Monthly Archives: May 2014
Sustainable water supply: Two divergent ancient paradigms
Almost two millennia ago the great city of Rome started feeling the pressure of rising demand of water due to ever increasing population. There wasn’t enough water to go around. The city’s burgeoning population had made Rome the first metropolis … Continue reading
Declaring protected zones is not enough to save biodiversity
In 1992, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro hosted the UN Conference on Environment and Development that the world now remembers as the “Earth Summit”. It was a successful event at a time when international relations were still reeling … Continue reading
India’s Solar Ambitions: Is laissez-fare policy the only way to achieve it?
While Indian media was rejoicing at the “new dawn” in Indian democracy, the Anti Dumping Authority in the country was priming itself to impose an anti dumping duty on the solar cells imported from the US, China, Taiwan and Malaysia. … Continue reading
CSR and revival of ancient ponds
Twenty one years ago a man named Anupam Mishra wrote a book in Hindi language, titled – Aaj bhi kahre hain talab (loosely translated it means “Ponds are still dependable”). Written for the Gandhi Shanti Pratishthan (Gandhi Peace Foundation) the … Continue reading
Renewable energy: Demand side management can deal with problem of intermittence
An idea follows a predictable journey. When it arrives on the scene it is ridiculed. Later it is criticised and resisted and then the tide turns and it is accepted. A common refrain among those who resist renewable energy is … Continue reading
A village offers template for international water sharing
In the North Eastern state of Nagaland, India there is a village, Kikruma, which practices a form of water sharing that can act as a global template for cross border river water sharing. The village located in Phek district and … Continue reading
Unlocking creativity of workers key to achieve sustainability
Last year an article in Mckinsey Quarterly empirically revealed what every one of us has known instinctively since we started our career – middle management kills creativity. As default self preservation programme, it kicks in the moment a person reaches … Continue reading
Sustainable energy security: India’s quixotic ambition and simple ways to manage it
Last year (2013), India’s petroleum minister M Veerappan Moily presented a grand vision for the country’s energy security. The peg of the entire plan was to achieve energy independence by 2030. Now every country and its leaders have a right … Continue reading
Sustainable air quality: How Delhi lost the plot – part 2
India’s capital Delhi has expanded at a phenomenal rate during the last two decades. Presence of economic opportunities in and around the city and lack of it in the hinterland, forced hundreds of thousands of people from all over the … Continue reading
Sustainable urban air quality: How Delhi squandered its chances – part 1
These days India’s capital, New Delhi, is witnessing an intellectual debate thanks to two consecutive damning reports by an international agency and an US University. In January, Yale University, claimed that Delhi’s air quality is worse than that of Beijing. … Continue reading
Keshav Chaturvedi 