Opinion

Earth's dearth: invest more in natural capital

04 Aug 2002 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Times of India

A while ago, a ceremony was held in Rio de Janeiro for passing the torch to signal the inauguration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which is being held in Johannesburg shortly. A large number of world leaders will gather at Johannesburg, as was the case during the Rio Summit of 1992, though the expectations that preceded the Rio Summit appear to be missing this time. While Rio focused on environment and development, Johannesburg has a more specific and important though partly nebulous theme of sustainable development.

Towards better informed reporting

02 Aug 2002 |
| TERI Newswire 8(15)

The avowed purpose of TERI Newswire has always been, and continues to be, to bring to its readers a selection of relevant stories on energy, environment, and sustainable development as covered by leading Indian dailies. This brief helps us in that it defines our responsibility as essentially that of selecting from among the published stories.

Undermining independent regulation

01 Aug 2002 |
Mr S Sundar
,
Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
| The Economic Times

The government's ambivalence towards independent regulation comes out yet again in the Electricity Bill 2001 now before the Select Committee in the Lok Sabha.

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.