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Earth Hour Day 2014 29 March 2014 Earth Hour is a worldwide event that is organized by the  World Wide Fund for Nature  (WWF) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential  lights  for one hour to  raise awareness  about the need to take action on  climate change . Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participating. Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour. The main goal of Earth Hour is to create awar...

World Meteorological Day The World Meteorological Organization plays a crucial role in contributing to people's safety and welfare. Its work is important in providing food security, water resources and transport. World Meteorological Day has been observed on 23 March each year since 1961. This year's World Meteorological Day theme is “Weather and climate: engaging youth." Today’s youth will benefit from the dramatic advances being made in our ability to understand and forecast the Earth’s weather and climate. At the same time, most of them will live into the second half of this century and experience the increasing impacts of global warming. WMO encourages young people to learn more about our weather and climate system and to contribute to action on climate change. The World Meteorological Day is annually held on or around 23 March to commemorate the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization, which was earlier known as International Meteorologi...

World Water Day 2014 World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The objective of World Water Day 2014 is to focus international attention on the Water and Energy. Affordability and bankability of global public goods, such as energy and water, are a prerequisite for sustainable growth. The energy sector successfully attracts financing from institutional, concessional and 'green' private investors. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent. Energy generation and transmission requires utilization of water resources, particularly for hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal energy sources. An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General...

Water Free Holi! By Dr Arvind Kumar The festival of colors – Holi – is just about to come and preparations in this regard are already underway. We at India Water Foundation heartily welcome the reported move of the popular TV channel Star Plus's decision to host the Water-free yet colorful Holi celebration. The best part about the Star Plus's reported move of the Holi celebration is that there will not be any water wastage done. All the popular shows and their celebrities will be seen playing with Gulaal and flowers to conserve more and more of water. In this way the Star Plus' will be setting a precedent for other TV channels to emulate and thereby contributing to water conservation. Even the Bollywood film industry should emulate this precedent and display water-free celebration of Holi in the films with the message that water is very precious and it should be conserved, not to be wasted and should be kept free from pollution. Since TV and films are the most pow...

No Water , No Vote P olitical parties are indifferent to water and climate change related issues. Leaders indulge in tall promises of development without knowing that water is key to sustainable development. The recent decision of about 900 villagers of Dhingiamunda in Nuapada district of Odisha to refrain from voting in the coming  Lok Sabha  and assembly polls if drinking water did not reach their village by 21 March deserves kudos. The government apathy to people’s woeful plight is a common characteristic. The so-called Aam Adami Party (AAP), which claims itself as the most Democratic Party, seldom pays heed to the voice of the people and civil society on water and environment issues. India Water Foundation sent some suggestions on water-environment nexus to AAP, which evoked no response. The time is ripe now for the people to use vote as a weapon to get their grievances redressed. Concurrently, it is writing on the wall for the political parties. ...

Women and Water On this auspicious occasion of 8 March, which is observed as International Day for Women every year, it is our bounden duty to care about water rights of women and ensure their increased involvement in water security. Undoubtedly, shifting political, cultural and ethical challenges have been tackled and women have achieved great advances in securing their human rights and dignity; nevertheless, they have to bear the brunt of managing the water for the family, especially in rural areas. There is a need for increased women’s participation and involvement in water-related development efforts.     Women can be powerful agents of change: with the same access to productive resources as men, including water, women could increase yield on their farms by 20-30% and help lift 150 million people out of hunger. There is a lot women can contribute to solve water problems but we still have a lot to do to ensure their involvement. Understanding gender ro...

International Women’s Day 8 March, celebrated as International Women's Day (IWD) every year globally, marks this year the centenary of the declaration and observation of the first International Women's day. The first official celebration of Women's Day happened on 19 March in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. On this day, organizations, governments and women's groups choose different themes each year that reflect global and local gender issues. IWD this year’s theme is "Inspiring Change". According to IWD Inspiring Change encourages advocacy for women's advancement everywhere in every way. It calls for challenging the status quo for women's equality and vigilance inspiring positive change. The first IWD was run in 1911, so this year we are celebrating the IWD Global Centenary. Widespread increased activity is anticipated globally this year honouring 103 years of International Women's Day. In India, International Women...

Rashtriya Suraksha Diwas Rashtriya Suraksha Diwas or National Security Day is observed on 4 March each year. This day is dedicated to security forces and structure of India which safeguards India’s borders and help maintain internal peace and security in the time of adversity. This day reminds us of the innumerable sacrifices made by our security forces while combating against the external threat and internal insurgency. Keeping in view India’s geographic size, long land borders, vast coastal line and offshore installations, the role of security forces assumes added significance in ensuring security of the nation internally as well as externally. Burgeoning population, religious and cultural diversity and resilient economy call for internal peace, communal harmony and political stability. Disgruntled organizations, insurgent groups and terrorist outfits, both within and outside the country, always try to break down the unity of India. However, our brave Jawans, commandos, l...