One of my favorite professors at school, Dr. Tim Henry, who practiced dentistry for a while, and now teaches anatomy & physiology, amongst other subjects, lent form to a nebulous idea that had been floating in my mind for a long time. He views the imbalance on our planet akin to imbalance in our body - disease as a dangerous shift from a stable condition of health or 'homeostasis'. As I read further into the wise writings of eminent scientists who have been diagnosing the illnesses of the earth over the past few decades, I realize some disturbing patterns...
Extending Dr. Henry's idea further, one may 'postulate' that the variety of afflictions now tormenting various segments across the globe are symptoms, in the least, of something much worse; only collateral damages - but not the root of the problem. Al Gore, the fearless knight of the American climate crusades, portrays climate change as a planetary 'fever'. It will be of interest for you to note that fevers are not diseases, but symptoms, and rather 'side effects' of a more insidious illness. The hysteria developing over climate change is much like the Western medical approach to resolving a situation where a patient suffers from a fever. To attack symptoms is a form of urgent action, which is not necessarily the right action always [especially when the disease is causing much more damage than just a merely harmless increase in temperature].
Our planet is currently suffering from a disease analogous to what ails humans in the form of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome AIDS. The planet is failing in more than one way - the melting of ice bergs, hotter summers, stronger cyclonic storms, and more unpredictable weather, lower biodiversity, lower crop yields, spread of invasive species, and the like. The symptoms are numerous - much like the multi-faceted failure of the AIDS patient, our planet is probably unable to deal with a gang of remarkably varied criminals, each attacking a separate organ.
I cannot even begin to understand the complexity of this sinister issue - the climate scientist is just as much in a quandary as those doctors who faced the complex situations of diagnosing their first AIDS patients. The Earth-doctors feel similarly helpless and flummoxed, having never encountered something so powerfully devastating. What hope can they give? What hope can I or you give each other in times that we are numb to pain, but not immune to it? The quest for truth, for justice and fairness has already been lost in the din of the crowded marketplaces of a million glittering pieces of glass. We can live in denial - like the first victims of HIV that do not perceive the symptoms for quite a while before the deathly virus gains foothold. Isn't it so easy to deny such a misery than accept it and do what it takes to counter it? Does our civilization have the moral courage for such actions?
Does our civilization have any hope? What hope can we give to each other if our planet has been similarly diagnosed with an incurable, stigmatic illness - one whose effects are not even manifest completely yet. What plan of action does our world now choose - to keep exercising the economic 'biceps', bailing it out occasionally with protein shakes and steroids, while ignoring the crucial ethical leukocytes, and educational nerves? An AIDS patient might have avoided the illness by wrapping tight in a moral fabric too strongly knit to keep breathing in colorful freedom. What kind of devices would have kept the earth from contracting such a promiscuous illness that leads to its failure to sustain itself?
The reluctant messenger of truth has a short lifespan and needs more than bulletproof jackets. It would probably be worthy to criticize my ideas as pessimistic and nihilistic, only if it were true that we have been faithful to our planet. As messengers of the betrayal, climate scientists and writers are often caustically rebuked for throwing cinders onto a peaceful relationship. The enigmatic analogue I present herein may be meaningless and astringent, but I am hoping that a sharper intellect will dissect this piece of linguistic flesh in a future post-mortem to reveal deeper truths, or shallow lies, of the situation that presents itself to us today - an ailing planet, a sick economy, and the critical failure of intellectual courage to go beyond the symptoms and signs, and attack the germs of greed, anger, malice, envy, and lust. Are we training smart farmers who can cultivate a future world, uprooting evil weeds and destroying its sinful seeds? If we cannot be such farmers, will we afford the siesta that could be?
All Posts (2008)
The report provides a view of how many investments (in the private equity space) have been made in the clean tech sector, where the sector is moving etc. We will also have leading Private Equity firms' view on the sector and what they expect from the sector. It will also include entrepreneurs view (on why they chose Private Equity and what they received form it etc), and other Private Equity players' view (Fund managers, legal associates) on the sector.
Venture Intelligence is a research service focused on Private Equity and M&A.
Anybody interested in getting a copy can download it from
http://www.ventureintelligence.in/pepulse_cleantech.htm
Thank You.
P.S You can also take a look at our previous Sector Reports at
http://www.ventureintelligence.in/sector.htm
which are also down loadable, for free.
Sri Sai Manasa Nature Tech (P) Ltd a leading Environmental Consulting and Infrastructure Development Company requires the following positions at their Head Office in Hyderabad.
