01Cover.indd 7 Bangladesh: Taka 58.00 / Pakistan: Rs 58.00 / Nepal: Rs 38.00 / Sri Lanka: Rs 117.00 / Maldives: Rf 28.00 Bhutan: Ngultrum 24 / Rest of the World (South): US $2.70 / Rest of the World (North): US $3.40 DownToEarth 1-15 MARCH, 2015 SCIENCE ANDENVIRONMENTFORTNIGHTLY bubble Boom or maintain its bullrun? like never before. thesector Can isgrowingBiotechnology industry

Subscriber copy, not for resale ` 45.00 23/02/15 4:34 PM ch 2015 COURSE ASSIGNMENT (online) UNEARTH http://bit.ly/1AWxoby (print) UNEARTH http://bit.ly/1xaucM9 Report, write, edit, design and learn hands-on to produce your own magazine. FOR DETAILS http://www.cseindia.org/node/1701 ELIGIBILITY Open to 25 young professionals and college students from any stream from India. FEE ` 26,000/– this covers cost of the course, food and stay (shared accommodation). KAMLA CHOWDHRY FELLOWSHIPS Will be awarded to a few selected candidates to support their stay in Delhi. HOW TO APPLY Candidates are required to send their latest CV/resume with a short covering note to the email addresses given below E-MAIL Sharmila Sinha [email protected]/ [email protected] LAST DATE 30th Mar . include a to explore commu- within Delhi State of India’s Environment State of India’s Poverty & Biomass Economy Ecological rights & natural resource management Land and its use: Agriculture, food security Conservation & conflict: Wildlife management debate Urban growth challenges: & waste management, Water air pollution & mobility Sustainable industrialization & public health concerns Climate change & global environmental governance LEARNING MODE Classroom lectures, case study presentation, discussions, and lot more. Interrogate policy makers and activists. Hear leading academics, policy pundits, lawyers, grassroots activists and members of CSE's research and advocacy teams speak. Several field trips week-long trip in nity-led eco-restoration efforts rural India and MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION English This interdisciplinary month- This interdisciplinary long summer certificate course allows Indian participants to and critically understand evaluate issues that lie at the & interface of environment poverty, development, equity & justice. democracy, COURSE MODULES ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ FROM NON METRO CITIES FOR STUDENTS SPECIAL OFFER Certificate Course on the Policies, Politics and Practices of Environmental Politics Certificate Course on the Policies, 2015 June 1 - 30, New Delhi, Management in India, Kothi village, Manali in Himachal Pradesh, 7700 feet above sea level CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT CENTRE FOR SCIENCE New Delhi-110 062 Area, Institutional Tughlakabad 41, +91 9818482018 Mobile: 91-11-29955879 Fax: 219); 91-11 40616000 (Ext: Ph: [email protected] / [email protected] E-mail: www.cseindia.org; Website: the training and education hub of CSE the training Training Institute (AAETI) Training Anil Agarwal Environment AGENDA FOR SURVIVAL FOR SURVIVAL AGENDA

march15, 2015 Down To Earth IFC EDITOR’S PAGE WALK THE TALK ON CARBON TAX, MR FINANCE MINISTER

UDGET 2015, presented by Finance Minister Arun to maintain this “carbon tax”, even when the price of petrol and diesel Jaitley, has a first. In it, India has accepted that it has increases in the international market. But it is also a fact that the a de-facto carbon tax—on petroleum products and price of these fuels is lower today and as far as the consumer is con- dirty coal. Arguably, the only big green initiative of this cerned, the signal to change consumption is weak and inadequate. budget is the increase of cess on coal—from `100 per Therefore, not only does the government require to tax these Btonne to `200 per tonne. But the question is: is this carbon tax, polluting fuels, it also requires to use the tax funds and much more imposed on the carbon content of fuel, doing what it should—reduce to provide infrastructure to wean us away from cars or using roads greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change? to transport goods. What is bad is budget 2015 is doing the re- In other words, is there a design behind the carbon tax to ensure we verse. It says it will set aside `4 per litre of the excise duty on petrol move beyond polluting fossil fuels? and diesel for a dedicated road cess. This tunnel The budget followsfrom the Economic vision of viewing infrastructure for transport as Survey, which states that high price on diesel and just “roads” is regressive. Instead, what is needed petrol are important price signals to limit con- is to reinvent mobility so that it moves goods and

