First food: a taste of India’s biodiversity
This collection of around 100 recipes from different parts of the country brings to life the magic that takes place once biodiversity is combined with culinary dexterity.
Sunita Narain
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Just words, no action
The FM wants credit for acting on environment, but does the wrong things The "mool mantra" of Budget 2013 is inclusive and sustainable development, says Finance Minister P Chidambaram. But, as far as the environment is concerned, there is no substance in the Budget that tells us how the direction of growth will be environmentally sound. Instead, the finance minister talks about the Cabinet Committee on Investment, which has been set up to fast-track clearances. There is no indication in his speech that this drive for investment will be cognisant of the needs for sustainability and will strengthen, not weaken, the regulatory system that governs green clearances.
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Kumbh - cleaning a river with faith
The Maha Kumbh in Allahabad has perhaps no parallel in terms of the sheer size of the congregation. In less than two months over 100 million people are expected to come to this city, at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. But even as they celebrate the rivers it seems they don’t see the rivers, but only the ritual. This mela is about how the Hindu religion — and I believe all religions — is based on a deep understanding of and respect for nature’s strength. But we now worship without reason. So people can take a dip in the polluted river but still believe that the dirt, the filth and the plastic that swims around them will not defile the river’s properties. Our strength has become our weakness.
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Solar energy solutions
How will solar energy be made to work in India? As I discussed in my previous article, there are three key challenges. One, how will the country pay for solar energy in a situation where there is no money
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The how-to of solar energy
Grid-based solar power only reaches only households that are connected to energy supply, and simply subsidises costly solar for an already-reached population India’s solar power policy is now entering round two. Much needs to be reviewed and reworked, since the business of solar energy has seen massive turbulence in India as well as globally. In the first phase (2010 to 2013) of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), the target was to set up 1,000-2,000 MW of grid-based solar power in the country. By 2013, the country has indeed commissioned some 1,000 MW of solar power, but 700 MW of this target comes from a non-JNNSM state, Gujarat.
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Protests and leadership
Every time people lose faith in the political establishment, urban middle classes embrace fascism and the poor take up arms against the state The last image of 2012 is that of protesters storming central Delhi, outraged at the brutal rape of a young girl and the culture of violence against women. This outburst by the educated middle class, many of them young women, was spontaneous as much as it was leaderless. But as we move into the next year, we need to think about the government’s response to this protest and other demonstrations. We need to understand if the Indian state has any clue about what is going on under its nose — and feet.
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Ponty, buses and PPPs
Since cities have little money to cover operational costs of running buses, they do not invest in new buses or modern infra Liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother – both died recently in a fratricide – had another business that is not widely known. They had acquired the concession to run public transport buses in Delhi — three clusters with a combined fleet of 600-odd vehicles. Even before they died, this private foray into public buses was turning sour. Given that public-private partnerships (PPPs) have become the country’s favourite pastime, it is important to ask if we really understand how to create and sustain essential public infrastructure for the relatively poor and the middle class. In other words, how do we work with private enterprise for facilities in which costs will have to be kept affordable — often through public subsidy or innovative fiscal management?
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Doha: if not now, when?
At the Doha climate change conference, the world agreed to strengthen the framework for future action. But it is now that action is needed The United Nations climate talks in Doha ended in overtime, in what can be best described a nail-biting finish. This was the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The COP is held once a year to push for action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, so intertwined with economic growth that the world has been haggling for the past 20 years over who will cut and how much.
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How green is green?
What is behind the concept of a Green Economy, advanced at the Rio-2012 conference? The case of protection and use of forests in India exemplifies the most important challenges: Green cannot be green without
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Smog has to be cleared
<p><span id="itro1">Losing after winning is the worst feeling possible. This is how I feel looking out of my window at a thick pall of black smog engulfing my city. It was this time of the year, exactly
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A tale of two cities
Growth is happening faster than we ever imagined. Construction is booming and expansion is gobbling agricultural land I travelled to two different cities in two different states last fortnight — Indore and Guwahati. I came back with images identified by common distinctions: piles of garbage and glitzy new shopping malls. Is this our vision of urban development? There is no question that cities are imploding; growth is happening faster than we ever imagined. Construction is booming and expansion is gobbling agricultural land.