It is now very clear that we are certain to go into a 1.5-degree-plus world within this decade with likelihood to have a 2-degree-plus world by 2100, and that too only if we act now, because beyond that, human civilisation as we know it would have irretrievably changed.
The world now requires action including the immediate capping of global emissions despite the need to enhance energy and material consumption in the global south....
As per the United Nations definition, South-South Cooperation (SCC) is a broad framework of collaboration among countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains. Involving two or more developing countries, it can take place on a bilateral, regional, intraregional or interregional basis. Developing countries share knowledge, skills, expertise and resources to meet their development goals through concerted efforts. When South-South Cooperation is supported by traditional donor countries or bilateral and multilateral organisations, it takes the form of Triangular Cooperation.
March 2020 came with an unprecedented circumstance. The entire country came to a standstill. The Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown and physical distancing measures forced skill training institutes to adopt innovative measures. This forced innovation majorly involved digital interventions. Digital transformation proved to be a glocal movement, where global problems had local solutions and vice versa. Community radios, WhatsApp, online meeting platforms like Zoom, Google Meet and Webex, simple phone calls – whatever had the reach and availability was picked up by skill training providers. For those who had access to the digital means have taken a quantum leap in terms of know-how of technology.
Modern concrete technology drives with ideas and innovation; new trends are always welcomed. It may transform from material replacement, change in composition or engineering design. This comes with a wide range of opportunities to develop new-age concrete that includes fibre reinforcement concrete for flexural and tensile strength, lightweight aggregate structural concrete, self-healing concrete, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) etc.
With growing prosperity in the country, 62 million tonnes of garbage is generated annually by 377 million people living in urban India. We are the world’s third-largest garbage generators. It is a disturbing fact that only 43 million tonnes of waste is collected in a year and 11.9 million is treated while 31 million is dumped in unscientific landfill sites, implying that 75-80% of the municipal solid waste gets collected and barely 22-28 % of this waste is recycled or treated (Press Information Bureau, 2016). Incidents like rampant self-ignition of unregulated dump sites in Delhi in recent years indicate the lethal social and environmental hazards awaiting India’s cities and towns.
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