sumption and, hence, CO2 emissions. In 2014, people, and not vehicles. The fact is that budget taking advantage of the global fall in fuel pric- 2015 has recognised that this excise duty is a car- es, subsidy or under-recovery has gone and the bon tax, which is putting a price on each tonne of

government has increased excise duty on both CO2 emitted. Now this tax must be used to help petrol and diesel. So even though fuel is cheap- shift to less carbon-intensive ways of production. er, the tax component is higher. The Economic We also know that the health costs of air Survey estimates that based on emission fac- pollution are very high. Budget 2015 does little tors, currently, India imposes an implicit carbon to address this concern. It does not say that the

tax of US $140 per tonne of CO2 on petrol and excise duty collected on dirty fuel will be used to US $64 on diesel. This is substantial. upgrade refinery technology so that we can get The Economic Surveyalso estimates that clean fuel and breathe easy. It is also a fact that the cess of `100 per tonne of coal is equivalent to a carbon tax of even though the government is no longer subsidising diesel, its price

US $1 per tonne of CO2. It argues that this cess should be increased remains lower than that of petrol, mainly because of differential

so that it can lead to CO2 reduction and also better reflect the health levels of taxation. So, even though there has been a decline in the cost of emissions from coal-fired power plants. It calculates that a number of diesel private cars being sold, it is not enough to make a three-fold increase from the current rate would lead to an annu- dent in pollution levels. Therefore, what is needed is to tax diesel ve-

al CO2 emission reduction of 129 million tonnes—this is equal to hicles to equalise the price differential. seven per cent of India’s current emissions. A five-fold increase in This is also the case with coal cess. The government now aims to the cess would equalise price of domestic coal with international and use this cess to clean the Ganga or build toilets. All this is important

would contribute to annual CO2 emission reduction of 214 million but takes us away from the objective of moving away from using pol- tonnes, which is 11 per cent of India’s annual emissions. luting fuels or cleaning emissions from thermal power. In budget 2015, the finance minister has opted to take the What is needed is to walk the talk. Not just talk the talk.  slow road and has doubled the cess on coal to balance the need to tax pollution and the price of power in his words. He also mentions that India’s de-facto carbon tax on most petroleum products compares with international norms. But is this tax an adequate signal to bring about change? Let’s take petrol and diesel. The fact is that the government has increased the tax on fuel because it is convenient. It will be important

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 3

03Editors.indd 3 02/03/15 12:59 PM Down To Earth ON THE WEB SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT FORTNIGHTLY WHAT'S HOT

