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New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Harmful impact of obesity needs to be taught in schools: Pradhan
NEW DELHI: Educational institutions countrywide must make students aware of the harmful effects of obesity on health, said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while launching the second phase of the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0' campaign and a microsite for it at PM Shri school on Thursday. Persuading students to become warriors in the environmental campaign, the minister also appealed to the public to plant 10 crore saplings across the country in honour of their mothers. 'Plant them in your school, house, village or anywhere,' he said. Referring to the country's waste management problem, he pointed out, 'India's 140-crore population generates 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste daily. This is equivalent to 26,000 economy cars.' However, compared to the rest of the world, India has never been a polluting nation, he added. The minister also launched special modules for this initiative, including Eco Clubs, as part of the Mission LIFE web portal.
India Gazette
7 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
"Sindoor has now become a symbol of India's valour and national identity": Delhi University VC Yogesh Singh
New Delhi [India], June 5 (ANI): On World Environment Day, the University of Delhi organised a tree planting drive. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh planted a 'Sindoor' sapling to begin the event. He was joined by Dean of Colleges Prof. Balram Pani, Director South Campus Prof. Shri Prakash Singh, Finance Officer Girish Ranjan, and Chairperson Culture Council and PRO Anoop Lather. They planted a Sindoor sapling at the VC Lounge in the Vice Regal Lodge. Speaking on the occasion, VC Prof. Yogesh Singh said that the Sindoor is important not just for religious or commercial reasons but also for its valuable medicinal properties. He added that today, 'Sindoor' symbolises India's courage and national pride. Referring to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, he shared that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian armed forces, through 'Operation Sindoor,' powerfully demonstrated the nation's strength and evolving defence strategy. He noted that this action reflected India's strategic capabilities and firm leadership on the global stage. The Vice-Chancellor stated that on this year's World Environment Day, advancing the vision of Mission LIFE, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' 2.0, with a target of planting 10 crore trees. He urged students to actively participate in the campaign and plant at least one tree each. Prof. Yogesh Singh emphasised that this initiative should not remain a mere formality; rather, trees must be nurtured and cared for after planting. He added that trees enhance greenery and purify our environment by releasing oxygen, making them especially vital in cities like Delhi. On this occasion, Prof. Rupam Kapoor, DU's Garden Committee Chairperson, expressed gratitude to all participants. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ek Ped Maa ke naam, an initiative that combines environmental conservation with a tribute to mothers, on June 5, 2024, exactly one year ago. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, at least 80 crore saplings were planted between June and September, through collaborative efforts from government agencies, local communities, and various stakeholders. The Prime Minister also greeted people today, urging them to deepen their efforts to protect the planet and complimenting people working at the grassroots level for environmental conservation. (ANI)
The Wire
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Five Stark Instances Counter Environment Minister's ‘Democracy Walking Alongside Development' Remark
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Government Five Stark Instances Counter Environment Minister's 'Democracy Walking Alongside Development' Remark Aathira Perinchery 47 minutes ago From democratic safeguards falling through to local communities not being consulted as stakeholders for various developmental projects, democracy and democratic dissent do not seem to apply to the environment in today's India. Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now Bengaluru: On May 29, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav spoke at the conclave of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), at a programme that was themed on 'Building Trust – India First' and how climate, the environment and sustainability play a crucial role in this, with regard to industry. Yadav called India a 'land of development-oriented nature worshippers', and said that India's is a 'story' of 'democracy walking alongside development', in the context of India's economy rising 'ahead' of Japan, the United Kingdom and France. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made environmental protection a 'participative process', he remarked, referring to Mission LIFE, a programme implemented by the current NDA government. India's climate action and policy are built on building trust, and ensuring that India comes first, he said. While Yadav dropped all the 'right' words and phrases in his speech – climate resilience, commitment to sustainability, and India being a voice of the Global South – there's mounting evidence to show that India does not walk the talk when it comes to some of these aspects. This is especially true in matters pertaining to the environment, and the ministry that Yadav heads, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Here are five instances where democracy and democratic dissent do not seem to apply to the environment in today's India, especially with regard to developmental projects. 