Political

Floods, Rains - News Roundup (7-14 October 2010)
The new round up for the week ending 14 October 2010, indicates that the flood situation in the North East has worsened and attempts are being made at flood management.
Posted on 15 Oct, 2010 02:37 PM

The latest news indicates that the monsoons and the flood situation has receded in most parts of India except in the North East where Manipur valley continues to suffer from incessant rains and flooding with attempts being started at flood management.

Kisan Swaraj Yatra - A massive outreach effort interacting with farmers and urban citizens about the agricultural crisis and the way out
The Kisan Swaraj Yatra is a massive outreach effort interacting with lakhs of farmers and lakhs of urban citizens about the agricultural crisis and the way out. Posted on 15 Oct, 2010 12:41 PM

Kisan Swaraj Yatra

The Kisan Swaraj Yatra has been initiated by the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA). This is a loose alliance of scores of groups across the country, drawn from more than 20 states. The network consists of farmers’ organizations, consumer groups, women’s organizations, environmental organizations, organic farmers’ cooperatives, individual scientists, doctors, health activists and others.

Water and Wastewater Engineering and Management - A Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
Enhancing the quality of engineering education, developing curriculum on water and wastewater engineering. Posted on 14 Oct, 2010 09:18 PM

This Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) on the broad subject of Water and Wastewater Engineering and Management is being carried out by Indian Institute of Technology’s and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a collaborative project supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country, by developing curriculum based video and web courses. In these web based lectures, the authors have developed the subject in detail and in stages in a student-friendly manner. The broad group of Water and Wastewater Engineering and Management is structured into modules on the following topics:

A story telling and discussion on rivers, peoples and dams, Ants Crafting Traditions, Bangalore
Posted on 14 Oct, 2010 03:39 PM

The Ants Crafting TraditionsOrgnizer: The Ants Crafting Traditions

Environmental Pollution and Management - A Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
enhancing the quality of education through specially designed and interactive courses on environmental pollution and management Posted on 13 Oct, 2010 10:32 PM

This Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) on the broad subject of Environmental Pollution and Management is being carried out by Indian Institute of Technology’s and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a collaborative project supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country, by developing curriculum based video and web courses. In these web based lectures, the authors have developed the subject in detail and in stages in a student-friendly manner. The broad group of Environmental Pollution and Management is structured into modules on the following topics:

Solid Waste Management - A Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
Managing the country's waste better - A course at the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science to enhance the quality of engineering education. Posted on 13 Oct, 2010 09:36 PM

This Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) on the broad subject of Solid Waste Management is being carried out by Indian Institute of Technology’s and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a collaborative project supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country, by developing curriculum based video and web courses. In these web based lectures, the authors have developed the subject in detail and in stages in a student-friendly manner. The broad group of Solid Waste Management is structured into modules on the following topics:

Article 246 , 262 - Ministry of Water Resources (Government of India) (2010)
The document features the clauses related to Article 246 and 262, which provide guidelines related to dispute over water. Posted on 13 Oct, 2010 05:01 PM

Article  246   includes the following clauses:

  • Notwithstanding anything in clauses (2) and (3), Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the "Union List").
  • Notwithstanding anything in clause (3), Parliament, and, subject to clause (1), the legislature of any State also, have power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List III in the Seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the "Concurrent List").  
  • Subject to clauses (1) and (2), the Legislature of any State has exclusive power to make laws for such State or any part thereof with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List II in the Seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the "State List").  
  • Parliament has power to make laws with respect to any matter for any part of the territory of India not included in a State notwithstanding that such matter is a matter enumerated in the State List.
The constitution (seventy- fourth amendment) act - Ministry of Law and Justice (Government of India) (1992)
This document provides the details of the seventy-fourth amendment to the Constitution Act. Posted on 13 Oct, 2010 04:51 PM

This document provides the details of The Constitution (Seventy-Fourth Amendment) Act.

The document includes:

  • The short title and commencement
  • Definitions of the terms in the Act
  • Constitution of Municipalities
  • Composition of the Municipalities
  • Constitution and composition of wards committees
  • Reservation of seats
  • Duration of Municipalities
  • Disqualifications for membership
  • Powers, authority and responsibilities of municipalities
  • Finance Commission
  • Audit of accounts of Municipalities
  • Elections to the Municipalities
  • Application to Union Territories
  • Committee for district planning
  • Committee for metropoliton planning 
  • Continuance of existing laws and municipalities
  • Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters
Extreme water logging and flood situation in channelized areas in Pune - A report
Nallahs and rainwater is good news. Not for Pune. 10 people lose their lives while the city administration neglects the maintenance of the near-natural channel system Pune enjoys. Posted on 13 Oct, 2010 04:32 PM

Guest post by Parineeta Dandekar


While this news item was about to be published, Pune received heavy rains on the 4th of October (highest in the last 118 years, 104 mm in 40 minutes and 181.3 mm in 24 hours). While the city administration stressed that this was a cloud burst, this claim was quashed by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). This was said to a rare event, which was experienced in many places in Maharashtra.

10 people lost their lives to these rains, including three young children and a 25 year old Ph D researcher, Agnimitra Bannerjee, from National Chemical Laboratory, who was washed away in a channelised nallah stretch. Channels prove to be much more dangerous as the velocity of water is high and there is nothing to hold on to, in case a person falls in one of these fast-flowing nallah channels.