FOUNDER EDITOR Anil Agarwal EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Sunita Narain SPECIAL COVERAGE MANAGING EDITOR Richard Mahapatra ASSOCIATE EDITORS Union Budget Vibha Varshney, Kaushik Das Gupta, Archana Yadav, Aruna P Sharma 2015-16 MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Arnab Pratim Dutta The first full-fledged CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ajit Bajaj budget of the Narendra GRAPHIC EDITOR Sorit Gupto Modi government has REPORTING TEAM come after promises of a Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava, "transformational" policy Suchitra M, Aparna Pallavi, Anupam document. A cse-dte virtual Chakravartty, Alok Kumar Gupta, Jitendra Choubey, Kundan Pandey, Jyotsna Singh roundtable along with experts in the field analyses COPY DESK Snigdha Das, Rajat Ghai, Jemima Rohekar, what the budget has to offer Aditya Misra, Vani Manocha, Rajit Sengupta, for inclusive growth and Moushumi Sharma sustainable development. DESIGN TEAM Chaitanya Chandan, Shri Krishan, Raj Kumar Singh, Tarique Aziz SPECIAL FEATURE BLOG PHOTOGRAPHER Vikas Choudhary PHOTO LIBRARY Anil Kumar 67 years of budget-making Unlike Delhi, WEB TEAM Turkey's largest city Rajendra Rawat, Jaidev Sharma Istanbul has been PRODUCTION designed for people, Rakesh Shrivastava, Gundhar Das not cars, says Anupam INFORMATION AND RESEARCH ASSISTANCE Srivastava Kiran Pandey www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in team POPULAR CONSULTING EDITORS Chandra Bhushan, Anumita Roychowdhury On web vol 23, no 20; Total No of pages 60 Biggest solar plant in Editorial, subscriptions and advertisements: Society for Environmental Communications, Northeast begins power 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Down To Earth explores of many policy makers, generation New Delhi 110 062, Phone: 91-11- 29955124, how India's biggest ranging from measures 29956110, 29956394, 29956399 Fax: 91-11-29955879. financial policy document to enhance foodgrain On Facebook Email: [email protected] has evolved over the years. production and industrial © 2005 Society for Environmental Communications. Sea that isn't All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction Since it was first presented growth to boosting in any manner is prohibited. Printed and published by for the period August 15, economic liberalisation, Sunita Narain on behalf of Society for Environmental On Twitter Communications. Printed at International Print-o-Pac 1947 to March 31, 1948, incentives for software Jan Dhan Yojana: the fine Limited, B-204, 205, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New the budget has reflected exporters and social Delhi-110020 india and published at 41, Tughlakabad print Modi did not disclose Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062. concerns and priorities spending. To subscribe, sms 'dte Subscribe' to 56070 or visit www.downtoearth.org.in/subscribe

FOR ADVERTISEMENT CONTACT INFOGRAPHIC Jyoti Ghosh [email protected] FOR SUBSCRIPTION CONTACT Decoding Aam Aadmi K C R Raja [email protected] Party's manifesto COVER DESIGN Ajit Bajaj What the Aam Aadmi Party has COVER ILLUSTRATION Tarique Aziz promised in its manifesto for a clean and green Delhi

Down To Earth editorial does not endorse the content of advertisements printed in the magazine www.downtoearth.org.in

4 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

04web and credits.indd 4 23/02/15 4:36 PM COURTESY: SUSTAINABLE SANITATION SUSTAINABLE COURTESY: Environment-related Acts are outdated This is with reference to "A continuing disaster" (December 1-15, 2014). Having been involved in the drafting process of various Acts on air, water and environment protection, I would like to make a few points. Unlike what the magazine says, pollution control board officials can enter a polluting establishment anytime and tell the owner that a sample needs to be collected. No previous intimation is needed. I agree that there is a need to review these Acts since they were drafted decades ago, when the level of industrialisation and environmental problems were very different. With regard to the penalty of `10,000 prescribed by the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, I agree the fine is too low. The story also says that health impacts of methyl isocyanate (MIC) are not known. This is incorrect. US government's National Institutes of Health sponsored a study on the health effects of MIC at the Michigan State University and the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. The study says inhalation of MIC damages lung tissues, and can cause pulmonary edema, asphyxiation and death. When MIC concentration exceeds 21 ppm, it results in the burning of lung tissues. D M DAVE letters

Statement about ownership and other particulars about Down To Earth, required to be published under Rule 8 of the Registration of Newspapers (Central) Rule, 1956 Need holistic approach to science FORM IV (See Rule 8) 1. Place of publication : New Delhi This is with regard to "Real pride of 2. Periodicity of publication : Fortnightly 3. Printer’s name : SUNITA NARAIN ancient Indian science" (January 16-31, Whether citizen of India : Yes If foreigner, state country of origin : Does not apply 2015). The linking of science and culture 4. Publisher’s name : SUNITA NARAIN by political parties should not be Whether citizen of India : Yes If foreigner, state country of origin : Does not apply dismissed as a political or Hindu Address : A-17, Green Park New Delhi-110 016 nationalist party tactic. The issue has 5. Editor’s name : SUNITA NARAIN unintentionally increased peoples' Whether citizen of India : Yes If foreigner, state country of origin : Does not apply awareness of the linkages between the Address : A-17, Green Park New Delhi-110 016 various fields of study in ancient India. The 6. Names and addresses : Owner awareness that arts and science in ancient of individuals who own the newspaper Society for Environmental partners and shareholding more than Communications India were interlinked is critically needed one per cent of the total capital 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, today because science has become New Delhi-110 062 over-specialised and heavily partitioned. I, Sunita Narain, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Also, the average Indian lacks national Sd/- SUNITA NARAIN pride and self-esteem because of being Dated: 1st March, 2015 (Signature of publisher) TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 5

