While taking about Indo-Nepal relation, concerns of land disputes have always come first. Though Nepal India relation has a long history, the boundary has a very recent origin.  The treaty of peace signed between Nepal and the East India Company in 1816 resulting into delimitation and delineation of Nepal-India border; the topographical survey of the whole of Nepal carried out by the Survey of India in 1926-27 and 1955-58; formation of Joint Boundary Commission in 1981; and Nepal’s Constituent Assembly’s (CA) Committee on International Relations and Human Rights’ visit to the border areas from Susta to Tanakpur in 2009/10 has still not been able to solve disputes along the border unlike settled Nepal China boundary since the signing of the boundary protocol between Nepal and China in 1961.

The hydro politics is another battle between India and Nepal. The Kosi/Gandak agreements, initially signed in 1954/1959, later amended in1966-1964, Tanakpur Barrage controversy and Mahakali Treaty of 1996 have also created stress in Indo-Nepal relation.

Further, India’s frequent interventions in Nepali politics have created a general school of thought in Nepali society that no single government in Nepal is stable without India’s backing and its support is vital for Nepal to be politically and economically stable.

Let me take you to a quote by Embassy of India in Kathmandu in its homepage, “India-Nepal relationship is shaped by the centuries old social-cultural, historical and geographic linkages. Extensive people-to-people contacts permeate all aspects of the lives of the people of India and Nepal and transcend borders and governments. Welfare of the people of the two countries is interlinked and developments in one country invariably have an impact on the other. Few other sovereign states in the world can take pride in a relationship as wide-ranging and multi-faceted as that shared between India and Nepal. ”

I really doubt the last sentence of the quote. Has anybody cared about gradual degeneration of Indo-Nepal relation despite all this commonality? Isn’t it a matter of concern for both countries in light of growing anti-Indian Read the rest of this entry »

The fifteenth Conference of Parties was supposed to be a very crucial meet to commit a low carbon future. The 17000 delegates and 30000 activists gathered with a very big hope, a hope to reach a meaningful conclusion to restrict the carbon emission of the major emitters and to assure a sustainable future to the rest of the world. The Bella Centre had various groups from NGOs to youths demonstrating for a fair decision by the policy makers.

Despite big expectations, nothing substantial could be achieved in the conference. After eight draft texts and all-day talks between 115 world leaders, it was left to leaders of few power countries to broker a political agreement. The highly controversial Copenhagen accord has removed the commitments to emission reductions as previously established by Kyoto Protocol and also, all references to 1.5 degree Celsius in past drafts were removed.

The main reason of the failure at Copenhagen was the desire of majority of nations to maintain economic development sacrificing the climatic security. The developing countries like India and China made a stand that they couldn’t handicap their rising economy by making a commitment to reduce the carbon emission and the developed countries were not ready to commit to more emission reduction as compared to the developing ones. The issue of historical debt created a lot of chaos Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract:

From Arthashastra by Kautilya to Bombay Nuisance Act in British regime to recent National Environment Policy,India is way ahead in terms of formulation of policies. Even strong constitutional and legislative frameworks exist. Mandatory Environment Impact Assessment and submission of annual Environmental Statement is also a strong indicator of environmental regulation. Despite having this strong framework, bureaucratic corruption has made it very easy to get government clearances for projects that deteriorate environment. A number of social, economic and institutional factors have made the realisation of existing policies difficult. Although the policy to combine the elements of economic efficiency, intergenerational equity, social concerns and environmental protection has been regularly updated, more emphasis has been given to the promotion of policies and programmes for economic growth through intensive resource and energy use, as is evident in natural resource depletion. Decentralisation of environmental policy is crucial.  Project-specific legislations, at sub-national levels, is needed to enhance participation equity as well as development. While International treaties are moving progressively to enable public participation, our domestic laws are being diluted to limit and restrict public participation. Evolving new models for environmental legislation based on the notion of law as a programme of social action, entailing people’s participation and cooperation, is necessary.  India is signatory to various international conventions having a direct bearing on environmental protection and conservation, so it is necessary to incorporate new and innovative policy measures in agreement with international standards without compromising the needs at local level.

Keywords: Environmental Policy; Glocal-level Implementation; India

-Presented at National Research Conference on Climate Change, IIT-Delhi, March 5-6,2010

For full length presentation,Environmental Policy of India by Prajwal Baral and Pratap Vardhan

A week long anti-polythene campaign yielded enough plastic to tar a stretch of 138 kilometers in the north Indian state

The Public Works Department of Himachal Pradesh has started constructing roads with plastic and polythene waste/ Photo credit: Tripcrazed

of Himachal Pradesh. Pilots indicate that these roads are cost effective and durable. During the weeklong ‘Polythene Hatao, Paryavaran Bachao (remove polythene, save environment)’ campaign carried out across the state in December, about 1,381 quintals of waste was collected, a government spokesperson said.

