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.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, conversations around the ‘future of work’ have deepened, as the way we ‘work’ experiences a period of disruptive change. Labour markets are particularly affected by the disruptions, with deep repercussions on employment and inequality. Women and young people are the hardest hit. In India women and youth were already facing significant challenges to their employment with one of the lowest labour force participation rates in the world. Just to address the unemployment crisis in the country, estimates show that India would need to ensure the creation of 30 million jobs by 2030 , which is almost three times the population of Sweden. The marginalised will have to develop the entrepreneurial attributes needed to self-source their livelihoods in absence of comprehensive policies and support. After all, the least affected, economically speaking, are those who can ride the wave of technological progress.
TOut of the total CO2 emissions of the country, Bihar alone contributes around 35 million tonnes from energy and around 16 million tonnes from the burnt clay brick sector. The latter is slated to rise considering the increased construction activity and the resulting higher consumption of building materials. In Bihar the brick sector is the third highest emitter of CO2, after agriculture and energy. This is due to the present technology of clay brick firing using coal as fuel. Bihar has about 6,602 burnt clay brick kilns which produce approximately 18 billion fired clay bricks annually.
The narrative of the world is often shaped and constructed by the people who run the world in any century. In this highly patriarchal world, men happen to be the authors of the world history, geography and politics by default; leaving a large power gap between the two genders. Today, we live in a world which is beginning to see the potential that women’s participation and emancipation holds for the world at large and yet we are only scratching the surface.
Flash-forward to India 2030, the year by which humankind aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Picture Vidya, a 25 year old young woman aspiring to be the future of change, still scrounging for resources, turning to entrepreneurship as a means of subsistence in the by lanes of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. In contrast, Rahul, at the same age, in the power corridors of Mumbai, promoting his latest mobile application that will capture data from millions of people such as Vidya and sell it, catapulting Rahul into becoming a darling of global investors.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are at the heart of the Indian economy, with significant contribution to national GDP and employment. The SDG framework brought the fundamental role of MSMEs in local and national development to centre stage. Government too has focussed on the business stability and financial sustainability of MSMEs as a priority in the national development plans including giving the sector a special focus in the post pandemic economic revival strategy in 2020.
Household agricultural income in the semi-arid Bundelkhand region of Central India is taking a serious hit with fluctuating rainfall patterns. Around 80% of the population in Bundelkhand is dependent on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood. Looking at the impact of climate change,
We have failed our children in the promise that the world will be better for them as it was for us in many ways. This planet, our home, is unlikely to be the safe haven for our future generations that we had pledged. As we struggle to emerge from the grips of the global pandemic, we know that is not the first nor the last human-ecological disaster that we will face. Recurring droughts, cyclones and floods of increasing ferocity, sea waters that are eating-up fields and homes on the coastline and mountain rivers that no longer flow, are real and are here to stay.
In recent times, in our fight against the Novel Corona Virus COVID-19, the need for staying connected and being informed has been felt more than ever before especially in the case of rural communities in far flung areas. Since women share majority space as frontline health workers both in rural and urban areas, they are bearing the brunt of water scarcity.
In recent times, in our fight against the Novel Corona Virus COVID-19, the need for staying connected and being informed has been felt more than ever before especially in the case of rural communities in far flung areas.
Globally, joblessness is one of the biggest challenges of an uncertain, post Covid future. The onus that lay on entrepreneurship for job-creation, has only increased in impetus. However, while, income gaps between high tech start-ups and grassroot enterprises are widening, unemployment levels are rapidly rising. Even when these ventures are within the social entrepreneurship space, their benefits are found to be ‘limited’. Forecasts for job-creation therefore look bleak.
Indian economy has been cruelly impacted due to the COVID 19 pandemic and is still struggling to come on track. As per the Government of India forecast in the financial year 20-21, GDP growth has decreased from 5.3% in February 2020. With an unemployment rate of 27.11% till the month of May 2020, the country faced a lot of challenges especially in urban areas where about 93 million people got affected by the health crisis.