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My Professor friend was once again in the news. He became an Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank  last month and was asked to take on the Green Agenda. The Governor had apparently attended some UN meeting on Greening and had found that lot was happening in the financing world on this topic and India had not much to say. That was shameful.

So the Professor was appointed. After his taking over, the finance world in India simply changed towards Green.

I went to withdraw money from the ATM next to my home and there was a long queue. Most in the queue were reading newspapers. Some were patiently solving crosswords. Some had started eating their lunch. Clearly the queue was moving slowly. I asked the gentleman next to me why was such as case. “Oh he said, don’t you know that the ATM now asks a lot of questions on green. How much water do you consume in a day, how much diesel is consumed per kilometer by a 10 year old  bus etc. are few opening questions. Questions are also asked on your general knowledge such as what is the name of the chairman of the Tripura Pollution Control Board, or what is the significance of 2 degrees, and few more questions at the end such as what did you do today on the Swatch Bharat Abhiyan etc. When you answer all these questions and get at least 70 marks out of 100, only then your ATM card becomes active. This takes time. Most people fail so they keep reattempting and since each time the questions asked are different, they keep failing again and again. I am planning to go to another ATM machine now where I believe there are professionals laundering outside who help to field these questions at a small fee. Apparently, some advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank has come up with this idea to promote green. Crazy!”

I was simply aghast. Although it generated Green Jobs, This was terrible. So I left the ATM machine and went straight to meet the Professor at the Central Bank. The Professor was giving a press interview at that time. “Yes, we propose to change the mind set of Indian citizens towards green living. This credit card (and he flashed a bright green credit card which had a shape of a leaf) will let you shop only green. If you attempt purchasing any “brown” product, then the card will not simply work”.  One journalist stopped him and asked who decides what is a green and a brown product?  The Professor smiled and said that this work was already done and a master database of key green consumer products was created at a national level. New entries were however most welcome”. Another Journalist quipped “why should one buy this Green Credit Card if this is so restrictive?” The Professor was already expecting this question.  “We will track the shopping done using this Green credit card and give you “greenie” points. With these points you can shop more green as a bonus…. And remember that there are no annual fees charged for the use of Green Credit Card – (don’t confuse this with Green Card my friends and he winked)

When we went to his cabin, I complained to the Professor about the ATM mess. I further added that the Green credit card idea could be controversial as it is really difficult to certify what is a green product”, But the Professor did not agree. Soon people will understand what is green through the ATMs and spend responsibly using the Green Credit card – he said.  The product makers will shift to the mission to “Make Green” because this will be the only way that they will survive. This will lead to reduced GHG emissions. The Central Bank will thus change India’s consumption and production patterns. This should have been the job of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (and Climate Change) but you know that this Ministry has been only focusing on management of residues or pollution …with no strategies towards sustainable consumption and production”. He sighed and I nodded. On this we had no disagreement.

He then paused and asked me “Have you been recently to any of the commercial banks asking for a loan?”

Next day, both of us went to a local commercial bank. I filled up a loan application form at the counter that used a paper that was recycled, unbleached and had seeds embedded. When I went to the desk of the loan officer, he served me water from a rainwater harvesting unit and in a clay jar. I was carrying the supporting papers in a plastic bag. He took the papers, tucked away my plastic bag “no plastic my friend – this is against the Central Bank’s directive”. He then walked across and inserted my plastic bag in a plastic to diesel machine. “Thanks for your contribution for the national plastic to diesel program” he said while sitting back on his chair and handed over a flower as a token of appreciation that came from an organic garden. My Professor fiend was standing behind me with great self-admiration and a proud face.

