Opinion
Drought spectre looms large
17 Jul 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(14)
The current drought serves to highlight once again the growing scarcity of water, which was touched upon in this column a few weeks ago. Depending upon our different preoccupations, we tend to see the problem from different angles: a fall in power generation from hydroelectric stations, shortage of drinking water in cities, poor or no returns from crops, and the predictability or otherwise of the monsoon, to name a few.
Green is my colour
05 Jul 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Pioneer
Dr Rajendra K Pachauri - head of TERI, is the first non-white to have been elected as the Chairman of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) established by the United Nations Environment Programme. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan.
News: from issues to stories
02 Jul 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(13)
The sole purpose of TERI Newswire is to supply news on energy and the environment, focusing on India. We do this by selecting news items from all the main dailies published from 11 cities in India. As we have been doing this for nearly 8 years, it might not be out of place to reflect broadly on what is news beyond the old chestnuts about a man biting a dog being news (but not a dog biting a man) and about the word representing the four directions, namely the north, the east, the west, and the south.
It's time to seed the earth
30 Jun 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Financial Express
With rapid globalisation of the economy of most countries and an enlarging role for the private sector, one emerging concern which is receiving widespread attention pertains to the importance of corporate social responsibility. The activities of business and industry have major impacts on society, and while much can be achieved through effective legislation and regulation to ensure that society's interests are not compromised in the pursuit of profits for the shareholders of private enterprise, there is also a growing need for a realisation on the part of corporate leadership itself that society's interests have to be integrated with business objectives.
You got the float, now take the cost
19 Jun 2002 |
Mr Rahul Deep Singh
| The Economic Times
Diesel & petrol prices to go up! Catchy headlines. Sure to register in the already weary eyes of the common man on the street. The mind struggles to find answers to the inevitable flurry of related questions that pop up with lightening speed - how much will the local sabziwala hike his wares by? Would the bus/auto fares go up? Will another hike follow? Let's ditch that plan to buy the new scooter altogether.
Foreign direct investment in the print media: a barrier or a boon?
17 Jun 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(12)
As a periodical committed to offer its readers a selective but up-to-date coverage of stories relevant to energy, environment, and sustainable development from more than 25 daily newspapers published from 11 Indian cities, TERI Newswire certainly has more than peripheral interest in the government's recent decision to open up the print medium to FDI or foreign direct investment.
'Partnership key to tackle climate change challenge'
05 Jun 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Hindu Business Line
The negotiations on the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol are fought fiercely by various governments due to their impact on the national energy economics. The assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been providing the scientific template for all climate change discussions since 1988. Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, Director-General of the Tata Energy Research Institute, became the first Indian to be elected Chairman of IPCC, during the recent elections at the international scientific and technical body. In an e-mail interview to Business Line, he spelt out his priorities and concerns.
5 June: connecting the web of life
01 Jun 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(11)
5 June 2002 marked the 30th World Environment Day. As is usual every year, many events were held the world over to commemorate the occasion, which was in keeping with the original resolution passed at the 1972 Stockholm conference. The resolution had recommended that 'the General Assembly of the United Nations designate 5 June as World Environment Day and decide that on that day every year the United Nations system and the governments of the world undertake worldwide activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the human environment, with a view to deepening environmental awareness and to pursuing the determination expressed at the Conference.'
Water: cause for war in the future?
17 May 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(10)
Ancient civilizations began and flourished on the banks of mighty rivers but, in the developing world, these rivers are severely polluted. The Yamuna is a case in point: the stretch from Delhi to the Chambal confluence is highly polluted, mainly because waste water from Delhi, Mathura, Agra, and Etawah is discharged into the river untreated and the river does not flow fast enough to dilute the load of pollutants.
Why we need a water regulator
08 May 2002 |
Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
,Dr Kaushik Deb
| The Economic Times
An outcome of the low level equilibrium in India's urban water sector is that most service providers are not financially viable. The current institutional and regulatory framework, in fact, does not encourage efficiency. Little emphasis exists on performance improvement; rather, the current focus is only on physical expansion of water supply systems. There are no incentives to bring about changes in the existing unsustainable management of the water system. Incomes generated by local bodies as well as many state institutions fall acutely short of requirement for capital investment, operation, maintenance and upgradation of water services.