Following is an interesting image taken by Mr. Rajesh Lalwani of BlogWorks, en route to Gurgaon.
Given the driving etiquette in our very cultured metros, the day is not far when this would be a real warning, I think :).
At the same time, given the LARGE number of vehicles (including the newer, cheaper ones) that are added to the National Capital Region (NCR) every day, I think the day is not far that this actually becomes a real warning!
The Oceanic Group (TOG), a non-profit society dedicated towards awareness building on Environment & Health issues had launched a Bimonthly Interactive Seminar Series on Climate Change (CC) on 4th June, 2007, in collaboration with the India Habitat Centre (IHC). The presentations at the seminars are to be edited and compiled in the form of a book to be launched on the next World Environment Day.
The fifth edition of this series will take place on Thursday, 28th February 2008.
Seminar Topic: ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Climate Change (CC)’
Date: 28th February, 2008
Time: 6.30 PM
Venue: Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
The fifth seminar will be chaired by
Mr. J.K. Dadoo,
Secretary, Department of Environment (DoE), Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Chairperson of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC)
and the distinguished speakers are
Mr. Deepak Mukerji
Head of Corporate Affairs, Shell India; and
Dr. Ajay Mathur
Director-General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency
The Programme would roughly be of 100 minutes and will conclude with a Q/A and Discussion Round.
For further information, please contact:
Govind Singh
98111 47754
Joint Secretary
Environment & Sustainable Development (ESD) Division
The Oceanic Group
Perviously on DelhiGreens:
Parivartan - a not-for-profit society working towards development of individual and institutional capacities in various thematic areas for development project management is launching new a training programme titled, ‘Institution Development for Enterprise Promotion’ .
This programme is designed for personnel in development agencies and projects; and development professionals involved in market related livelihood interventions. Parivartan’s initiatives are supported by knowledge inputs from Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd.; a leading training and development consultancy organisation.
Duration: 3 Days (17 - 19 March, 200 
Venue: New Delhi
Who should attend
The programme is designed for operational and middle level functionaries, practitioners and consultants involved in designing, implementation, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation of market related livelihood enhancement interventions.
Training Outcomes
The training is specifically aimed at developing individual and institutional capacities in building collectives of micro and small entrepreneurs to enhance negotiating capabilities and fostering linkages.
Specifically, the training outcomes would be:
Programme Fee
Fee for the programme is INR 6,000 per participant. Payments can be made through demand draft in favour of “Parivartan Samaj Sewa Samiti” payable at New Delhi.
Click here to download and read the Programme Flyer
For further information, contact:
Amrat Singh
Manager-Programmes
‘PARIVARTAN’
H-35 A, LGF, Kalkaji,
New Delhi-110019
Phone: +91-11-40560734, 65492502
Mobile: 09312510925
E-mail: contact@parivartan.org.in
Website: www.parivartan.org.in
Kartikeya Singh
kartikeya@delhigreens.org
“I really like Tagore’s poem about the sun,” said Liang Xu, an independent investment consultant and my new found Chinese friend. “Let my love, like sunlight, surround you and yet give you illumined freedom.” He put such emotion into the recitation of this verse that I sat speechless in the back of the cab: first, because a man in China was expressing his appreciation for Tagore, and secondly, because he was specifically recalling a poem mentioning the sun.
I was after all in Beijing for the Solar World Congress (SWC) sponsored by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), the Chinese Solar Energy Society (CSES), many Chinese solar companies, and supported by the Chinese government. This single experience could probably sum up what is beginning to happen in China. The country is waking up to address the need to invest in renewable energy technologies, especially when the demand for energy is stretching supplies of conventional fuels thin and the impact of pollution from use of abundant coal reserves has put China under international pressure. The latter being a key worry for Beijing because it is hosting the 2008 Olympic Games despite the city’s legendary air pollution. Certainly all eyes were on China during this event as over 1,000 delegates were present from 60 different nations.