When I explained to him about my interest of securing loan for a vehicle, he asked me why am I purchasing a vehicle. Can you not take a public transport? We must follow sustainable lifestyles and reduce your carbon footprint, We are importing crude oil my friend that affects our BoP” He then showed me couple of videos on YouTube that said how we should avoid using private vehicles and take public transport. I am sorry he said, but if you still insist on taking a loan, then I will recommend you a bicycle. In the Netherlands, most use bicycles. I tried to tell him that public transport in the city is not good and, I get late, weary and tired. Besides we don’t have bicycle pathways like in the Netherlands, so safety can be an issue, but the officer wouldn’t pay heed to my protests.  We spent another 30 minutes discussing my loan. According to the officer, sanctioning of my car loan would severely affect India’s and world’s sustainability and bring in adverse and irreversible change.

We left the Bank, me disappointed and the Professor triumphant with joy. I said “I will go to another bank – perhaps a cooperative Bank where Central directives are often flouted”. The Professor said sure – try your luck. We have ensured that all Banks will follow our principles of sustainable finance in letter and spirit. The financing world in India now fully understands the importance of sustainability in the investment decisions.

But then how will the economic development in India happen? Especially the required financial flows in the infrastructure sector and the foreign direct investments that we want to attract? Your requirements are so stringent … I struggled to say. “Oh I am working on that, the Professor said while signing some important documents using a green pen. There are so many shades of green that I am sure we will find a way.  After all, what is green is what we decide. So we will stay green for the world but fix the shade we want to – somewhere dark and somewhere pale”. Aha - I exclaimed. I visualized my Professor friend like the scallywag boy of Asian Paints with a paint tin and brush in hand and a large palliate of Green.  Busy painting the walls. Very clever.

Visit prasadmodak.com to view my other posts

Team,

Recently , I studied inspiration article about Eco-friendly home .

Mr.Sivakumar, who have never payed , electrical , water bill for more than 20 years due to his eco-efforts . 

He is real environment resource person 

http://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/

Could you share your experience with me , about similar things in chennai,

contact network of the designers , who can design eco-friendly homes 

Thank you 

environmentrajesh@gmail.com

Team,

Share your experience , and help to buy few environment friendly products for home.

Solar products 

Roof -top garden.

Availability at chennai 

e-mail : environmentrajesh@gmail.com

Dear NEIPs

Need your expertise sharing to implement best technique to manage food waste ( plate waste, vegetable cutting waste , food waste + gardening trimming waste grass clippings,twigs ..etc)

Source of generation : Canteen 

Quantity : 100 Kg/day 

Expectation : Solution need to be simple and practical 

Location : Chennai 

pls share valuable inputs to me

Contact mail : environmentrajesh@gmail.com

Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE), Bhuj-Kachchh, Gujarat, is conducting a walk-in interview on 28^th November 2014 at 11:00 hours at Bhuj for the following position under the Principal Investigator - Dr. Rachna Chandra, for the project entitled “Metal uptake and stress responses during chelate assisted phytoextraction process: effect of soil type, metal concentration and co-metal ion” funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Post:                      Junior Research Fellow - 1 (One position) 

Essential Qualification

Junior Research Fellow: Post Graduate degree in Basic Sciences (Environmental Sciences / Life Sciences / Botany / Ecology / Environmental Science & Technology / Biotechnology) from a recognized University or equivalent with minimum 55% marks in aggregate. UGC-NET (JRF / LS) will be preferred. Maximum Age Limit: Below 28 years on the date of interview. Age relaxation for SC/ST/OBC and women candidates will be extended as per DST rules.

Laboratory Attendant: 12^th pass in any subject. Should be able to read and write English. There is no age limit.

Fellowship and Duration:

Junior Research Fellow: The fellowship will be Rs. 12,000 per month consolidated for first 02 years and Rs. 14,000 per month consolidated from 03^rd year onwards from the date of joining. Applicant should note that the appointment is purely on temporary basis till June 2018 or completion of the project, whichever is earlier, subject to satisfactory year wise progress of work.

Laboratory Attendant: An amount of Rs. 6,500 per month consolidated for duration of 01 year will be given. The duration may be extended subject to project requirements. Appointment will be purely on temporary basis.

