Groundwater, which irrigates half of Indian agriculture and provides 85% of rural drinking consumption, is an increasingly scarce resource. There is a growing understanding that it must be approached as a common property resource for collective benefit. It is best understood and managed by those who live near them and use them rather than agencies who visit sporadically - that is the central premise of efforts around participatory groundwater management....

-The Hindu     Unorthodox models of conservation are needed to save this elusive and magnificent big bird "Have you seen the Big Five?" That's the question you will invariably be asked if you visit the East African states. The Big Five, Africa's largest, and thus most prominent, mammals - the lion, the rhino, the leopard, the buffalo and the elephant - have dominated camp fire stories, tourist expectations and the growth of conservation. Across...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Marginal farmers in Maharashtra are battling another cruel drought. In Vidarbha, droughts have become an annual feature. Absence of irrigation and efficient watershed management make small farmers even more vulnerable. Although schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana or the Indira Awaas Yojana are not viewed as adaptation policies, many agree they play an important role in making...

-PTI NEW DELHI: India's economic development has led to the worsening of air quality in major Indian cities, according to the results of a survey by The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The transport sector was ranked the highest followed by factories in and around the city as the second highest contributor towards air pollution in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. While respondents from Bangalore...

-The Hindu   Ranbaxy's fraudulent practices may have jeopardised millions of lives in India, Africa and the U.S. Exactly two weeks ago, the pharmaceuticals industry was rocked by revelations that one of the world's largest generic drug manufacturers, Ranbaxy Laboratories, pleaded guilty to seven federal criminal charges stemming from its fraudulent production practices dating back to 2008, and agreed to pay U.S. regulators $500 million in fines. Much has since been said about Ranbaxy's...