The world needs to act quickly to counter the erosion of species. The task is particularly important for India, one of the 12 mega-biodiversity centres.  May 22 marked the International Day for Biological Diversity. It commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that day in 1992. As of December 2009, exactly 192 countries and the European Commission were signatories to it. This year has been declared the...

The PPP model proposed in the Eleventh Plan provides for no government or social control over education. It will lead to the privatisation and commercialisation of education using public funds.  Public-private partnership (PPP) has become a fashionable slogan in new development strategies, particularly over the last couple of decades. It is projected as an innovative idea to tap private resources and to encourage the active participation of the private sector...

More than a million people settled along the Kosi river in the Indian state of Bihar live an uncertain and nomadic life in "floating villages" because of frequent flooding. Whenever Babuji Sah walks towards his village, Birbar, he says he feels like an ageing camel struggling to find his new address in the sand-filled desert. That is because Birbar is forced to move location every three to four years. The pathways...

By ignoring the unorganised sector that currently handles 90 per cent of India's electronic waste, the Union Government's new draft regulations may not be effective in controlling illegal trade in e-waste. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment here notes that the draft rules insist e-waste can be handled only by companies registered with the Central Pollution Control Board. Currently, only 13 companies are registered to segregate e-waste and...

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RDPR) Jagadish Shettar said that the government will introduce a satellite-based monitoring system to check the implementation of schemes and development works in rural areas with the help of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).    Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Shettar said “all works being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) will be monitored thoroughly through...