1. Ignoring dissent about the Nicobar projects and democratic safeguards falling through A 'disaster', 'death knell', 'catastrophic': these are some of the adjectives that critics have used to define the slew of projects proposed by the Union government on Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The projects, costing more than Rs 72,000 crore, involve constructing an international transshipment terminal, a greenfield airport, a township and a power plant in the 970 sq km-small Great Nicobar Island that is surrounded by vibrant coral reefs and is the southernmost in the Nicobar group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. The National Green Tribunal, India's apex green court, has already ruled in favour of the projects despite the grave ecological concerns that social and science researchers have warned will affect both the indigenous communities living on the island (the Shompen and the Nicobarese, who are listed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) and its endemic and unique biodiversity. The Union government has also already denotified a part of the tribal reserve which had been set aside for the indigenous communities; in 2021, the Union environment ministry under Yadav denotified the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for the projects too. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration, in a recent tender notification, has also claimed that gram sabha consent – which the Forest Conservation Act (1980) had mandated as necessary for such projects – will not be applicable to the villages in the area, or the indigenous communities living here, thanks to the recent amendments to the Act that exempts projects for 'national security' among others, from gram sabha consents. Conservationists and expert groups were quick to point out this loophole when the amendments reached Parliament for discussion in 2023. However, the government did not follow due course on these, and the committee appointed to look into the amendments bulldozed through the recommendations and cautions that these groups highlighted, passing the new Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam in 2023. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav speaks during the 24th edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2025), in New Delhi, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Photo: PTI 2. Anger brews in Arunachal courtesy the Siang mega dam, but the government is turning a blind eye Protests are gathering steam in Arunachal Pradesh's Siang district and its adjoining areas against the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. This ~11,000 megawatt hydropower dam that India plans to build on the Siang river in northeastern Arunachal, just as it enters India from China, is touted as a response to China building its own mega dam upstream on the Siang. However, experts as well as local residents have repeatedly noted that the concern that water flow will decrease in the Siang after China's dam is constructed does not rise because the Siang is also fed by streams on Indian territory. Local communities have reiterated, time and again, that they do not want the dam as it will submerge their homes and agricultural lands, erasing their cultural identities. However, their demand has fallen on deaf ears: the state government has repeatedly deployed armed forces in the area, most recently over the past week to forcibly conduct a pre-feasibility study for the project. Villagers took to the streets in hundreds, even burning a hanging bridge at Beging in Siang district last week in an effort to prevent the army from reaching the area. And yet the Union government turns a blind eye: armed forces still occupy these areas, and the state has filed complaints against an activist and lawyer, Ebo Mili, for allegedly spearheading these protests. 3. Cutting trees, displacing people, diverting land: There's nothing that fosters sustainability or climate resilience here In his speech at the CII on May 29, Yadav talked of climate resilience. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines climate resilience as the 'capacity of social, economic and ecosystems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance'. Resilience includes adaptation abilities of people or communities to deal with climate change-related events such as floods and droughts. Yadav, in his speech, said that India's climate policy is about green energy access to its people, and keeping our skies blue and our oceans clean; and that India remains the most trusted partner for the global world, for, among others, its 'unwavering commitment for a sustainable world'. One baseline to foster both climate resilience and sustainability is to protect existing natural ecosystems and wild spaces, as Yadav pointed out. India's role as voice as the global South is supported by three interlinked drivers, he said, one of them being 'protecting natural ecosystems and strengthening resilience'. However, evidence from Chhattisgarh shows how the government is robbing people and local communities here of their existing sustainable ways of life and their ability to be climate resilient by permitting corporations to fell trees and mine coal in the very forests that people here depend on. In Chhattisgarh's Hasdeo Arand, one of the last-remaining largest contiguous forests in the country, indigenous communities are still protesting the allocation of their forests as a coal block for mining by the Union government. Activists and citizen groups have alleged that at least 15,000 trees were illegally felled in the Korba and Sarjuga districts here to carry out coal mining in the Parsa East Kete Basan coal blocks by a subsidiary of the Adani Group for its client, the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RRVUN, the power generation company of Rajasthan state). Villagers claimed they never gave their consent for mining but trees were felled in Parsa anyway. Violent clashes between residents and police followed. Later, an investigation by the Chhattisgarh State Scheduled Tribes Commission found that clearances for mining in Parsa block were given based on forged gram sabha consent documents. Through petitions filed by activists, the matter is being heard at both the Chhattisgarh high court and the Supreme Court. This is one reason it cannot take up the petitions linked to the issue at the National Green Tribunal, the Tribunal said in an order on May 28 this year. In the judgment, accessed by The Wire, the Tribunal also added that it had already heard related cases and asked a joint committee to submit a 'factual and action taken' report. On perusal of the report, the Tribunal said that the committee had not reported any violation. In a previous judgment, the Tribunal had noted that authorities had taken 'due permissions' for the cutting of the trees and thus disposed of the cases related to the tree felling submitted to the Tribunal. With the apex green court washing its hands off the issue, reprieve for local communities will now hinge on what the Chhattisgarh high court and Supreme Court rule on these cases. 