News and Articles

Indigenous food systems - to cope with malnutrition
Traditional practices such as the jhum cultivation in North East India can help ensure dietary diversity and better nutritional outcomes among populations and need to be preserved. Posted on 18 Feb, 2022 10:01 AM

As India struggles to tackle malnutrition among women and children in the country as the NFHS data reveals, it is increasingly becoming clear that agrobiodiversity has an important role to play in ensuring sustainable and diverse diets and enhance health and nutrition, and may help m

Land cleared for Jhum cultivation (Image Source: Prashanthns via Wikimedia Commons)
Enabling a just transition in India’s coal district of Korba
Economic restructuring and development intervention will be essential, shows the latest study by iFOREST Posted on 16 Feb, 2022 08:45 PM

The International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST), Delhi based environment think tank, released one of the most comprehensive studies to understand what a just energy transition will mean and entail for India's top coal and power di

Under the 'current policy scenario,' which aligns with India's netzero target of 2070, all the coal mines in Korba can be closed by 2050 and power plants by 2040 in a phased manner (A view of South Eastern Coalfields Limited in Korba; Image: India Water Portal)
India now has 49 Ramsar sites, highest in South Asia
News this fortnight Posted on 16 Feb, 2022 08:03 AM

Ramsar has designated two more wetlands in India, bringing the total to 49

A wetland supports life in myriad forms (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Jal Shakti Ministry receives an allocation of Rs 86,189 crore in budget 2022-23
Policy matters this fortnight Posted on 16 Feb, 2022 07:48 AM

Budget 2022-23: Allocation to the Jal Shakti Ministry increased to Rs 86,189 crore, from Rs 69,052 crore the previous year

Women fill water from a public tap in Karnataka (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Grassroots implementation of Halma
Experiences of a Jhabua based NGO Posted on 15 Feb, 2022 08:37 PM

Jhabua, a tribal-dominated district with more than 85 percent population belonging to Scheduled Tribe (ST), is an agrarian district. Water security is, thus, a crucial element for its agriculture-based livelihood economy.

Tribals protect a community sacred grove (Image: Manish Vaidya, Hindi Water Portal)
Revival of a tribal practice for water resource development
Collective action for water resource development through Halma Posted on 15 Feb, 2022 09:00 AM

There are over 705 ethnic groups, which are recognized as Scheduled Tribes in India (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2020). These groups have their own unique Gods, beliefs, rituals, practices, and social systems.

The tightly knit tribal society also advocates community action for solving issues (Image: AKRSP)
Collaboration and collective impact - for just and sustainable climate action
Collaboration for systems change can greatly help to align diverse stakeholders to achieve a collective impact and share outcomes while dealing with climate change. Posted on 13 Feb, 2022 04:48 AM

The climate crisis is everyone's crisis and solutions are multidimensional.  Different players need to embrace the inter-connected, dynamic, and emergent nature of our systems.

Collective action to tackle climate change (Image Source: Usha Dewani)
Poisonous encounters, fatal outcomes!
A study provides new evidence that drinking water contaminated with arsenic can lead to still births, recurrent pregnancy loss and infertility among women. Posted on 13 Feb, 2022 12:15 AM

Arsenic, a commonly found element in nature is often referred to as a toxic substance and ranks number one in the 2001 priority list of hazardous substances and disease registry defined by WHO.

A well in Rajasthan (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
87% of India's districts vulnerable to droughts: IMD
47% of India’s population is vulnerable to floods, says IMD's Climate Hazards Atlas Posted on 10 Feb, 2022 06:31 PM

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has recently come up with a ‘Climate hazards and vulnerability atlas of India’ which provides districts maps on hazard events and vulnerability for all the calendar months and at annual scale in India.

(Image: J Surya, CC-SA-4.0 International)
Budgetary provisions for drinking water supply continue to get priority
Budget for sanitation sees a decline Posted on 10 Feb, 2022 02:05 AM

Water, sanitation and hygiene, which are major determinants of health and nutrition levels, have gained substantial visibility during the last two years because of the pandemic.

Jal Jeevan Mission has picked up pace after two years (Image: Anita Martinz, Wikimedia Commons,  CC-A-2.0 Generic)
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