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. …
function map() { var popurl="files/images/20040630/37.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=550,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } All signals emanating from the recently elected United Progressive Alliance government in India suggest that the country’s grandiose river-linking project is to be reviewed. These indications may not, however, be enough to allay apprehensions caused by the proposed venture in neighbouring Bangladesh. The …
Israel has drawn up a clandestine plan for a giant desalination plant to supply drinking water to the Palestinian territory in West Bank. Apparently this is a ploy to retain control of the region's aquifers and keep at bay pressures to grant water to any future Palestinian state. The new …
environmentalists are incensed about the proposed West Bengal Protection of Water Bodies Bill, 2004, which, they allege, could leave the state high and dry. Once enacted, the bill would legalise filling up of waterbodies less than 4 hectares (ha) in size. It would also allow filling up of larger waterbodies …
shocking levels of lead in Washington's tap water have prompted us lawmakers to introduce a bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act (sdwa). The new bill, called Lead-free Drinking Water Act of 2004, proposes several changes, including increasing funding to clean up tap water. One of the main recommendations …
the gram panchayats of Tamil Nadu (tn) have sought the Union government's intervention in overcoming a severe resource crunch. Faced with dues to the tune of Rs 300 crore, owed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (tneb), the presidents of these panchayats have filed a petition with the Union minister …
The Malaysian government is considering reopening bidding for a multibillion-dollar water treatment concession, providing Prime Minister (pm) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi an opportunity to overhaul the country's often-criticised privatisation programme. The prospective water deal pits French utilities giant Veolia Environnement sa and its partners against Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, a Malaysian …
Multilateral donors have warned Bangladesh that they might slash aid or withdraw it altogether from the impoverished country, if it fails to fulfil commitments to control corruption. The adoption of such remedial measures can prop up Bangladesh's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2-3 per cent from its present 5.5 per …
In deep shit This is what most developing countries are in Country Total population (millions) Annual excrement production (million metric tonnes) Annual excrement not disposed of safely (million metric tonnes) Afghanistan 28.7 2.7 2.4 Bangladesh 146.7 13.9 7.2 Brazil 176.5 16.7 4 Burkina Faso 13.2 1.3 0.9 Cambodia 12.6 1.2 …
yielding to the pressure of wheat farmers of the us and Canada, agri-business giant Monsanto has deferred introducing the world's first genetically modified (gm) wheat. "The company is deferring all further efforts to introduce Roundup Ready wheat, until such time that other wheat biotechnology traits (for example, pesticide tolerance) are …
FOR a company that takes its public relations quite seriously, Monsanto is going through a particularly bad patch. From the 50 per cent cutback in sales of its genetically modified (GM) bovine growth hormone in late February (the company had violated sterility standards) to the court hearing in Chicago over …
Elections 2004 are over. Was it a vote for development, social inclusion and justice? Or simply a vote against an incumbent government, flattened by sleazy and slick self-promotion? The answer is complicated, as can be expected from a country as diverse and layered as India. So, for instance, it can …
Living amidst rivers and lakes and blessed by bountiful rain, the people of Kerala are yet to realise that they face a water crisis. Droughts come, but are treated as aberrations. On the one hand water usage is shooting up, on the other rains are playing truant. Unless it gets …
• The first two years of the UK emissions trading scheme have been a success, states a report issued by the country's National Audit Office (NAO). The UK launched its emissions trading scheme in March 2002, offering 34 companies a US $385-million dividend incentive over five years in return for …
All places in Kerala, except a few in Palakkad, got more rainfall this summer than the national average. “Considering that India receives only 1,100 mm of rainfall as long period average, isn’t it absurd to say that Kerala suffered acute water scarcity even after getting 2,270 mm of rain in …
function map_table() { var popurl="html/20040531_cover.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=780,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } In Kerala, land of 44 rivers and backwaters and a state with over 3,000 mm of annual rainfall there was a drought this February and March
• Quite a few countries will attain targets of developing integrated water resources management by 2005 but many require further assistance • Many countries are on track to halve the population without access to safe drinking water by 2015 but progress is uneven and many countries may fail to meet …
On the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on human settlements Human settlement is not getting as much as attention as water and sanitation. But we cannot provide water and sanitation to people who lack shelter. Today, about one billion people live in slums and if present trends continue, 1.5 billion people …
THE steady downward trend of rainfall in Kerala for the past five years went unnoticed. The rapid fall in groundwater, too, didn't raise eyebrows. With 44 rivers and an annual average rainfall of 3,000 mm, Kerala goes to sleep with sweet dreams of water all around. But in February 2004, …
