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Sustainability
Restructuring of the Central Water Commission – Ministry of Water Resources invites comments on its proposal till September 30, 2011
Posted on 25 Aug, 2011 12:24 PMThe restructuring is being proposed primarily to adopt river basins as the fundamental block for integrated planning, development and management of water resources in the country.
Boundary concepts for interdisciplinary analysis of irrigation water management – A working paper by Peter Mollinga
Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 07:16 PMThe focus is concepts that capture the hybridity of irrigation systems as complex systems, and cross the boundaries of the natural and social sciences.
Payments for ecosystem services and food security – A report by Food and Agriculture Organisation
Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 06:08 PMChanging climate, loss of native forests, disappearance of biodiversity, water shortages, desertification, the reduction of natural soil fertility — all add to the scenario of a world with increasingly complex environmental challenges.
The concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) has emerged as a challenge to the all-too-prevalent tradition of taking the Earth’s natural resources for granted. PES highlights a global continuum, illustrating the relationship between our lifestyles, the demands associated with our production and consumption patterns, and the effects those demands have on close or distant ecosystems.
Scope, structure and processes of National Environment Assessment and Monitoring Authority – A draft report of the Ministry of Environment and Forests
Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 01:10 PMThis report by the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) for the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) deals with the scope, structure and processes of the proposed National Environment Assessment and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA). The findings and recommendations of the project are based on an analysis of various research and committee reports, a critical review of the implementation of EIA notification 2006, CRZ notification 1991 & CZM Notification 2010, and a review of the international practices.
Sanitation as a business - A new spin on the challenge of sanitation operation and maintenance - A paper by Water for People
Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 11:34 AMThis paper published by the Water for People describes Sanitation as a Business, an innovative approach to operation and maintainance challenges in household sanitation improvements, by describing the case of the implementation of the approach in the context of Malawi, by Water for People. The paper argues that programs that build latrines have consistently struggled to have impact or reach scale, and have often distorted the market environment in ways that have undermined future sanitation development.
The paper emphasises the relevance of this approach in the context of developing countries such as India by stating that the world would not be able to achieve even half of the Millennium Development Goals for sanitation at current rates of installation and consequently is projected to miss the sanitation MDG by more than 700 million people. Among the twenty two percent of those without access to improved sanitation, the greatest challenge remains in Asia and India in particular.
Sanitation - The hygienic means of promoting health - Indian Journal of Public Health
Posted on 23 Aug, 2011 11:10 AMThis article published in the Indian Journal of Public Health highlights the importance of sanitation as hygienic means of dealing with health of populations and presents the history and the definition of sanitation and highlights t
Biomass for sustainable development - Lessons for decentralized energy delivery in India – A report by World Bank
Posted on 22 Aug, 2011 07:55 PMIt presents a summary of recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of energy service delivery through a decentralized program, which currently finds a critical place in the Government‘s energy policies and electrification targets.
The pilot phase of the Village Energy Security Programme has shown several lessons and the need for improvements.
The relevance of traditional knowledge for health, well being and sustainable development - Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge
Posted on 22 Aug, 2011 12:27 PMThis paper published in the journal Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge is an attempt to discuss the traditional knowledge of elderly people, their role and highlights many areas w
Draft of Land Acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation Bill, 2011 in public domain - Comments invited by Ministry of Rural Development till 31st August, 2011
Posted on 15 Aug, 2011 05:35 PMGuest post by: Amita Bhaduri
The drafting of a new legislation on these issues was taken up by a Group of Ministers in May 2007 and this is the second draft bill presented by the UPA Government.
Rainfed agriculture - Meeting the challenges of food security in India – A paper in Current Science
Posted on 08 Aug, 2011 06:40 PMThe paper notes that there are large opportunities for gains from adaptation and new investments in water management for meeting the targets under the proposed National Food Security Act.