1. EIA Coordinators
Qualification: B.E (Civil) & M.Tech (Environmental Engineering)/ M.Sc (Environmental Sciences)
Experience: 8 years (min) in preparation of EIA reports
2. Sr. Environmental Engineers:
Qualification: B.Tech (Civil/Mechanical/Environmental)
Experience: 6 years (min) in the field of planning, design & execution of ETP/ STP
3. Business Development:
Qualification: MBA (Marketing)/ M.Tech (Environmental Engineering)/ M.Sc (Environmental Sciences)
Experience: Business development experience in Environmental Sector (WTP, STP, ETP & EC & Air pollution control systems
4. Air Pollution Control Systems:
Qualification: B.E (Mechanical)
Experience: 5 years (min) in designing of Industrial Air Pollution Control systems like Bag filters, Scrubbers, Cyclones
Interested candidates may forward their CV's to the following mail id ssmntpl@gmail.com / vsl.ssmntpl@gmail.com
Humanity issinning against reason by over-consuming the very things that allow life to exist on our planet. The culprits standing in public light now plead guilty, and wish to atone by means of a new commodity - carbon credits. In a world where global weirding (I choose not to use 'warming') is inevitably posed to cause the human world to shift and shuffle uncomfortably, the scions of Shylock can barely resist the opportunity to roll some dough in this dire disaster. For the layman sitting in these courts of questionable justice, it seems that the balance sheets have been settled, and that justice has been done.
Fortunately, the blindfolds that cover the eyes of Justice willnot quell the curiosity of more sobered inquirers. Carbon credits have not been successful as measures to bring about economic stability, environmental purity or social justice; the point has been proven in cases less obscure than the 'Coldplay forest' in southern Karnataka. From the casual Airline passenger to the professional steel-tycoon, every carbon conscious person seeks means to 'help' the environment by buying carbon credits to offset their emissions.
However, credits boil down tosomething akin to post-dated checks - by the time the check did come in, the planet will be in a deadly hangover... What began as a promising
trend, vividly pioneered by celebrities, actually ended up being - for lack of more euphemistic terms - a plain faced scam. While the sensation generated by carbon credits in the media may have helped raise awareness in the general public (who are easily tuned out after just a couple of minutes of geeky climate science) carbon offsets have become irrelevant to the issue of climate change. It is time to begin reconsidering carbon footprints as emotional footprints, and not just as mathematical calculations. The rationally adept argue pitiably, "how can we reduce carbon footprint or increase environmental security if we can not measure it?"
What units can we measure the love and devotion of aparent towards their children? If we can not measure it, can we deny its existence? Can such love be the basis for our actions in a time of most unprecedented challenges? We are, (un?)fortunately, living in very interesting times.. times which bring out the real character in (wo)men. If we can not sacrifice, we can not love. It is time to be pure, and to move past atonement - which is a lousy, lamenting love. Of the gifts that we pass on to the next generations, our sons and our daughters, the greatest may be one of love and selfless sacrifice. Like a father puts off that expensive car to save up for his child's education...What gifts do you want to give to your children? What can you give up to make their life happy?
Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has developed a dedicated interactive website which fascilitates acquiring and uploading all the available relevant material on western ghats and to participate in the discussions. One can send the material in any form such as text files, pdf, databases, images, video-clips, links etc.
Sharing of the individuals knowledge base on this area through this could be one of the several ways of conserving this ecological hot-spot.
Follow the link below:
http://www.westernghatsindia.org/home
The answer we may be searching for is most of staring at your face for most of the day and yet we fail to recognize it!
Yes thats what i am talking about!
Still didn't figure it! The Sun, solved our problem (in American Context) with just an area 1/10 of Chennai!
Click http://blog.cleantechies.com/2010/07/06/oil-energy-independence-31-mile-square/ to read more
water is one of the most precious natural resource of our mother earth. During this monsoon we have to harvest the rain water so as not to deplete our ground water table. Many people are unaware of this. can we all together bring a awareness camp in the villages atlease spending one to two days in a month apart from our routine work atmosphere.
If any one can join this mission, i will be very thankfull. if not also i request them to educate their neighbours atleast
Raghava
DHAIRYAVEER, 41, PRESIDENCY SOCIETY,
8TH ROAD, J V P D SCHEME, JUHU,
MUMBAI 400049. (INDIA),
PH NO: 26253169/26206270,
FAX: 23415257/66351617
MOBILE: 9320033661
How ever presently metals, ornaments, oily substances, synthetic colours, chemical are used to make polish and decorate idols for worship and when these idols are immersed our aquatic and surrounding environment get severally affected. Pollution of water bodies due to immersion of idols has been a matterof concern and there have been publicinterest litigations as well.Keeping this in view and and in pursuance to the directions of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court, CPCB has come out with Guidelines for immersion of idols and other puja materials reaching in the water bodies during festival.
