Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Low level of rural sanitation in state

Rural sanitation and hygiene in line with Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and government of India (GoI) guidelines is abysmally low in Rajasthan. On an average, only 12.9% people in the state use toilets despite a reported expenditure of Rs 273.1 crore in the previous financial year (2010-11) for building toilets.

According to Nirmal Rajasthan Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy (2012-2022), though access to toilets for schools and angawadis has seen a marked increase, rural solid and liquid waste management has got little or no attention. And despite 30 million children in rural... Read more..

Perungudi waste plant on hold

The environment clearance given by the state government to set up an integrated solid waste management plant at Perungudi has been set aside by a National Green Tribunal bench on the ground that the site of the proposed plant was less than 10km from the Guindy National Park.

The tribunal bench, which began operations on Friday, took notice of a 2006 notification of the Union ministry of environment and forests declaring 10km area around a national park as eco-sensitive. According to the notification, permission has to be sought from the environment ministry and an environment impact... Read more..

3rd International Wind Conference and Exhibition at Coimbatore

With increasing debate on Climate Change and Energy Security related issues, wind energy has emerged as one of the most promising energy resource. It is time that the national governments recognize this and set ambitious targets to enable faster deployment as well as more efficient harnessing of wind energy. Since, the year 2010, Indian Wind Power Association is organizing this WE20 by 2020 Conference and Exhibition series with the single objective to find technical, financial, commercial, policy and regulatory solutions to achieve 20% grid penetration (at least in local grids) in India by... Read more..

Jayant Baliga's Invention Is A Power Saver

As a child, everyone has a favourite boast about their daddy. But few would have a story to match Prof. Jayant Baliga’s. “The first TV broadcast into a home in India occurred in my house.” In true tradition of a man of science this isn’t an empty boast. It really did happen. “My father, B.V. Baliga, was chief engineer of All India Radio after Independence. There was an exhibition in Delhi in the 1950s where they were using the All India Radio’s setup of a camera and a transmitter to show a TV telecast within the exhibition premises. My father wanted to test if the signal could be received... Read more..

India nuke deal

The Fukushima Daiichi power plant, an instant stick to beat the nuclear industry with, hosted first-generation nuclear reactors about to be decommissioned after 40 years of service when last year’s disaster struck. Since then, Fukushima has become a slogan for all those against the idea of nuclear power, feeding fears and building myths. It’s this that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to underline when he told Science that behind the stalling of Koodankulam are some US-based NGOs who “don’t appreciate the need for our country to increase the energy supply”. Last October, the NPCIL... Read more..

TNAU student selected for UN programme

Archana Jayaraman, a third-year BTech (Energy and Environmental Engineering) student of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), has been selected as the sub-regional youth advisor for Asia and Pacific region TUNZA (TUNZA is a Swahili word meaning to treat with care) youth wing by the South Asian Youth Environment Network (SAYEN) of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

She will be working in India, Pakistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, assisting UNEP in looking for better ways to engage young people to contribute to the development of UNEP's... Read more..

Mild climate change killed off ancient Mayans

The collapse of the Mayan civilization was likely due to a relatively mild drought, much like the drier conditions expected in the coming years due to climate change, scientists said Thursday.

Scholars have long believed that a major drought caused severe dry conditions that killed off the ancient culture known for its mastery of language, math and astronomy.

But researchers from the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research in Mexico and the University of Southampton in Britain said their analysis shows the drought only caused reductions of 25 to 40 percent less annual rain.... Read more..

India’s Water Desalination Business to Triple to $1.2 Billion

India’s water desalination business is set to triple to $1.2 billion by 2017 as rising demand from industry spurs the South Asian country to build more purification plants, according to a research report.

The number of units that process sea water in India will reach 500 in five years from 180 now, with more than 300 plants being built in the states of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra, TechSci Research said in its report. Saudi Arabia leads the global desalination market worth $14.3 billion, according to Karan Chechi, TechSci’s research director.

“Improved hybrid... Read more..

Israel welcomes Indian investments in natural gas

Israel on Thursday said it was keen to further strengthen its diplomatic and trade relations with India.

The visiting Israel minister of energy and water resources Uzi Landau told Business Standard: “Israel plans to attract investments in the gas sector, especially exploration and production. Israel has gas reserves of 122 trillion cubic feet, of which 20 per cent have already been found. We are in the midst of formulation of an action plan through several study groups. India can join hands with Israel in this regard and later Indian companies can bid in natural gas exploration and... Read more..

A Gandhian college that brings solar light to the world

It's not a sight you would normally expect in a remote Indian village, deep in the Rajasthani plains.

But walk in from the quiet, sun-blasted courtyard among old colonial buildings in Tilonia and you discover yourself among 30 African women working away at electrical circuits and soldering wires into solar panels.

These are the latest students learning to be solar technicians with the Barefoot College, a landmark charity built around Gandhian ideals of self-sufficiency and sustainable development. The women in this workshop have come from South Sudan, Liberia and Malawi,... Read more..

Thorium must form part of India's energy mix: AEC chief

Large-scale utilisation of thorium must form an important element of India's energy strategy, according to Dr Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy.

Delivering the convocation address at Mangalore University on Thursday, Dr Banerjee said nuclear energy has large growth potential and any India-specific energy strategy must consider nuclear energy as a major alternative. “While our known uranium resources are low, we have extremely rich reserves of thorium,” he said, adding that this can be converted to generate nuclear... Read more..

CCI approves Tata power acquiring stakes in Tata BP solar JV

Competition watchdog CCI has approved the proposal of Tata Power to acquire remaining 51 per cent stake in Tata BP Solar from joint venture partner BP Alternative Energy Holdings.

In an order, the Competition Commission of India noted that TPCL (Tata Power) and TBCL (Tata BP Solar) are not engaged in production, supply, distribution, storage, sale or trade of "similar or identical or substitutable goods or provision of services".

"The proposed acquisition of further 51 per cent of the equity share capital of TBSL and other securities, if any, by TPCL is not likely to create... Read more..