Read the Burning Question to know the scorching truth
— Shashwat DC For far too long, we have been contemplating the consequences of our addiction to oil. But much of our concerns have been cantered around the focal point,…
Breaking News: CSR kills Sustainability in India
— Shashwat DC It is often said that India is biggest test-ground or the toughest challenge-spot for any idea or product. Over the very many years, so many products and…
Understanding the economics of sustainable development — Online & Free
— Ankur Verma For long I pondered over one particular question “Why have we developed the way we did?” “Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith provides a fitting answer as…
Did you forget the green stuff, Mr. Finance Minister?
— Shashwat DC It is a rather known fact, that the current NDA government places development over environment. Not surprisingly, there was little expectation in terms of ‘green-ness’ of the…
Green beginnings for Indian Railways
Typically, Railway Budgets every year make news for a couple of things; new trains launched (typically from the Minister’s constituency), more sops, and so on. But when the new union…
Delhi’s tragic turn: Cheaper power, toxic air
— Shashwat DC Delhi has been reeling under the worst form of environmental pollution, there’s always been fog and now there’s thickening smog. In a recent report by World Health…
Sustainability champions hope for a ‘green’ Union Budget
Every year, before the Union Minister of Finance unveils the budget, there are lot of hopes and expectations that get listed. From analysts to layman, everyone has something or the…
Why Suzlon failed!
— Shashwat DC It was in October 2005, a little less than ten years ago, that Tulsi R Tanti, a commerce graduate and a diploma holder in mechanical engineering made…
Marrying Sustainability & Business
They say to maintain something is more difficult than starting up, be it business, an image, a standard or an organization. The same theory applies when you’ve turned your business…
Dear Mr. Minister; can we have a ‘Greener’ Railway this year?
— Shashwat DC Every year, as the month of February advances, excitement starts building in anticipation for the Union Budgetary announcements. Experts, analysts, journalists, and even the laymen, start speculating…
Eating @ (Cafe) Roots
– Shashwat DC While, we as Indians are much aware and sensitised about the need and potential of solar energy, there are hardly any places that we actually come across…
Who’s going to pay for the Smart Cities in India?
— Shashwat DC The whole euphoria for the smart city was kicked up when Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Commerce was presenting the interim budget in 2014. Announcing the allocation…
That’s O for Obama & S for Smartability
India: Apart from all the ceremonial gravity and bilateral effervescence, the heads that wear the crowns in India and US carried a lot more weight than what camera shutters could…
Animal quest: How do they know before disaster strikes
— Shashwat DC That day, Bozo was very unusually disturbed. The Pomerian dog used to be a fairly joyful and playful bugger, but I well remember he was very different back…
For Goddess’ sake; someone stop this bloody massacre!
— Shashwat DC Every five years, a macabre and gruesome ritual takes place in the in the Bariyapur village in Nepal. In the name of the local goddess, Gadhimai, there…
Are we Indians learning the lessons nature is teaching us?
— A ‘Spirit of the Forest’ So the writing on the wall has become clearer. The calamity of Jammu & Kashmir follows the Uttarakhand calamity the very following year. The…
“The problem with India is that it is developing in an imitative manner”
The West has for centuries been praised for its latest technologies, high raised buildings, magnificient automobiles etc. But in the name of development, they depleted resources, usurped fertile agricultural land for construction, emitted and increased greenhouse gases etc. Therefore many have this notion that to emulate the West, me must follow their unsustainable paradigm of development. “India needs to be leaders instead of followers,” Says Kartikeya Sarabhai.” We therefore need to think of solutions which have not yet been discovered. Kartikeya Sarabhai proposes education as a means to hasten this process. “We should not be seeking to find out how to build a flyover, for instance, but how to build public transport to avoid pollution and congestion.” Sarabhai feels that the choice for developing countries is to use a “leapfrog” approach into something that is aimed at the future, earning from these experiences rather than imitating them. So the difference between learning and imitating is really the crux of the discussion over what education needs to be.
With a Tweet & a Like, spreading sustainability alike
— Dwayne Baraka Social Media can help transform your Sustainability programmes and commitment into something that creates engagement and loyalty from customers and employees. Unfortunately it can also kill your…
Let’s talk Materiality!
— Arvind Sharma Over the past few years, the term of materiality has gained much traction in the sustainability domain. While it has been around for quite some time, and has…
Flying in the right direction
Integrating sustainability into business processes in one challenge, communication it with the stake-holders from share-holders to employees is another thing altogether. Many an organisations while doing in great in former,…