“The entire plastic waste (1,381 quintals) would be used for laying plastic-bitumen mix roads in the state. This waste would be sufficient to tar a stretch of 138 km,” the spokesperson said.

The waste plastic such as carry bags, disposable cups and laminated plastics like pouches of chips, pan masala, aluminium foil and packaging material used for biscuits, chocolates, and milk and grocery items was used in surfacing roads.

It is said that the plastic blend not only helps lowering the cost of tarring but also enhances the durability of roads because Read the rest of this entry »

Goris Mustaqim, 26 years old Indonesian Climate Champion, is one among the only few youths in the world who has taken an exceptional step to address the climate change issue from his own level. Graduated in 2006 from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the most prestigious university in Indonesia, majoring in Civil Engineering, Goris founded Asgar Muda Foundation, Garut Youth Organization, whose vision is to develop character and contribution of youth for prosperity of citizens.

I am very happy that I got a chance to take an e-interview of this outstanding fellow.

Excerpts from an interview with Goris: Read the rest of this entry »

Mr. Saryug Prasad Yadav, having an MSc degree in Rural Extension and Development from Lebanon, is the first man who introduced the concept of organic farming in Nepal through a seminar in 1992. Having served the government of Nepal for 23 years and involved in the non profit sectors for the next 14-15 years, Mr. Yadav is now working in his own house in Balaju with an excellent technology suitable for agriculture, livestock, environment and waste management. Yes, the technology that is quite unfamiliar among the so called environment activists like you, the technology that is out of coverage despite the presence of so called journalists like you and the technology that is still behind the curtain of the stage although there is a huge potential audience like YOU.

The technology is no other than EM- Effective Microorganisms.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Yadav: Read the rest of this entry »

Stockholm Conference 1972

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (also known as the Stockholm Conference) was an international conference convened under United Nations auspices held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 5-16, 1972. It was the UN’s first major conference on international environmental issues, and marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics.One of the key issues addressed was the use of CFCs (haloalkanes), which seemed to be responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer. Global warming was mentioned, but in this matter nothing of substance was achieved at this Conference.The Stockholm Conference laid framework for future environmental cooperation; led to the creation of global and regional environmental monitoring networks and the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme.

First World Climate Conference 1979

The First World Climate Conference identified climate change as an urgent world problem and issued a declaration calling on governments to anticipate and guard against potential climate hazards. A World Climate Programme was set up, steered by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).

Toronto Conference and Establishment of IPCC 1988

The Toronto Conference on the Changing Atmosphere advanced public debate, when more than 340 participants from 46 countries all recommended developing a comprehensive global framework convention to protect the atmosphere. The World Meterological Organisation (WMO) and UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to assess the magnitude and timing of changes of climate, estimate their impacts and present strategies for how to respond. Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract:

Although climate change affects all people, the poor are the most vulnerable because of their dependence of their livelihoods on climate sensitive natural resources and their weak social protection structures. As about one fourth people in India are still below poverty line, climate change will deepen poverty and make poverty eradication a challenging issue here.

COP14 has already realized the long term co-operative action on mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance. But it is high time Government of India immediately put forward some concrete community based solutions through various government and non-government sectors as a part of climate resilient activity. The most profound impacts of climate change in India will be in agriculture and food security, water resources, water induced disasters, biodiversity changes and human health. Increasing the resilience of communities to cope with climate change demands some effective strategies in state or national level and practical implementation and integration of those strategies in India’s long term development plans. Practising policy through the implementation of different projects, encouraging vulnerable communities to take part in decision making processes on climate related adaptation strategies, revising climate change policy to enable local-level action, continuous monitoring and analysis of predicted climate change by agriculture, energy, health and water departments of government and empowerment of community to prepare themselves for climate-induced hazards should be focused at the moment.

All the work on developing climate resilient strategies will be of little value unless developed countries heavily cut green house gas emissions within the next few years. Thus, good homework needs to be done by government of India for COP15 too.

[This paper was presented in the 4^th Student Round-table Conference at National Law Institute University, Bhopal (November 21, 2009)]

For the full length paper, #Click Here#

“White pollution”,a term used by Chinese to describe the huge consumption and wastage of plastic,is finally getting reduced in China. After a nationwide ban on the use of ultra thin plastic bags(those thinner than 0.025 mm) for more than a year,National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC)-the country’s top economic planning body,has said that the ban has saved between 2.4 million and 3 million tonnes of crude oil,and would also cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 9.6 million tonnes annually.This in one hand,has reduced the pollution and on the other hand,addressed the energy crisis very effectively.Although the ban has been limited to supermarkets,it has become increasingly common to see shoppers in Beijing and Shanghai bring their cloth bags to stores.

In addition to this,the government of China has also announced subsidies for the purchase of energy-efficient home appliances,and launched large scale energy conversion campaigns in Beijing and Shanghai to replace incandescent bulbs with energy friendly alternatives.

My salute to Chinese move!!

[Source:The Hindu]