Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
us companies operating in Europe have rejected a plan to introduce lower sales tax rates on ecolabelled products, saying it is "backward looking and innovation stifling.' Tax incentives for ecofriendly products were one of the many provisions of the European Commission's ( ec ) green plan on integrated product policy. …
history was created on July 23, 2001 at Bonn, Germany, when 180 countries finally reached an agreement on rules to implement the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to combat global warming, after almost six months of political uncertainty on the issue. "We felt that we needed that the result (the …
WHAT TO DO l Set up a multi stakeholder's panel to chart out a course for eis implementation, with a more decentralised approach l Introduce EIs in sectors where a credible database is available and scientific validity has been proved l Promote public disclosure schemes and encourage voluntary compliance. Simultaneously …
the Union government's consultative group on land and water care has launched a land care movement for fostering community-centred food and water security system in nine states. This is a follow up to the land resources management resolution adopted at the International Conference on Land Resources Management held in New …
The Thai government will use the satellites of the National Aeronautical Space Administration ( nasa ) to assess the spread of the country's worst outbreak of malaria in five years. The satellites will be used for surveying malaria-affected regions. The number of patients affected by the disease has increased tenfold …
for the first time in many years, the village of Lava-ka-Baas in Alwar district, Rajasthan, got water just a month ago. With the first showers of monsoon, its 500-odd residents saw the traditional water harvesting structure that they had built in their village fill up with water. And joyfully they …
Two people died and 40 others were injured during one of Pakistan's worst riots over water on June 10, 2001. The incident took place during a rally organised by a political party called Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (jsqm) and the Jeay Sindh Students Federation against the severe water shortage in …
Facing its worst drought in 90 years, South Korea has mobilised a fifth of its military force to help combat the situation. At least 130,000 troops were sent to 90 worst-hit regions armed with drilling machines, trucks, excavators and pumping motors, to dig wells or draw water from reservoirs. "It …
a proposal to declare water as a national asset to ensure proper utilisation of various water resources has been rejected by many non-governmental organisations ( ngo s). The proposal was made by Kamla Denival, Rajasthan's minister of irrigation. She suggested that a national water reserve should be set up to …
Since 1949, China has shown the capacity to provide adequate nutrition to most of its population. Feeding one-fifth of humankind with only 9 percent of the world's arable land is not easy. Per capita nutrition has increased from less than 1,700 calories per day in 1960 to more than 2,700 …
Remember the cartoon of the European explorer in North America, waving an axe to clear forests while moving towards the west coast a few centuries ago? The slogan "exploring the west' in China has a similar ring in the ear. China now has its eyes fixed upon its wild, barren …
China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are the most polluted countries in Asia, while Singapore, Malaysia and Japan are the cleanest, indicates a recent survey. The Hong-Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Limited (PERC) conducted the survey. In the survey, emigrants living in 12 Asian countries and territories rated …
india has rejected a report of the World Commission on Dams ( wcd ) that discussed the problems related to the construction of big dams. The government representatives also boycotted a meeting to discuss the report. The Union ministry of water resources sent a circular to its officials, asking them …
goa' s rivers criss-crossing the picturesque state lie neglected and almost forgotten today. And campaigners working to highlight the importance of the local riverine network say it's high time that these rivers are given a fresh lease of life. There are nine rivers in Goa namely Terekhol, Chapora, Baga, Mhadei, …
The message of community based water harvesting is spreading - not just in India but also globally. The Food and Agriculture Organisation ( fao ) now sees "increasing water harvesting and water conservation" as a key challenge for ensuring food security. For a large number of people, especially those who …
The Employment Guarantee Scheme ( egs ) of Maharash tra is said to be the only one in the world that guaran tees employment on demand. This was for the first time an employment generation programme was conceived to create productive works at the village level. The absence of social …
During the 1999-2000 drought, Down To Earth ( dte ) reported that five villages in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had enough water during the drought because of the water conservation activities they had undertaken. dte revisited these villages, reeling under the second successive drought. Unlike last year, some of these …
An analysis of the government's failure at drought relief shows some clear loopholes that are not very difficult to plug for a government that is worried about its political future. The most important thing is to plan decentralised, village-level institutions to both manage drought relief and come up with strategic …
The biggest hurdle in providing the much-needed drought relief is corruption in the government machi nery. Rajasthan has spent almost Rs 6,500 crore on drought relief works like employment generation, fodder distribution and drinking water facilities in the past 45 years. Another Rs 628 crore has been spent in the …
