If words were deeds
If a recently-held seminar on the Girl Child in the capital is any indication, her plight is not going to improve in a hurry.
The year of ecobabble
Despite numerous proclamations of eco-friendliness and a deluge of treaties, not much was done in 1993 to make fuelwood and clean water easily …
Hard-selling a fallacy
The North will stagnate, South will grow, and the multinationals, aided by World Bank ideologues, will exploit the poorer countries for their own …
Homework on global summits
Representatives of the South must pull up their socks on garnering vital data on the ongoing policy debates
All for the people
International organisations concentrating on the moral and material uplift of the underpriviledged
Requiem
It was a strong anti -adulteration law aimed at the standardising of food stuffs. Stronger industrial lobbies and vested interests helped it die …
Taken for a ride
Consumer-consciousness has yet to make a dent in the mind of the average Indian buyer. That 'consumer is the king' has remained merely a slogan …
Here we come, eco-chums!
Indigenous support systems that have been nourishing the Himalaya for centuries have become the current buzzword for progress
Coming of the know-all
The socio-ecological implications of the knowledge revolution are many and multifaceted. But the world needs a system where a 'post bi-polar' …
Convenient yardstick
Despite its disproportionately large carbon emissions, the US wants proportionate restrictions on the developing countries
Resurrecting a tradition
The tank system in India needs to be revived to maintain water reserves. This can be achieved through a central body such as the National Tank …
A kill for life
While whales must be conserved as a rare species, hunting the marine mammals is felt necessary for maintaining ecological balance
"Hello, there are leftovers"
The environmental costs of development projected by a World Bank study may be staggering, but a lot has been left unaccounted for
Wanted: a green spin doctor
Although considered a sensitive pressure group, the British Green Party badly needs to recover from languor and gain gloss
False start
Pollution control agencies are as toothless as the automobile and fuel industry is apathetic to deteriorating urban air quality
Losing ground
Across the world, the deserts are advancing, threatening the lives and livelihoods of about one billion people
Everybody wants to be green
Politicians and businessmen appear concerned about the environment these days. Their speeches and interviews are laced with expressions like '…
What price the constitution?
Breakthroughs in genetic engineering have led to questions on the ethics of suchexperiments. Should scientists alone be steering the decision-…
The Net profit
Today the Internet gives people a new voice as well the power to use it. People are communicating directly with government officials and …
Making a start
Ground realities alone will determine the future of Himalayan biodiversity and the people of the area
A disease called pollutionitis
Most of Delhi's urban elite suffer from this disease which makes them "rationally irrational". The disease is accompanied by finger-pointitis and …
A letter from a villager
A villager in Goa wants to cut a tree growing in his backyard to mend his damaged roof. But he needs to get permission from the tree officer. And …
HEADS or TAILS
A close look at the history of climate change negotiations reveals some alarmingly reckless traits in Indian policymaking
Intrepid non-learners
Indian politicians travel on public money—for what they can learn from the click of a mouse
Parched tip
Kanyakumari stands testimony to the fact that unchecked population growth and faulty land use can lead to water scarcity even in places wallowing …