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Avoid Plastic Bags By Dr Arvind Kumar According to broad estimates, about 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That comes out to over one million per minute! It is also estimated that one plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. These days, of all the plastic bags consumed, only a mere 1-3% percent is recycled. What’s more, they are only a fraction of the problem. Today’s brown bag or sack lunches primarily consist of pre-packaged disposable individual servings of heavily processed “food.” To help the environment is a simple pledge to eliminate one piece of trash every day and then think of the impact if each and every one of us made this simple commitment. Can’t live without that morning-commute latte? Keep an insulated travel mug in your car. Is your child gaga for a certain squeezable yogurt that starts with a “G?” Find him the same flavor of yogurt in a large, family-sized tub, and pack his lunch with a small serving sea

Pitiable Plight of Children By Dr Arvind Kumar UNICEF’s release of State of World Children 2011 report presents a grim picture of the plight of the children, particularly in developing countries. Nearly one out of every five people on the planet today is an adolescent. Nearly 90 percent of them live in the developing world. And far too many of them are being left behind. The report presents alarming statistics about children: Almost half of the world’s adolescents do not attend secondary school. 150 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labour. An untold number of adolescents are trafficked – with an estimated one million exploited for cheap labour or the sex trade every year. Hundreds of thousands are associated with armed groups – as soldiers, spies, messengers and sex slaves. And around 70 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation. These outrageous statistics don’t even begin to

Stabilizing the Planet By Dr Arvind Kumar The present day governments can least be expected to do someday what they are supposed to do – represent their constituents and act in their interests. There also seems lack of initiative on the part of global civil society to inspire a desperately needed consciousness among the people who reject all false solutions while also demanding nothing less a new system which functions to serve only the essential needs of the people while protecting all life and our planet. To date, the most critical aspects of climate change are the imperatives every citizen has the right to know: 1) In order to stabilize the planet, the world must achieve zero carbon emissions. Zero is the only number that matters and it must be achieved in a matter of years, not decades. We are in a planetary emergency at less than 1ºC rise. 2) The current rat race for economic growth is the root cause of climate change. 3) A mass mobilization on a global scale is neede

Extravagant Weddings by Dr Arvind Kumar An editorial in The Tribune dated 24 February 2011 laments that weddings, especially North Indian ones, are often extravagant affairs that last days, and involve large number of guests. Asserting that conspicuous consumption is the rule rather than an exception, the editorial sympathises with parents, for whom the wedding of their daughters is a costly affair that strains the resources of most, often to a point where loans are taken. Various social organisations’ attempts from time to time to reverse the trend have not met with much success. Undoubtedly, the government can limit the number of guests at marriages and other events under the Guest Control Order, which was in vogued during the 1960s and 1970s. Although it was successful to an extent, the social resentment it led to soon made the government rethink on the issue. Undeniably, the Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas’s suggestion of curbing extravagance, especially in

Green Economy and Growth By Dr Arvind Kumar An investment of just two percent, or $1.3 trillion, of global gross domestic product into greening sectors such as construction, energy and fishing can help usger in a move toward a low-carbon world, says so a report recently released by the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP). The sum, currently amounting to an average of around $1.3 trillion a year and backed by forward-looking national and international policies, would grow the global economy at around the same rate if not higher than those forecast, under current economic models. The report sees a Green Economy as not only relevant to more developed economies but as a key catalyst for growth and poverty eradication in developing ones too, where in some cases close to 90 per cent of the GDP of the poor is linked to nature or natural capital such as forests and freshwaters. The report cites India’s example, where over 80 per cent of the $8 billion National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Economics of Happiness By Dr Arvind Kumar Helena Norberg-Hodge, the founder of the International Society for Ecology and Culture, has recently directed a new documentary film The Economics of Happiness in which she tries to tell about the relationship between economics and happiness. According to her, global economy is effective at many things—moving huge quantities of goods across great distances, for example, or turning mortgages into profits. While raising question as to whether these activities are worthwhile when it comes to improving the lives of the people who live and work within the economy, Norberg-Hodge provides answer when she says: “In many cases, economic policies that increase trade or production actually decrease well-being for millions, even billions, of people.” In her opinion, our social and environmental problems are linked to an economic system that promotes endless consumerism. Fundamental to that system are trade policies that promote the expansion of gia

Ecological Lessons from Japan By Dr Arvind Kumar The people of Japan are now faced a prime example of the importance of biodiversity in nature — the arrival once again of the hay fever season. According to a recent editorial published in Japan Times, Japanese homes, which used charcoal for heating prior to the Second World War, switched to oil in the post-War period thereby leading to steep decline in demand for trees associated with charcoal production. Therefore, in the 1950s and 1960s it was national policy to plant forests of Japanese cedar trees (sugi) and Japanese cypress trees (hinoki), as they grew rapidly and produced hardwood for housing. With trade liberalization, however, cheaper hardwoods from Southeast Asia flooded in and the cedar and cypress forests were left to grow unchecked, emitting masses of pollen each spring. The editorial predicts an unusually large pollen crop in 2011 because of the record high temperatures in 2010. Air filters are popular for home use and

Bleak Economic Outlook By Dr Arvind Kumar Preliminary indications present a dismal outlook for global economy in 2011. The US and UK are likely to withdraw their stimulus packages because of increasing inflation and debt in the wake of persisting pressure on wages. The stimulus withdrawal entails the possibility of exerting more downward pressure on wages. Even adoption of protectionist policies by these countries may not provide much relief owing to their dependence on imports of textiles, oil, food and minerals from developing countries. In the wake of these developments, the possibility of these countries being pushed to deeper crisis cannot be ruled out, especially when the process of stimulus withdrawal begins. A decline in wages of the workers in consonance with international pressures has been facilitated by the United States as well as United Kingdom. On the other hand, Europe is seemingly hard pressed. The economic crises obtaining in Greece, Ireland and Portugal have a

Saving Lake Baikal By Dr Arvind kumar Lake Baikal, located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia near the city of Irkutsk, is the largest freshwater lake in the world, with an average depth of over 5000 feet down and is said to be 25 million years old. It is not only the deepest lake but oldest. Containing roughly 20% of the world's surface fresh water that is unfrozen, Lake Baikal has provided scientists with insight into the ways that climate change affects water temperature, which in turn affects life in the lake. According to a research study recently published in the journal PLoS ONE, the research team of scientists has discovered many climate variability signals, called teleconnections, in the data. For example, changes in Lake Baikal water temperature correlate with monthly variability in El Niño indices, reflecting sea surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean tens of thousands of kilometers away. At the same time, Lake Baikal's temperatures are influen

Question Mark on Biomass Projects By Dr Arvind Kumar An official report released by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry of Japan and published in Japan Times dated 16 February 2011 reveals that none of the government's 214 biomass promotion projects — with public funding coming to ¥6.55 trillion — over the past six years has produced effective results in the struggle against global warming. Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which evaluates public works projects, has called on the agriculture and five other ministries conducting biomass projects using sewage sludge, garbage and wood, to take corrective action. The six ministries taking part in such projects, however, have yet to confirm the financial results for 92, or 44 percent, of the 214 projects, with one bureau official saying: "The figures tell everything. The ministries need to produce certain results because they are using taxpayers' money." The Agriculture, Forestry an

Welcome Move Dr Arvind Kumar A recent pledge by Indonesia's largest palm oil producer to follow new standards to protect carbon-rich forests and peat land has been welcomed by environmentalists and the government of Indonesia. On 9 February, Golden Agri-Resources, a unit of the Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas and the world's second-largest palm oil producer, announced that it was working with the government and The Forest Trust (TFT), a Geneva-based global NGO, to develop sustainable palm oil plantations. Under the agreement with TFT, the company said a new conservation policy had been established to focus on avoiding developing plantations on high carbon stock forests, high conservation value forest areas and peat land. It is noteworthy that under a $1 billion agreement with Norway, Indonesia has pledged a two-year moratorium on all new forest and peat land concessions from January 2011 as part of efforts to avert a climate change crisis. While welcoming Golden Agri-Reso

Agriculture and Health By Dr Arvind Kumar The deliberations at the recently-concluded three-day International Conference on Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health in New Delhi were focused on nutrition, health and agriculture. Some participants pointed out that “nutrition and agriculture talk to each other, and so do nutrition and health”, but “health has never told agriculture what it needs,” because the links between the three sectors seemed to have broken down. Asserting that these discussions were at least three decades old, some veteran experts opined that the symptoms of the breakdown surfaced in 2007/08, when the world was jolted by the food price crisis. However, the crisis, triggered by various factors that influenced both the supply and demand side of food availability, pushed at least a billion people into hunger. Broadly speaking, agriculture, health and nutrition are closely intertwined to each other. Agriculture is the primary source of calorie

Seeds to Purify Water By Dr Arvind Kumar About 1.1 billion people globally do not have access to drinking water and diarrhoea remains the leading cause of illness and death. With the number of people without access to safe water expected to rise to two billion by 2025, the ability to purify water using accessible techniques has significant life-saving potential. According to Micheal Lea, author and researcher with Clearinghouse, an Ottawa-based organization researching low-cost water purification technologies, one solution to the water woes of many of the world’s poor may lie in the pea-sized seeds of the widely grown Moringa oleifera tree. In Lea’s opinion, the Moringa oleifera [seed technique] can be an important, sustainable and affordable method towards waterborne disease reduction and can improve the quality of life for a large proportion of the poor. According to Lea, seeds from the Moringa, a tree (also described as a shrub) which grows in Africa, Central and South Ameri

14 February Valentine’s Day By Dr Arvind Kumar Valentine’s Day is the right occasion to make this mometous event as a turning point in our life which is otherwise afflicted with workplace stress, diverse ambitions, family problems, scramble for success and temptations to cheat. Recent years have witnessed this solemn day, devoted to lovers and companions, being turned into more of a commercial and marketing opportunity than a celebration of love by aggressive consumerism. However, the day still retains its piety in being a day to take stock of one’s social, familial and friendly relationship and to make it work so that it adds zest, security and peace to an already hassled life. Even in the hurly-burly of the urban chaos and the small-town confusion in India, we need to stop for a while on this first Valentine’s Day of the second decade of the millennium today and ponder whether is it just going to be an occasion to party hard and shop for gifts or will it be a time to quietly

Need for Civility By Dr Arvind Kumar Viewed in a broad spectrum, almost all human beings are equal and valuable, not because of what they think but because of who they are. Even when they are badly mistaken, their dignity requires respect for their freedom and conscience. According to Michael Gersom, a society becomes more just and civil as more people are converted to this moral belief in human dignity and reflect that conviction in their lives and laws. Undeniably, doubt is useful and needed at the margins of any ideology, but the world is too complex to know completely. While asserting that that many of our judgments are, by nature, provisional, Gersom opines that yet doubt becomes destructive as it reaches the center of a belief and becomes its substitute. A systematic skepticism may keep us from bothering our neighbor. It does not motivate a passion to fight for his or her dignity and rights. The dilemma still remains unresolved as to how do ambiguity and agnosticism result

Abolish Nuclear Weapons By Dr Arvind Kumar The total global inventory of nuclear weapons comprises about 22,400 weapons, of which 5,500 are strategic nukes, 2,550 non-strategic nukes and remaining 7,700 are operational ones. This inventory can cause destruction of this planet many thousand times. The new START treaty between US and Russia is a welcome step towards gradual march towards nuclear disarmament. During the Cold War era, the nuclear pentapoly had decried the sceptre of horizontal proliferation and the developing countries voiced their concern over vertical proliferation and insisted on their right to harness nulear energy for peaceful purposes. Even at the cusp of the second decade of new millennium, the situation has become graver than it was during the Cold War. Horizontal proliferation has become more threatening because of emergence of new nuclear actors like Israel, India and Pakistan possessing nukes and North Korea and Iran scrambling for acquring them. Any ar

Scams and Development By Dr Arvind Kumar Every other day a new scam is unveiled and the nation is held to ransom by political parties to capitalize on the issue. The nation had hardly recovered from the shock of CWG scam when 2-G Scam added salt to the wound and now we have S-Band scam. We may not earn the appelation of being economic superpower, we are sure to earn the notoriety of being the most corrupt nation on earth. Vested political interests and lenient laws provide incentives to the powers that be to play with public money and syphon off amount allocated for development. The poor nurture hopes of receiving some sops to alleviate the burden of poverty haunting them for generations, however, their dreams end in smoke when it unfolds that the development fund meant for uplift of the poor has been highjacked by already rich lobby. Coruption has seemingly become a ‘way of life’ for many and it has deepened its roots in almost all walks of life. There is dire need of revising

