Full Coverage: Environment

31.01.2008 Want to solve real-life water problems of today? Delhi based Centre for Science and EnvironmentÂ’s short course on the theory, practice and policies of urban rainwater harvesting for working professionals offers expert advice and hands-on lessons in planning and designing systems. Register now for the March 17-21 course.

29.01.2008 Street names and buildings in India once linked people to their local culture, geography and livelihoods. To deal with this loss of identity and regain the richness of its architectural landscape, India needs to research and document traditional houses in villages and old towns, writes architectural consultant Kiran Keswani.

29.01.2008 River dolphins of Bangladesh are facing a serious risk of extinction due to over-fishing, shortage of prey, pollution, etc. Efforts are now being made to protect them by monitoring salinity levels of rivers and preventing accidental killings of dolphins by fishermen.

25.01.2008 Lack of good sanitation and toilets are causing extensive environmental damage and making 5,000 infants die every day. ItÂ’s time to break the worldÂ’s silence on this global crisis and smell the stink round the corner, says Barbara Frost, Chief Executive, WaterAid.

21.01.2008 Hundreds of thousands of shrimp farmers face uncertainty as some 6,000 shrimp farms and hatcheries in Bangladesh's cyclone-hit southern districts were washed away. The countryÂ’s shrimp exports, a major foreign exchange earner, have suffered an estimated loss of US$ 36 million.

18.01.2008 Palm oil companies are clearing forests with fires for plantations, says the latest Greenpeace report: Cool farming: Climate impacts of agriculture and mitigation potential. The report says that industrial agriculture is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases and suggests alternative methods and techniques to prevent the damage.

17.01.2008 First of its kind in Bangladesh, DreamsPower is a 250 KW biomass gasification facility. Using the rice husk, this will generate renewable electricity and is part of a rural electrification project that will benefit hundreds of thousands of people living in villages.

16.01.2008 Several organisations from South Asia are opposing the Asian Development BankÂ’s revision of safeguard policies on environment and resettlement of indigenous people. The Peoples Forum Against the ADB has called for a boycott of the ongoing consultation and held a demonstration outside the venue in New Delhi.

14.01.2008 Climate change will aggravate almost all existing inequalities of resource use, including access to food and water scarcity, and inordinately affect the poor. It will intensify almost all existing contradictions of IndiaÂ’s complex and violent social structure, says New Delhi-based activist, Nagraj Adve in a comprehensive and insightful essay.

11.01.2008 Taking a critical look at the 2004 Tsunami and its lessons, Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book by TVE Asia Pacific explores how the public and citizen media and disaster managers can work in cohesion to help communities be better prepared for natural calamities.

02.01.2008 In its recent judgment, the Supreme Court of India might have given a temporary respite to the people living in OrissaÂ’s Niyamgiri Hills, when it prevented Vedanta from mining. The apex court, however, fails to take into account the larger issue of biodiversity and the lives of the tribals. Kanchi Kohli, of the Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group analyses the verdict.

02.01.2008 The Centre for Science and Environment has released its sixth State of India’s Environment report, titled: Rich Lands, Poor People – Is Sustainable Mining Possible? The report argues that mining in India rarely benefits the regions from where these minerals are extracted; on the contrary it has lead to further impoverishment of people.