Sustainability Outlook Headlines

India, Bangladesh to enhance biz relations via water route

 India and Bangladesh are keen to increase business relations by setting inland waterways for hassle-free movement of cargo between the two countries. 

"The proposal is to set up IWT (Inland Waterways Transport) from Kolkata in West Bengal to Ashuganj in Bangladesh which can be further extended," a Shipping Ministry official told PTI. 

Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in 2013 had said a lot of time and resources are being wasted in transporting oversized cargo to the North-East. Waterways provide a hassle-free movement of such cargo. 

"It suggested... Read more..

Built-In Savings: A U.S.-India Partnership on Energy-Efficient Buildings

 In order to reduce their greenhouse gas pollution, enhance their energy security, and grow their economies, the United States and India should aggressively pursue opportunities to curb energy waste, particularly in the building sector.

There is clear evidence of inefficiency within the U.S. building stock. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, residential and commercial buildings in the United States in 2010 consumed 40.3 quadrillion British thermal units, or Q-BTUs, of energy—22.1 Q-BTUs in residential buildings and 18.2 Q-BTUs in commercial buildings.... Read more..

Odisha to award Rs 1000 crore smart grid project contract by June

The Odisha government, which had announced a smart grid power network for the Phailin-affected Ganjam district earlier this year, today said the process of awarding the contract for this project would be completed by June.

The global tender for the project was floated by Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) in two phases in last couple of weeks. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 1,000 crore. While Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a loan of around Rs 650 crore and the rest Rs 350 crore will be... Read more..

Kundapur boy strikes gold in e-waste

Did you know that 120-150 gm of pure silver can be extracted from X-ray films? Or that even the fixer solution, a chemical waste produced during X-ray process, holds 40 grams of silver content in a 10-litre solution?

Meet Jnanesh Shenoy from Kundapur who has made e-waste his business. He passed out from TMA Polytechnic with a diploma in computer science in 2008. He now runs business in electrical accessories and web designing.

It's interesting how he ventured into e-waste business. "I didn't know... Read more..

Forecast updates strengthen El Nino fears

 Latest updates from two global weather prediction agencies have added to the spectre of a developing El Nino, raising fears of a possible weak monsoon this year. 

Indian Met officials are treating the reports with caution, saying that though chances of an El Nino developing around mid-2014 are growing, predictions made at this stage suffer from low accuracy. 

El Nino — 'the boy' in Spanish — is an unusual warming of sea surface waters in eastern and central equatorial Pacific associated with changes in wind patterns that impact weather in many parts of the world. It... Read more..

How India's upcoming green regulator can strike a balance between growth & environmental protection

India's environmental clearance process is universally loathed. Industry and technocrats find it cumbersome and corrupt, and blame it for project delays and slowing growth. Environmentalists and project-affected people consider it superficial, corrupt and given to approving virtually all projects, unmindful of their social and environmental costs.

Both views are correct. India's environmental clearance (EC) process is a mess, unable to strike a balance between the demands of growth and the need to protect the ecological systems needed to support what will soon be the world's most... Read more..

State govt plans to supply treated water to industries

The state government is working on a tertiary treatment and reverse osmosis plant to supply treated water to industries in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur and Irungattukottai, said Phanindra Reddy, secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply. 

He was speaking at the 25th national convention on environmental engineering 'Envision 2025' held at the Central Leather Research Institute on Wednesday. Governor K Rosaiah inaugurated the three-day conference and exhibition organised by the Institution of Public Health Engineers India (IPHE... Read more..

Pak moves to include water issues with India as part of Composite Dialogue

 Pakistan's water disputes with India had been made part of Composite Dialogue, the Nawaz government has informed the Upper House of Parliament.

The move comes after the opposition questioned why it was in a hurry to give MFN status to India despite a number of unsettled disputes.

According to the Nation, the House, on a private members day, also passed a unanimous resolution calling on the government to include all water disputes with India in the Composite Dialogue or in any other talks or dialogue process.

The resolution was moved by Senator Syeda Sughra Imam after... Read more..

Demand for rural solar home lighting systems in India to reach 3,000 MW by 2018

 Hundreds of thousands of Indian villages are either not connected to the country's power grid, or lack uninterrupted power supply. It is estimated that more than half of the country's 1.2 billion people do not have access to electricity.

Solar home lighting systems and other distributed generation solutions have acted as an alternative to the states spending large sums of money to extend the reach of and improve the reliability of grid in such areas. India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has led the effort for the adoption of distributed generation by providing... Read more..

India and Sudan Agree to Promote Cooperation in Wind, Solar

 Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah held a bilateral meeting for promoting cooperation in renewable energy with a delegation from Sudan. The Sudanese delegaton was led by Mr Al Simah Al Siddiq Al Nour, Minister of Industry. He along with other members including Mr Magdi Hassan Yasin, State Minister of Finance and National Economy from Republic of Sudan met Dr. Farooq Abdullah to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation in promoting renewable energy between the two countries. 

Dr. Abdullah acknowledged that India and Sudan have good potential for enhancing... Read more..

Blackout Risk Increases With Surging Populism: Corporate India

 In India, sporadic power outages have hobbled Asia’s third-largest economy for years.

The government’s solution was a $31 billion bailout of utilities, whose debts were so big and cash flow so small that they can’t provide a steady flow of electricity to homes and businesses. Now that bailout is in jeopardy.

A populist movement sparked by an anti-corruption crusader is forcing utilities to slash the price they charge consumers. Because most of these power retailers already lose money, this development is pushing them further into debt. They were supposed to boost rates, not... Read more..