There has been much hype regarding China’s emergence into the solar arena because of their manufacturing abilities. According to CNN, China “will become the world’s dominator in solar energy industry.” With some 300 manufacturers of solar photovoltaics and approximately 3000 manufacturers of solar collector technologies, China has propelled itself into the world’s largest manufacturer of solar technologies. This has in large part helped bring down the costs of solar products in places like Europe and the US. When asked about the irony of the fact that despite China having such a large number of manufacturers but most of the products being made for export to other countries, Head of Chinese Solar Energy Society simply brushed aside the question and continue to boast of China’s ranking of largest solar product manufacturer in the world. Furthermore, upon questioning of what concrete steps the Chinese government is taking to reduce CO2 emissions, the session was nervously concluded and the moderator of the session pushed for a concluding applause. Though all of this may make it seem like there is a thin veneer for the solar cause over the reality that in China’s development ambitions, solar is still but a blip in terms of the foreseeable energy mix—after all, China is set to become the world’s largest energy consumer by 2010 according to the International Energy Agency. Read the rest of this entry »
DelhiBird, in collaboration with the Department of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi, WWF-India, the School of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi and several other environment related institutions and organisations, is celebrating 24th February, 2008 as the BIG BIRD DAY!
The plan is to have a few teams start at different places in and around Delhi and then carry on to other places, in an attempt to cover the entire city. The idea is to record as many bird species in and around Delhi for the day. The tally would be of all the teams to see how many species we get collectively.
Two years ago the count was 236, last year it was 188.
Each team will start in the morning at a pre-determined place as per the list below. Anyone can join any team for the walk. From there the team would then go to the next place of their choice. In the evening the teams meet over dinner and discuss the day.
Rules:
1. Birders can start as early as they want.
2. Calls are not to be included.
A checklist has been prepared especially for this event by Bikram. He is also the official score and time keeper.
DelhiBird is looking for other members to suggest places where they could start. And those who can’t join a team must still do some bird watching where ever you are and send us your list by the evening. And even those who could not get out in the day should still join us in the evening for dinner to hear the days account.
Those joining the contributory dinner are to inform Wing Cdr. Vijay Kumar Sethi at Mobile 9810134504 so he can make the arrangements and book the place. The cost is Rs 350/- per head and the venue is Vishranti, CRPF Guest House, Behind VIMHANS, Nehru Nagar, Lajpat Nagar.
Route: As you go towards Ashram from Lajpat Nagar, just as you cross the flyover, there is a turning to the left in front of the IOC petrol pump. Take the cut and turn left on the road parallel to the ring road. The road turns to right after 50 yards. Go straight. You will reach Vishranti, where the road ends. References are, DAV College and VIMHANS.
Once you have finished. Please deposit your sightings to Bikram at:
AB 2, Ist Floor, Community Centre
Safderjung Enclave, New Delhi 27
It is next to Kamal Cinema. The office will be open from 4 PM. Snacks and soft drinks will be available. Those who want to freshen up there can do so before proceeding for dinner. Those who cannot come to the office can email their lists to biks@vsnl.com or biks.grewal@gmail. The lists can be faxed to 26109691. The deadline for receiving lists is 7 PM at the above address, after that please carry your list to dinner.
The team leaders and the starting points:
· Suresh Sharma - Bhindawas (Meet at Bhindawas at 6.45 am.
Mobile 09896253754)
· Sajeev - Asola and Tughlakabad (Meet at Asola main gate
at 6.45 am. Mobile 9871220884)
· Anand - Dadri Wetlands (Meet at the Amity School
in Noida at 6 am. Mobile 9818261909)
· Anshuman - KG Wetlands, Palwal (Confirm meeting
point with Anshuman. Mobile 981855043
· AMS - Sultanpur (Meeting at Sultanpur main gate
at 6.45 am. Mobile 9811107990)
· Dr. Oswal/ Ranjit Lal/ Faiyaz - Yamuna Biodiversity Park.
(Meet at the main gate at 6.45 am. Mobile 9810030809)
· Team WWF Lima (Schools Kids) - Lodhi Garden, Zoo and then
the Yamuna (Meet at the WWF Office at 6.30 am. Mobile 9810839907)
· Surya Prakash - JNU (Meet at the main gate of JNU at 6.30 am.
Mobile 9810408330
· Nitu – Okhla Bird Park (Meet at the banyan by the River at 7 am)
Mobile 9810376153
· Professor Mihir Deb – University of Delhi, Kamla Nehru Ridge
(Meet at the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station at 6.45 am.)
