Thanks to my friend and FTI colleague Sanjeev Sabhlok for this excerpt. It comes from a speech by Matt Radley that Sanjeev has posted in full (emphasis added).
…. Now before you all rush for the exits, and I know it is traditional to walk out on speakers who do not toe the line on climate at the RSA – I saw it happen to Bjorn Lomborg last year when he gave the Prince Philip lecture – let me be quite clear. I am not a “denier”.
I fully accept that carbon dioxide …

Dear All: Below excerpts from a remarkable “ Open Letter To Arundhati Roy“ (from more than 12 years ago) by Gail Omvedt.  What is remarkable about this piece is that Gail is far from an armchair critic. She is married to an activist, lives the life of a farming family and has been at the forefront of issues around development for more than a decade..She brings to this piece her remarkable insights combined with pragmatic and practical approach to resolving the issues of development, rural poverty and displacement related to development projects.
Her “Open …

In a recent, thought-provoking article in The Indian Express, Saubhik Chakrabarti wrote (emphasis added):
…what any intelligent politician should offer in today’s India, is that scarce commodity in poverty-politics: the ability to play the pragmatic negotiator for the poor. When, for example, land has to be acquired for roads/factories /mines or when a dam has to be built, there’s always a three-variable complex equation: public good (road, industry, etc. are good for the public), private profit (the entrepreneurs’ calculations) and private adjustment (those who will …

Today’s post comes to you courtesy Milind Thatte. Milind is currently researching for his forthcoming book titled, “Our forests, Our people“. This is an excerpt from his work (emphasis added):
*** Excerpt from “The Land of Shabari” by Milind Thatte ***
Dang[1] is the southern district of Gujarat sharing its borders with two districts of Maharashtra on its east and south. Ambika and Khapri are the small rivers running like romancing snakes through the forests of Dang. The mountains of Dang mark the north-end of Western Ghats.
Dang has ancientness to its …

Last night I dreamt of Kalindi…
Kalindi, daughter of Shri Surya Dev and twin-sister of Yama who descends on this punya bhoomi at Kalind Shikhar, high up in the Garhwal Himalayas.
But this was a sad dream…
It was a dream of parched fields, dry and arid lands with barely a glimpse of Kalindi – the river Yamuna.
This favourite haunt of Bhagwaan Shri Krishna, that nourishes Braj Bhoomi and carries countless sacred stories in its fold, is choking up.

Image Courtesy: Gangajal.org
In some places – like Baghpat in western UP – she has simply …

Dear All: It is my pleasure to publish this extract from an article by Anupam Sarwaikar on the Indus Water Treaty (the full article can be downloaded here). In this extract, Anupam specifically talks about the current controversy, Pakistan’s false propoganda on the issue and deliberate distortion of facts. Please read and share widely.
*** “Current Water Crisis in Pakistan and False Propaganda” by Anupam ***
Pakistan blames construction of Hydro electric dams on Indian side for the depletion of water levels in Indus and Chenab.  The actual reasons for the water …

This is what I am reading this weekend.
How Bengal towns are becoming transit points for fake notes
West Bengal’s intelligence agencies have expressed concern that Pakistan-and Bangladesh-based racketeers are using the state’s Murshidabad and Malda districts as transit points to smuggle in fake notes to India.
Statistics reveal fake notes of nearly Rs 2.5 crore was seized from more than 300 people arrested over the past five years…
The arrested people revealed Murshidabad and Malda as transit points for the fake money racket.
…Chapai Nawabgunj is one of many centres in Bangladesh where …

I was alerted to this wonderful story by my brother-in-law, Prashant.  An excerpt from Burnt tyres and salt leads to rain? (emphasis mine):
…Dr Raja Marathe, IIT Bombay alumni and a former Naxal leader who returned to India from the United States a few years ago, may as well be known as Nanded’s rainman. Armed with burning tyres packed with salt, Marathe has single-handedly floated his own rain seeding project in the villages of Nanded (constituency of CM Ashok Chavan) called Lavan Vajra that has now been sanctioned by the collector …

As I was fast-scanning the news headlines yesterday, a small item caught my eye. Writing in Rediff, Sanjay Jog noted
…(in view of the water shortage) Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has introduced a 15 per cent cut in supply, which is expected to be increased to 30 per cent.”  He also mentioned “There is also talk of no supply once a week, but a decision on that will be (taken) after consultation with political parties.
About three weeks ago, when I first started seriously looking at the topic of “Water”, one of the …

In this part of the “Nightmare at Noon” series, a look at why “Water” is the new “Oil”, the possibility of water scarcity leading to “Water Wars” in the future and China’s worrying plans in Tibet.
It was almost two years ago that I was first alerted to the gravity of this matter. The first trigger was an article by Prof. Brahma Chellaney (Jun 2007)  in which he warned about how:
Water has emerged as a key issue that could determine whether Asia is headed toward mutually beneficial cooperation or deleterious interstate …