The document includes guidelines for the local bodies, idol immersion in lakes, rivers, sea and role of state pollution control boards.
How ever the problem of implementation of rules is still the biggest issue. Success of guidelines and rules depends on how effectively they are imposed and more over it all depends on peoples willingness and attitude towards conserving nature.
Follow the link below for the guidelines:
http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_159_Guideline_for_Idol_Imersion.pdf
Dear All,
King Cobras Ophiophagus hannah are large, endangered serpents with an uncertain future mainly due to human-induced pressures on their populations and habitats. There have been reliable un-published reports of king cobra sightings in the North Coastal A.P - Orissa border.
Although this anecdote is basically about spotting a dead king cobra specimen in Srikakulam agency area of A.P, it is the first authenticated record of the species with photographic documentation from this geographical location.
You may access it by directly clicking on the link below
http://www.zoosprint.org/ZoosPrintNewsLetter/Reptile_Rap_10_28June2010.pdf
I hope this might be of some interest to you all.
Thanks & Regards.
Sincerely,
Murthy K.L.N,
Programme Officer,
Centre for Environment Education,
Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad - 380054.
Government CCAP sketchy to say the least’
BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Government’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) has come in for serious flak for its “naive approach” to aproblem as multi-dimensionl as global warming and its impacts onagriculture and food security. Hosted on its official website for public response, the plancharts out actionable points for 11 sectors with budget outlines.Objections and reactions will be accepted till June 25. Thereport can be view at http://orissa.gov.in/portal/occap.pdf.
However, most find the document ill-conceived since it does not provide for institutional delivery mechanism for many sectors.
“The priorities section does not talk about targets leading to achieving the objectives.
There is no mention about the mechanisms to execute the plan. Furthermore, the document deals more with researchand studies and adequate emphasis is not given on action points,” saidOrissa Civil Society in its response to the Government.
One of the key challenges that climate change offers is food security and it has not been dealt adequately by the action plan giventhe state of Orissa’s economy, its vulnerability quotient and theextreme poverty levels.
The State being extremely vulnerable to natural calamities such as floods and drought which occur regularly, food security assumesserious importance because Orissa banks heavily on agriculture.
Issue of food security, challenges faced by small and marginal farmers in agriculture has not been given adequate emphasis in theaction plan.
Similarly, system of rice intensification which is emerging as a sustainable paddy cultivation practice and contributing positively toarrest climate change by emitting less methane should be promoted amongthe farmers. Such practices like Sustainable Sugarcane Initiativeshould be promoted but are missing in the CCAP. There is no system to enhance farmer’s participation inplanning and implementing.
Besides, drought being a major impact of climate change, any mitigation plan not finding place in the documentis surprising. No focus on indigenous seed variety and traditionalweather-resistant crops are given any focus. The action plan is silent on how low carbon economy can be brought about which ideally should be the thrust.Stating that the document is completely silent on the follow-upactions to be undertaken based on the research findings which thegovernment intends to undertake in the coming days, the critics said,the budget of Rs 143 crore outlined for reviewing the presentagricultural policy is big waste.
According to Bijay Mishra of Vasundhara, creation of more forest in revenue areas to compensate the loss on green cover to miningand industries will cost the State dear. The loss is that of potentialagricultural land which could have been used for growing morefoodgrains to address food insecurity. He also felt that the Governmentshould have ideally given more time for gathering response instead ofhurrying through it. The CCAP was posted on the website June 6.
Himanshu
Vasundhara
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Villgro Innovation Foundation, 3rd Floor,IIT Madras Research Park Building Kangam Road Taramani(Behind Tidel Park, |
the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and
enhancement of forest carbon stocks).
In the back drop of the Green India Mission and other initiatives already taken, India becomes an ideal candidate for seeking incentives from the REDD fund. Some of the fact about India's initiative related to forestry are:
1. ~70 million hectare of India’s area is under Forest Cover:
2. ~3mn hectares of forest cover added over last decade
3. 138 million tons of CO2e is sequestered every year by India’s forest and tree cover.
4. 200 million people dependent on forests for livelihood
5. National REDD plus coordinating agency will be established in India.
6. Technical group to develop methodologies and procedures for assessment and monitoring of REDD plus actions already set up.