For further information, please contact:
Govind Singh
98111 47754
Coordinator (Volunteer) for the day!
To be a part of the regular Sunday Bird Walks, join here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/delhibird/
Legend has it, that if a person spots a Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in JNU, he either stays there for long or keeps returning!
Sambodhi - an initiative catering to research and allied service needs of the social sector for design and development of state-of-art knowledge ware products and provision of knowledge-based services is organising a training programme for trainers!
Programme title: ‘Qualitative Analytics for Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation’
Duration: 3 days, From 5th to 7th March 2008
Venue: New Delhi
The training has been designed as a participatory programme that would build-upon the experiential learning of participants. The pedagogy focuses on interactive group learning and aims both at knowledge development and skill upgradation through peer learning. Training material developed by leading subject experts augments classroom learning.
Specifically, the training is aimed at:
Upon completion of the training programme, participants would be able to appreciate, select and apply appropriative participative research tools and techniques for collecting; at the same time, process, analyze and interpret qualitative data for informed decision making incident to the M&E system.
Fees: The fee for training programme is Rs. 8,000/- per participant which includes tuition fee, reading material, lunch at the training venue and other training expenses.
For further details, please contact:
Rajata Nayak,
Senior Executive,
Sambodhi Research & Communications,
H-35 A, LGF, Kalkaji New Delhi-110019
+91-11-40560734
Greenpeace’s Ban the Bulb campaign has been around for sometime now. The demand for a complete ban on incandecent light bulbs and a switchover to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) has had mixed reactions so far. Though, there is no denying that since 95% of the energy used by an incandescent bulb is wasted as heat making it a hazardous substance and a contributor to climate change, many have raised concern over the fact that CFLs contain mercury vapours.
However, with respect to Climate Change, Greenpeace finds that to be a relatively smaller problem that can be tackled. Mercury is toxic and therefore Governments must implement laws that enforce recycling of CFLs and also push manufacturers to find safer alternatives and phase out the use of mercury. Also, Greenpeace is demanding that the Government implement a take back and safe recycling policy for CFLs.
Consequently, led by Bidhan and aimed at collecting media and people support over the issue, Greenpeace India carried out a silent protest march at Jantar Mantar, six days before the Republic Day. Gandhgiri was used as the tool and a bouquet of flowers was presented to the Power Minister till 26th January requesting him to initiate the phase out of the bulb and banning its use completely.
People from all over Delhi, including students from JNU, School of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, etc. participated in the march to ensure that their voices were heard.
The Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), New Delhi has announced a country wide Essay and Painting Contest inviting entries from school, college and university students.
Minimum word limit:
For school students: 800 to 1000 words.
For university and college students: 2000 to 2500 words.
Painting contest is open to school students only.
Prizes (for both essay and painting contest)
All participants will be given participation certificates.
Entries can be sent by post or through e-mail with complete address, along with a copy of the institution identity card duly attested by 29th February, 2008 to
Essay and Painting Contest Co-coordinator,
Control Arms Foundation of India
B-5/146, (First Floor) Safdarjung Enclave,
New Delhi-110029.
Ph. 011- 46018541, 011-26266234
Email: paramjeetbernad@gmail.com, contact@cafi-online.org
Chat on 18th February 2008
Log in to IndianWildlifeclub.com for an online chat on “Taking Responsibility for One’s Carbon Emissions” between 7.30 PM (IST) and 8.30 PM (IST) on 18th January 2008.
The chat will be moderated by Dr. Emmanuel D’Silva, who has has been working among indigenous people in Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh for over a decade helping to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor through improved environmental management involving women’s self-help groups and village forest committees (known in Andhra Pradesh as VSS).
He is a Visiting Scientist at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) where he serves as Co-Leader on Water and Energy Pilot Project in India and West Africa. Previously, he worked as a staff economist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, covering issues of environment, agriculture, rural development and forestry projects in Asia, Africa and the Middle East for 15 years.
Dr D’Silva believes in community action. He feels that small steps taken by individuals and citizens’ groups on combating climate change can have a big impact on our planet.
Click Here to reach the chat room on the said day and time, after registering as a member.
You can also click HERE to see transcripts of the earlier chat sessions.
Previously on DelhiGreens:
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