Opinion
Some important omissions made
03 Mar 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Times of India
Overall, Yashwant Sinha has presented a good and forward-looking budget. The major question is whether the government would be able to implement all the provisions and measures outlined. Would the Central Government be able to downsize its workforce by 2 percent annually?
Credible and transparent decision-making: the way forward
02 Mar 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire VII(5)
The Indian scene, in respect of both politics and economics, was dominated last week by the exposure of payoffs and wrongdoing as brought out by the tapes covertly recorded by tehelka.com. There are several angles to this very unfortunate development, which has already had an impact on the stock market, and political effects, which have not been fully played out. There would naturally be a clamour for bringing the guilty to book and for getting to the bottom of all the alleged wrongdoing by people who have been named directly or indirectly.
Union Budget: accelerating the reforms process
17 Feb 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire VII(4)
This week has been dominated by discussion and debate on the Union Budget presented by the finance minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha. In terms of the response provided by all sections of the society, including business and the media, this is clearly one of the most successful budgets presented in the Parliament in recent years. The immediate reaction in Dalal Street was also very favourable, with the stock market turning bullish immediately after the Budget details were known.
Reduce the natural debt too
17 Feb 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Economic Times
One major focus of any Budget in any country is the reduction of the national debt. I would like to see at least an equal emphasis on reduction of our natural debt.
DISHA: a blueprint for sustainable development in India
11 Feb 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Newspaper Today
On 7 February, 2001 at the inauguration of the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit the Prime Minister of India released the DISHA (Directions, Innovations, and Strategies for Harnessing Action) publication produced by TERI which essentially evaluates alternative strategies for development right up to the year 2047, that is a hundred years after India attained independence. The justification for this comprehensive exercise came from the earlier major project completed by TERI in 1997 which evaluated the physical damage that has taken place to India's natural resources during the first 50 years of independence. Results of that work were startling, revealing the massive destruction that has taken place in our forests and biodiversity, and the extensive pollution that we see today in our air, water, and soil.
Performance measurement of municipalities
04 Feb 2001 |
Mr Saurabh Gupta
| The Economic Times
We are steadily becoming urbanised. Nearly 50 cities in India would have a population of more than a million in 2001, and nearly half the Indian population would be residing in urban areas by the middle of this century. The services being provided by municipal bodies cover the most basic human needs: drinking water, sanitation, waste management, street lighting, housing, roads, and health care. However, rising urban population and rising income levels put tremendous pressures on urban infrastructure and lead to a severe deterioration in the quality of the urban environment. We need municipal bodies under greater public scrutiny.
Poverty alleviation: correcting imbalances of resources
02 Feb 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire VII(3)
During the period 7-9 February 2001, a major event was organized by TERI called the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. The event was inaugurated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who gave a thought-provoking address, which not only highlighted the need for the developed countries to take action globally for protecting the environment and pursuing sustainable development, but also reflected on the need to address the problem of poverty effectively in the developing world.
The Enchanted Forester
30 Jan 2001 |
Dr T P Singh
| The Times of India
It is testimony to T P Singh's devotion to green issues that he refused to join the coveted IAS and opted instead for the Indian Forest Service. There is virtually no post in the world of forestry that this senior fellow at the TERI has not held, yet this self-effacing officer is critical of the role of people like himself in the future of forests. He tells Lalita Panicker that unless people are given a primary stake in forests, all the ambitious plans for forest conservation will remain on paper.
Climate change: coping with a warming world
26 Jan 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Newspaper Today
Last week the Summary for Policy Makers approved by the member governments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is part of the Third Assessment Report of Working Group?I of the IPCC, was released in a meeting held at Shanghai. This report builds on the previous two assessments of the IPCC and represents the effort of hundreds of experts and scientists from all over the world. In all there were 123 coordinating lead authors, 516 contributing authors, 21 review editors, and about 300 expert reviewers who contributed to the preparation of this report. The contents of the report provide the current state of understanding of the world's climate system, estimates of future evolution of global climate, and associated uncertainties.
The Davos meet: a shift towards welfare of the society
17 Jan 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire VII(2)
Once again the rich and the powerful gathered in Davos, Switzerland to ask questions on the digital divide and the economic divide in the world. This year's Davos extravaganza indicated a certain shift from such previous annual events. For one, there was no high level representation from the US government, perhaps because the new administration is still in the process of settling down. The protestors, who have now become a part of the scene in such meetings, were conspicuous by their presence but so was the Swiss Police, who ensured that the protestors and demonstrators did not get close enough to the venue of the meeting to disrupt the proceedings. The cold weather in Davos and freezing water in high-pressure hoses came to the help of the police.