7. Study on the impact of climate change on our forests by The Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment will be released in November 2010.
http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/OsloREDDConference.pdf
http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/OSLO_Conference.pdf
The Green India Mission considers the “greening” as a tool for climate adaptation and mitigation, aiming to enhance ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and storage (in forests and other ecosystems), hydrological services and biodiversity; along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, small timber and NTFPs.
The Ministry has invited feedback and comments on the Mission document.The Mission will be finalised after a series of public consultations tobe undertaken across the country starting June 11.
http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/green-india-mission.pdf
Friday, May 21, 2010
Draft
‘Regulatory Framework for Conservation of Wetlands’
Recognizing the value of wetlands and taking cognizance of the fact
that there does not yet exist a formal system for conservation and management
and wise-use of wetlands, the National Environment Policy (NEP), 2006 seeks to
set up a legally enforceable regulatory mechanism for identified valuable
wetlands to prevent their degradation, enhance their conservation and wise-use
by all the stakeholders. In pursuance of the policy resolution, a multidisciplinary
expert group was set up in the Ministry of Environment and
Forests which held a series of meetings to formulate a structure for regulatory
framework for wetlands.
2. After elaborate discussions on this issue, the Ministry came up with a
draft regulatory framework for conservation of wetlands. The draft framework
enlists some of the activities which are prohibited and others which need to be
regulated. Categorization of wetlands has also been proposed on the basis of
significance of the functions performed and for determining the extent and level
of regulation. In the draft regulation, there is provision for creation of Wetlands
Regulatory Authorities at the central, state and district level for granting
clearance for permissible activity and for exercising regulatory functions. It is
also proposed to have wetland appraisal committee for appraising the proposals
for identification of new wetlands.
3 The draft of the Regulatory Framework for wetlands was put up on
the website of the Ministry for 90 days on 10-07-2008 to seek comments
of all the stakeholders concerned. The comments received were
incorporated appropriately and the final draft can be downloaded from
the website. It has been decided to put the draft again on the website of
the Ministry for a period of one month for inviting comments from all the
interested stakeholders. The comments if any may be communicated on
the addresses given below by 21st of June 2010.
Dr. Siddharth Kaul, Scientist ‘F’ s.kaul@nic.in /DD(SR)
Dr. Shruti Rai, Scientist ‘C’ shruti.rai@nic.in;
Mr. A K Goyal, Joint Secretary akg@nic.in
*********
Dear Friends,
A small suggestion from my end.If we can make an earth hour a success in an year then what will happen if we all together voluntarily swithoff 10-15 minutes of power every day during peak hour.and have a candle light dinner with our family members together. as i have observed in my family itself that we eat at different time watching televison.
This may build relation between our family members and also conserve energy.
i am implementing this idea right now . i request all of you to join my small hand so that we can atleast start a begining
Raghava
In India river water pollution and siltation, accidental entanglement in fishing nets, and poaching for their oil are the major threats to these River Dolphin. In addition, alterations to the rivers in the form of barrages and dams are separating populations.
River Dolphins occupy the highest trophic level or the apex of the food chain in the river system, thus their well being and increase in population would indicate the success of river cleaning programmes initiated by Government of India. The increase in number of Dolphins in the river system is a signal of its good health and biodiversity.
This step will certainly increase the awareness about the species among people and support the Government’s efforts to protect this vulnerable species.
Each one of us should take the responsibility of spreading the awareness as this would not only help in saving yet another highly endangered species but also protect two major rivers of India - Ganges and Brahmaputra, lifeline of millions of Indians and the natural habitat of river Dolphins in India.
Enumeration of tigers through camera trapping method is underway in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
Around 100 sophisticated cameras have been installed at previously selected areas within Dudhwa to count the big cats in the reserve, Deputy field director, DTR, Sanjay Kumar Pathak told PTI.
The enumeration process started on Monday.
Through these cameras, the movements of big cats would be captured in digital form to be analysed later to find out the exact number of big cats, he said.
A team of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) headed by A.K. Singh is camping in Dudhwa to monitor the camera trapping.
“As compared to the pugmark method, in which the number of tigers is estimated through analysis of pugmarks, the camera trapping method is assumed to be more accurate as stripes on the bodies of tigers are always different from each other, wildlife experts said.
While in the pugmark method, duplication errors cannot be ruled out, the camera trapping is assumed to be free from this, they said.
According to the last census in DTR, there were 106 tigers including 77 in Dudhwa and 29 in Kishunpur, officials said.
Given the frequent sightings of young tigers in and around DTR, a healthy growth in their population is expected, they added.
Keywords: enumeration, tigers, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve