Category: Sustainable future
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Sustainable cities for a developed India- the perennial issue of water logging
A single day of heavy convectional rainfall in any city today is sufficient to cripple the city life for the next 1-2 days. There would be water loggings here and there, overflowing drains and sewerage system in every locality and heavy traffic jams. In summation, the situation paints a very sorry state of affairs. There…
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Human species- are we really the smartest or the dumbest?
I once read somewhere that we humans are a very strange species. As first, we cut trees and then make papers out of the tree bark, and then write “DON’T CUT TREES” on that paper itself. The problem here is not that we are not aware of the problems facing us. The actual problem is…
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Does India of tomorrow has a place for each and every aspiring “Alok” out there?
There is a little boy aged about 8 years. He lives in an orphanage in the outskirts of the city of Delhi, as his parents died in a car accident when he was very young. He was brought to the orphanage by a good samaritan and he has lived there since. He polishes shoes of…
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Self-reliance and self-sufficiency: The bane to world economy
A prelude to GDP vs GNH debate Sometime ago, I read a beautiful analogy of the economic activity and the associated circulation of money. Let me share that with you. The economy of the world, in general, and the economy of a country, in particular, wants you to buy a car instead of a bicycle!…
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Water, water everywhere. Not a drop to drink!
Of all the issues that I hold dear to my heart on the subject of sustainability, water availability, conservation and its proper usage is a special one. On the face of it, it may seem a very trivial issue to many, but somehow it is not as trivial as it seems and no one should…
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The Government and the business- the inherent anomaly!
With the inauguration of the new government, the US moved with the pace of light to establish a new government department called DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), to fulfill long-cherished pre-poll promise. And with the world’s wealthiest businessman (a non-government and non-elected person) as its head, the DOGE is turning out to be a Frankenstein…
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Is USA the only country doing charity? Or it is just drum-beating about it?
The history behind Official Development Assistance (ODA) Very recently, after the rebirth of Trump’s second presidency, the US government is gung-ho about the withdrawal of development assistance provided through USAID (US Agency for International Development) to various developing and under-developed countries. And it has been branded as they were doing charity at the expense of…
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The road to sustainable development goes through empowerment
If you are asked what does one student need for obtaining good education? The answer would be pretty simple. A willing and keen student, a knowledgeable and righteous teacher, and the right environment. This pretty much sums up the basic tenets of a good education system. Now, apply this to the society. What does a…
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Race to the bottom- for- race to the top
Some people in this world are amazing visionaries. They observe the world and make prophecies which hold true even after they are no more. One of such legends was the poet Sahir Ludhianvi, who wrote beautiful lines in mid-20th century, which goes as follows: ये महलों, ये तख्तो, ये ताजों की दुनियाँ ये इंसान के…
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An urban landscape captured by pigeons- jaaye to jaaye kahan!
When you stand in your balcony, amongst other beautiful things like greenery and gardens, you can’t help but notice one peculiar thing always without fail. That is, the presence of a ubiquitous species called pigeon. More specifically, it is the blue rock pigeon. Even if you do not recognize any bird species, you cannot deny…