4. Rights of forest dwellers remain on paper, many fear eviction from their homes In 2006, India introduced the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, also called the Forest Rights Act. It aimed to recognise and protect the pre-existing rights of indigenous communities who depend on wild spaces for sustenance and livelihoods, acknowledging that they also play a crucial role in conservation. Though hailed as a landmark legislation, this Act still remains mostly on paper nearly two decades later. Authorities of several states have not granted rights to many applicants: their claims have been rejected, making them vulnerable to relocation out of protected areas and their homes without their consent. According to a 2013 estimate, six lakh forest dwellers have already been displaced from their forest homes. In June last year, the National Tiger Conservation Authority – which implements and oversees Project Tiger across the country, and operates under Yadav's Union environment ministry – sent an order to wildlife wardens in all tiger states asking them to expedite the relocation of 591 villages, comprising 64,801 families, from all tiger reserves. Thousands of tribes from tiger reserves across the country have been protesting against this impending forced eviction since then. According to one report, the government has identified at least 5.5 lakh Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers who live in 50 tiger reserves across India for involuntary relocation by Project Tiger to create 'inviolate areas' for tigers. Petitioners had also filed cases in the Supreme Court regarding why the families whose claims had been rejected under the FRA had not been ousted from parks yet. Though the Supreme Court was to hear the crucial case pertaining to this in April, this has not happened so far. Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty 5. Ladakh's protests for the Sixth Schedule to protect their environment In February last year, the people of Ladakh strengthened their already-consistent demand for statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule through district shutdowns, peaceful protests, indefinite fasts and long marches. Being included in the Schedule would grant Ladakh – currently a union territory in 2019 after it was separated from the state of Jammu and Kashmir – tribal status, giving local communities not only higher autonomy but also means to safeguard their unique cultural identities. Two important political groups, the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, backed these demands; and climate activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk who hails from Ladakh also spearheaded several protests and 'climate fasts', urging the Union government to uphold its word that it would give statehood to Ladakh, among other things (the BJP had promised this in its election manifesto in 2019). Among the prime reasons for these demands has been the fragile environment of Ladakh. With local communities already witnessing the impacts of climate change in the area, there has been stiff resistance against Union government-backed projects such as a 10-gigawatt solar energy project in Pang in the Changthang which would take up at least 150 square kilometres of prime grazing areas, and a geo-thermal energy plant (which is currently stalled due to technical issues). With Ladakh being rich in critical mineral resources, it could also witness mining for minerals such as uranium and lithium. In April 2024, Wangchuk and Ladakh's local leaders called for a 'Pashmina March' to highlight how indigenous pastoralists are losing large tracts of prime pasture land in the Changthang – a high-altitude meadow where local communities graze their indigenous sheep, the wool of which is used to make prized pashmina shawls – to corporates who want to develop projects including energy projects. In response to protests, the Union government came down hard on people; it imposed curfews in Leh and other areas on multiple occasions. In October last year, tens of climate activists from Ladakh led by Wangchuk marched from Leh to New Delhi's Rajghat, in an effort to remind the Union government again about its promises to implement the Sixth Schedule in the Union Territory – only to be detained as soon as they crossed the Singhu border and entered Delhi. Is India really a democracy, many of them asked, shocked by the display of force on a peaceful march. As the news spread, people from across India lent support to the Ladakhis, urging the government to lend them an ear. Finally, the detainees were released and the Union government relented; it said that it would hold talks with Ladakh's leaders to come to a conclusion about this. Talks are still ongoing at a snail's pace, as Ladakh's local leaders and the Union government rally on several points of discussion. Meanwhile, work linked to setting up energy parks and transmission lines in Ladakh continues. On May 28, the Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID) – a government of India enterprise and the country's largest electric power transmission utility – invited bids to establish a pilot project at the Pang HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) station in Ladakh. The project involves constructing a 2,100 kilowatt off-grid solar photovoltaic power plant along with a 300 KW/1,200 kWh Battery Energy Storage System, with a provision for grid integration in the future, at a cost of about Rs. 137 million. On May 22, it had also invited bids to set up a transmission line from Pang to Sarchu (on the border of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh), associated with the transmission system for the evacuation of renewable power from energy parks in Leh (listed under the 5 GW Leh-Kaithal transmission corridor). The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments. 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