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India and Copenhagen Summit Dr Arvind Kumar The countdown for hammering out a new U.N. climate treaty at the forthcoming Copenhagen summit scheduled for December 2009 has already begun. A flurry of hectic diplomatic activity has already been set in motion wherein the developed world and the emerging economies are trying to bridge their differences on how to curb greenhouse-gas emissions that cause global warming. The United States expects developing countries like India and China to agree to specific reduction targets on the emissions produced by their burgeoning economies. While arguing that this would hurt its economic growth, India wants the industrialized world to curb its pollution as well as fund new technologies in the developing world. Enormity of the Issues Climate change is one of the most complex challenges of the 21st century. As has been observed: “No country is immune and no country alone can take on the interconnected challenges posed by climate change, inclu...

Season for religious festivities has set in and this phenomenon is an annual feature which is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm by the devotees by preparing idols of their chosen deities and holding processions. The festivals of Ganesh Chathurthi and Durga Puja are of specific significance because their celebrations entail preparing of idols of Ganeshji or Ganapati Bappa during Ganesh Chathurthi and the idol of Goddess Kali is prepared and decorated beautifully during the Durga Puja. The idols of the deities are prepared from the clean and pure earthly soil and thereafter these idols are beautifully decorated with different colours. There takes place a sort of competition among different groups to prepare the most attractive idol of their deity. The colours used in beautifying the idols of the deities contain harmful chemical ingredients. Once the celebrations are over, these idols are immersed in the nearby water bodies like rivers, lakes or in the sea. Immersion of idols ...

[This report is based on the personal observations made by Dr. Arvind Kumar, President of Water India Foundation, New Delhi, during his recent to the North-eastern states of India from 30 December 2008 to 6 January 2009. apart from personal observations about the water situation, the report has also relied upon available supporting material in order to highlight the water-related problems and put them in a proper perspective so that efforts to resolve these problems are put in place.] Water Situation in North Eastern Region The North Eastern Region (NER), consists of the eight Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. This region is endowed with abundant water resources carried by its several rivers originating mainly from the Trans-Himalayas, Middle-Himalayas and the Sub-Himalayas on the north, Patkai-Purbachal hills on the north-east and east and Karbi-Jaintia-Meghalaya-Garo hills on the southern fringe. The Brahmaputra in ...