Interested candidates should report for walk-in interview at the above address along with 1) complete resume, 2) all original certificates / documents pertaining to academic achievements / experience, and 3) attested copies of all the academic credentials. No TA /DA will be paid for attending the Interview.

For contact:

Dr. Rachna Chandra                                                                    

Senior Scientist & Principal Investigator, DST Project

Division of Terrestrial Ecology

Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology

P.B. No. 83, Mundra Road, Bhuj - 370001, Kachchh, Gujarat, Email: rachnaeia@gmail.com

Event Organized by: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Marwadi Education Foundation's Group of Institutions Rajkot.

Kindly find the details in the Brochure attached.

Best Regards

Amarpreet S. Arora

Assistant Professor, ESE dept.

Marwadi Education Foundation, Rajkot, Gujarat.

Dear Team ,

I have 9 Years of experience in various automobile MNC as an environmental professional.

Currently, I am exploring opportunities related to environment audit profession.

Please share and support with relevant openings.

Your inputs and guidance for the same is requested.

Thank you

Rajesh kumar

environmentrajesh@gmail.com

m : 9445114468

We provide O & Msservices, revamping services of STP/ETP for all type of technologies in residential, commercial complexes, resorts, malls & Hospitals.

We also design & install sewage treatment plants of MBBR based technology.
We are located at Thane, Maharashtra.
email- envirochem08@gmail.com, Mob- 08097073377

Ekonnect Knowledge Foundation has launched a program called Eko-transformers.

The idea is to offer opportunity to those who wish to volunteer their time to address environmental issues in their own neighborhoods.

As a non profit we are unable to offer financial compensation however we do offer the following: 

• Opportunity to Intern with potential for a job
• Free online e-learning course on Foundation to Environmental Management at Ekonnect
• Mentor guidance by our advisory board members during the Project
• Chance to build your own network and connections on international basis
• And a certificate for the period of volunteer-ship 

Do visit www.ekonnect.net to learn more or write to sonal.alvares@emcentre.com

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived”.

-          Helen Keller (Blind and deaf educator, 1880–1968)

My children often smile indulgently on our visits to the local library, not because they accept my love of reading (they are avid readers also), but because they find it amusing when I tell them that the library we frequent in Mumbai reminds me of the University department I studied at miles away in Canada more than a decade ago. How? Not because of the books, but because of the smell of the room. They probably think I am quirky, but as researchers have long recognized, smell can trigger many memories, some good, some bad. Many of us instantly recognize the “foreboding” smell of a hospital or the “warm and fresh” smell of a bakery.

The role of smell in our lives

Humans can reportedly distinguish about 10,000 different smells, each encoded by a different gene and each recognizing a particular smell. Smell is so subjective that no two humans smell anything exactly the same; after all, a person's perceptions (including how they perceive smells) are based on experiences that they have had throughout their life. Several factors determine how we smell a smell: genes, skin type, diet, age, gender, pregnancy, the weather, and even the time of day. When we are hungry, our sense of smell becomes keener. Many a time, foul odours are an indicator of safety issues (e.g. leaking gas or sour milk). Insects and animals communicate their requirements and emotional states to other animals (and sometimes, humans; think “skunk”) through changes in their body odours. Doctors have reported encouraging success in diagnosing lung cancer by benefiting from the ability of dogs to detect very low concentrations of the alkanes and aromatic compounds generated by the tumours. It is said that a baby recognizes and bonds with its mother through her smell. Indeed, our memory of smells is so potent that performing an undesirable or boring task in a scented room decreases the performance of other similar tasks in the presence of the same smell in a different place and at a different time. As the website of a leading ambient air scenting and scent marketing company reports, smells have also be used in a “deliberate and controlled manner”. Technicians at New York City’s Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre are known to spray vanilla-scented oil in their MRI rooms, to help patients cope with the claustrophobic effects of the testing. I know someone who would leave his unwashed socks lying about in his room just to deter people from entering it (and it worked).

