diverse fields to provide inputs for designing future courses of action.

Vision, Strategic Framework and Plan of Action (2010-11)

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, (MGNREGA) was enacted on 7th September 2005 as “An Act to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of Guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household".

From:
Himanshu Thakkar
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People,
c/o 86-D, AD block, Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi,

To: Shri Jairam Ramesh
Union Minister of State for Env and Forests (IC), New Delhi

Respected Sir,

I have just seen your letter dated Aug 18, 2010 to Orissa Chief Minister on the aboves subject, uploaded yesterday on MEF website.

1. Your letter says that the Forest Clearance has been given to the Polavaram Project on July 28, 2010 is subject to the condition, "... no submergence and displacement of people including STs take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh...". However, this condition is in complete contradiction with the environment clearance given by your ministry on Oct 25, 2005, which says in para 2, "Total 1,93,35 persons are likely to be affected by this project, out of that 1,75,275 persons in Andhra Pradesh and 6,316 persons from Orissa and 11,766 are from Chattisgarh." It is clear the condition of no submergence and displacement on Orissa and Chhattisgarh, stated in your letter, in the Tribal Development Ministry's condition, and in the forest clearance letter is in complete contradiction with the environment clearance given by you. One of them have to be cancelled due to this contradiction, we would like to know, which one would be cancelled.

Content Courtesy: Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)

Variously described as “Common Pool Resources”, “Common Property Resources”, “Common Lands”, “Open Ground” etc; “Commons” have been an important and inseparable part of humanity. They have been life support systems and have impacted various cultures, traditions, organisations and environments. They are essential for the livelihood requirements of the poor to be met. It is common knowledge that "Commons" are of ecological, social, cultural, religious, sporting and recreational value. Issues related to “Commons” have drawn attention of the academia, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. It is significant to note that Prof. Elinor Ostrom, a political scientist, won the Nobel Prize this year for her work on the subject.