Urgency for Organic Farming According to a report published in Times of India dated 7 February 2011, a Dutch national, Tom Deiters, a native of Amsterdam in Holland, is visiting villages in Punjab to take stock of consequences of excessive fertilizer use. According to media reports, the excessive use of pesticides and chemicals has led to growing cancer incidence in toxic Punjab. Tom is prevailing upon the villagers to go in for safe food by growing pesticide-free grains. While asserting that many European Union countries have started practicing the organic farming model, Tom Deiters opines that even if large scale conversion takes time, at least the concept of organic gardens, organic kitchens should be started. What the Government of Punjab and the civil society should do is being done by a foreigner. Broadly speaking, organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control to maintain so

Sceptre of Paid News By Dr Arvind Kumar The sceptre of ‘Paid News’ haunting the media in India has been instrumental in eroding media’s credibility to some extent in public eyes. Another contributory factor quickening the process of erosion is that privately-owned media serving the interests of the owners has seldom discharged its responsibility to the society at large. The practice of media barons’ censoring news to suit their needs leave the readers and the audience helpless in distinguishing between paid news and routine news. In recent times, the media has come to enjoy too much power without accountability. How can a handful of media elite who hijacked the decision-making of millions be allowed to get away? Should they not be barred from reporting? Unless we act against them, we will soon have a “paid democracy.” The issue of paid news has not received the attention it deserves. Honesty is the first requisite for a journalist or a media house. We need a strong law and, perhap

World Cancer Day By Dr Arvind Kumar Each year 4th February is observed as World Cancer Day. World Cancer Day is part of the World Cancer Campaign, which responds to the Charter of Paris adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium on 4 February 2000. It called for a strong alliance between researchers, health-care professionals, patients, governments, industry partners and the media to fight cancer. 2011 is an exciting time which promises to be an important year with the UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) taking place in September this year. More than ever before there is a need for a concerted and coordinated fight against cancer, and we believe that World Cancer Day can play its part by providing an even bigger platform for your cancer messages. According to broad estimates, about 12.7 million people discover that they have cancer and of them, 7.6 million die. Two-thirds of these distressing deaths occur in low and middle income countries. The

Towards True Well-Being By Dr Arvind Kumar According to Manfred Max-Neef, the Chilean ecological economist, the spectrum from penury to wealth cannot be reduced to a single dimension. The Matrix of Human Needs, as developed by Manfred, refers to some nine distinct categories of needs: Subsistence, Protection, Affection, Understanding, Participation, Leisure, Creation, Identity, and Freedom. In his view–once our Subsistence needs have been met–the satisfaction of any particular need is independent of the satisfaction of any of the others. He does not view poverty as monolithic. In view of the fact that the realization of our full humanity entails the fulfillment all of these needs, the inability to satisfy any of them constitutes its own particular kind of poverty. After the fulfillment of Subsistence needs, the satisfaction of none of these other needs is ultimately circumscribed by the extent of one’s material possessions–or by the size of one’s wealth. Broadly speaking, there i

World Wetlands Day (WWD) By Dr Arvind Kumar Second February each year is observed as World Wetlands Day (WWD). It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The WWD was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning. Over the years, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular. Every year the Ramsar Convention selects a theme and raises awareness on specific types of wetlands or aspects of wetland management. For 2011 the theme selected is Wetlands and Forests which was chosen especially as 2011 is the UN International year of Forests. The slogan is simple but effective- Forests for water and wetlands-. This theme and slogan bring attention to the role th

Reforming UN Security Council By Dr Arvind Kumar Under the prevailing global developments, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), founded in 1946, has seemingly outlived its utility and there is a need for introducing thorough reforms in the powers and functions of this world body. Paradoxically, the Security Council can no more be trusted as a podium of justice for the world countries, specially the oppressed and defenseless nations which eye the assistance and patronage of the powerful and economically influential nations for tackling their political predicaments and crises, and showed that it merely pursues the interests of its small bloc of five permanent members and undemocratically discriminates against a multitude of countries who don't have a say in the policies which directly affects them. The UNSC has five permanent members – China, Russia, Britain, France and the United States – and 10 non-permanent members which are elected on a rotating basis and through th