As any Grade 2 student can tell you, humans are endowed with five senses—the sense of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Of these, the sense of smell is often ignored, except perhaps when we suffer from a bad cold and miss smelling the aromas of the food we eat (scientists say 80 percent of the flavours we taste are dependent on our sense of smell). The sense of smell is a stepchild of sorts in the environmental sense as well. Take for instance, air pollution. The health effects of air pollution are keenly felt. The smog that envelopes cities is rightly blamed as causing many health issues, such as asthma and other respiratory tract infections. Airlines are forced to cancel flights due to heavy smog, thus causing major inconvenience to passengers and throwing travel schedules out of gear. Noise pollution has also made headlines in the past, particularly during festivals. High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects in humans. In animals, noise can interfere with reproduction and navigation. We understand these effects as clearly as night and day.

“Odour Pollution” and What it Means for Us and the Environment

But smell is not something we associate easily with environmental issues. This omission is deleterious to health—not just ours but also that of other creatures. Take, for instance, the bee. Recent studies suggest that commonly used pesticides (such as lindane, organophosphorus insecticides and neonicotinoids) block that part of the brain that bees use for learning, rendering some of them unable to perform the essential task of associating scents with food. In 2013, scientists discovered that reactive pollutants in diesel destroyed key chemicals in the smell of oilseed flowers, thus destroying the bees’ ability to smell and identify the flowers. The team zeroed in on the highly reactive nitrogen oxides (NO_x) as the pollutant of concern; NO_x chemically alters the bees’ sense of smell by removing key chemicals the bee uses to recognize the flower by its distinctive scent within as little as a minute of exposure. The researchers suggest that these effects could make it harder for bees to forage among flowers for food, thereby threatening their survival and reducing the pollination of crops and wild plants. Typically, crops bear flowers that may only be pollinated during a short period. If such a crop is not pollinated during that time, the flowers will eventually be shed and the next generation of seeds and fruit will not develop. More than 50 percent of the world’s needs for fat and oil is derived from oilseeds such as cotton, sunflower, coconut, groundnut and oil palm, all of which are dependent to some extent on bees for pollination. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported an interesting experiment in Russia. Crop areas of the white clover plant (an excellent forage crop for livestock) were covered during blooming, so that no bees could enter. Only one gram (!) of seed could be harvested in the covered area. Conversely, uncovered bee-pollinated areas of the same size reported an average harvest of 331 grams of seeds. A report from India mentions a 100 percent increase in the coconut harvest because of bee pollination. 

To read more, please click here.

Dear Friends,

The Recent Hudoodh Cyclone of Andhrapradesh damaged the Vizag very badly and at the same time taught us a lesson by giving message that the development should in accordance with the law of the nature.
As a environmental person i think due to cutting of Mada trees(Mangrooves) all along the Coast for various purposes and not following the CRZ rules and Replacing the Mada adavulu (Mangroove Forest) area for Various purposes mainly in the angle of Business purpose.

The Mangroove is the natural gift (wall and protection force for the coasts) by the god. and we as a human beings we should respect and protect this most valued gift of god by name nature. but we are going on destroying nature in the name of Development and industrialization and so on.....by utilizing our miraculous brains for how to over come from the laws and how to bypass for our small tiny business gains.

Yes Development is needed but no the virtue of damaging our natural resources and other water ,air and other limited sources

I request our Center & state governments to implement the laws strictly and take the help of experts and others for effective utilization of our natural resources and sustainable development without damaging the nature.

I request all my friends and respectable elders to share your opinions and give valuable suggestions for the benefit our coasts and India

The recent cyclone damaged not only the infrastructure also the valuable flora,fauna species etc.

can anybody have the data of how much we lost our valuable resources please share and help the mankind.

Thanks and waiting for your good comments

Fasikhan

We are looking for an Energetic and Experienced Senior Sales Representative capable of handling sales in the southern region with 3-6 years experience in Water and Waste Water Treatment plants for immediate appointment at Bangalore. Please mail your CV to careers@prabhuenvirotec.com.

A workshop was conducted on 16th Sep at Tiruvananthapuram to discuss potential spill risks from accidental break up of large oil tankers passing by the coast.  The workshop was jointly hosted by ILDM (Dept of revenue, Govt of Kerala), SWIRE ERS and AlphaMERS.

The workshop discussed the risks, technology for detection, containment, challenges specific to the coastline, the revenue model and such related issues. Prominent experts attending the workshop were Director of International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, Secretary of Indian Mangrove Society, officials of SWIRE ERS -  a major international player in spill response, MD of AlphaMERS an Indian spill responder, besides senior officials - ACS and Home Secretary Ms.Nivedita Haran, Retired secretary Ministry of Shipping Mr.Mohandas,  Retired VCNS and DG of Coast Guard Vice Admiral.P.J.Jacob attended te event. Representatives of district disaster management authority, oil companies, coast guard, media and other entities interested in the subject also attended the event. 

Though the core subject was oil spills, there were interesting inputs on subjects ranging from Hazardous chemical spills to disaster management preparedness as a whole.

Few important messages that came from the workshop -

There should be a common platform between agencies to share information in case of Hazardous material spills with regards to identification and dangers.

Various agencies must work in good co-ordination in the immediate aftermath of a spill.

The preparation to deal with an incident must start now.

A demo of Drone for oil spill detection formed a highlight of the event. 

Brdgs

Dear Friends, 
Second issue of Ambient Science http://www.caves.res.in/journal/c.htm the journal devoted to cave science, published by “National Cave Research and Protection Organization”, India. is released. The focused articles are:

[*]Species diversity and food-web complexity in the caves of Malaysia 
[*]A Summary of Some Microbes Identified from Different Indian Caves and Their Possible Role in Mineral Formations
[*]Occurrence and Distribution of Cave Dwelling Frogs of Peninsular India
[*]Tracing the Sources of Pollution of Wells and Karst springs Supplying Water to the City of Ragusa, South-Eastern Sicily
[*]First Report of Mesocyclops parentium Holynska, 1997 (Copepoda : Cyclopidae) from Subterranean Water Source of Kerala, India and a Checklist of such Copepods



The journal publishes both, the print version as well as e-version ISSN- 2348 5191(Print version) & ISSN- 2348 8980 (Online). Currently the journal is accepting papers for its next issue. 

http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/specialissue/163005

Dear Colleague

Greetings

You may know that I have started writing posts on my blog at http:// prasadmodak.com

Some of the recent posts are

Environmental Clearance in India – Fast Track or Change of Track?

Many faces of Biodegradability

Think out of the Box

The Mobile Mines

Dwarfs with Tall Shadows

Can you ever be 100% Compliant to Environmental Standards on 24×7 basis?

Would like to invite you to view these posts and contribute. If you get interested, click the follow button so that you will receive the blog updates

Regards and look forward to your participation

Prasad Modak

About CEF

 Chlorophyll Environment Foundation (CEF) is a research, analysis and implementation oriented organization, working towards conservation of environment using sustainable long-term approaches.

CEF believes in advocating the critical role played by environment in human well-being and its significance in every sphere of growth and development. It will try to influence policy and practices on conservation of nature, management of natural resources, and sustainable development.

Inception of CEF

It was founded by some like-minded friends in the March 2014.

Headquartered in Kolkata, CEF plans to expand its root across India raising environment awareness among all and fighting against basic problems that leads to degradation and vulnerability of environment.

CEF aims to work with the youth at its centrality who will be the future citizens to hold the key for a better tomorrow. Hence originated the name Chlorophyll, the most vital plant molecule that helps in its’ sustenance.

We are looking for a Senior level leader capable of handling challenging situations with 5-10 years experience in Water and Waste Water Treatment plants for immediate appointment at Bangalore. Please mail your CV to careers@prabhuenvirotec.com.