05-07Letters.indd 5 20/02/15 3:34 PM TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE

unaware of our rich past. superficial science areas in * We may continue to India's decline in the scientific the debate, but it is a blessing glorify the past achievements, arena today is because it in disguise because we need but must simultaneously has fallen from being a all the best practices from undertake research to wisdom-focused society of the past to solve the problems establish the claims made in the Vedic times to an of today. We need Indians, the ancient times. The information gobbling/ especially the younger findings must be put in public generating society of today. generation, to realise that domain. Our universities, Consider the healthcare people of those days came research organisations sector. The multitude of up with truly sustainable and academic institutions problems that ail the sector solutions, living on miniscule should accept the challenge. today are mainly due to our resources. To improve the level of focus on super-specialisation This will also make them science and technology, our approach to treatment. Such think how they can develop universities should make an approach might lead to such simple, holistic and their research works available success but causes many eco-friendly solutions to solve to everyone. The University side-effects. Indian Vedic socio-environmental problems Grants Commission can set scholars and seers took a prevailing today and improve up a portal where research holistic view of science or the state of science in the topics, findings, names and arts. Politicians today may country. contact details of scholars and letters have touched upon irrelevant, BHARATH KUMAR K guides associated with the

http://www.facebook.com/down2earthindia

This is a great move, but now how will of a resource that should be freely the people of Bihar as well as visitors get available. drinking water? MACDONALD DONBOKLANG SUNN JAYANTA CHOWDHURY The Bihar government The government has banned use of It should be implemented all over India. plastic bottles in its department..It is not has banned the use of KANNAN KSUNDARAM for the complete state... plastic packaged water in MANISH KUMAR Hope this will sustain and not fizzle out. all its departments with SUMAN KUMAR Lots of applause for the Bihar Government. Please be honest. No mess immediate effect. How A question: how will water be bottled this time. Good luck. effective will it be? now? Not that I support exploitation KULDEEP BENIWAL

6 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

05-07Letters.indd 6 20/02/15 3:34 PM APARNA PALLAVI / CSE

study are listed. This will help scholars Icons of old wisdom and industries use the findings for further The article "Digging research. their destinies" (January K G VYAS 1-15) is a heart-warming story, especially for Tomato seeds going waste people living in rural "Rotten tomato for Monsanto" (January areas and staunch 16-31, 2015) clearly exposed Monsanto's environmentalists. double standards while dealing with Himachal Pradesh patent pertaining to natural tomato and has been through water bodies fell into disuse for want its resistance to a fungal disease called a situation similar to that faced by of maintenance. But within the next 20 botrytis. The author touched upon a Vidarbha. When campaign for piped years, piped water became insufficient subject whose potential is enormous. I water started in Himachal in 1977, little to meet the needs of the people as well would like to draw attention to another did the protagonists of the campaign care as cattle. Good sense then prevailed and related issue. about existing water bodies like ponds, the old water bodies were revived (some Tomato seed and peel are waste johars, baolies and wells. Instead, these are still being revived). Also, new water products of the tomato ketchup industry, sources were condemned as carriers of harvesting structures are coming up as but only a small portion of the seeds is water-borne diseases. The departments per the government's new water policy. being utilised for regeneration purposes. of water supply and public health went This makes sense. We are rightly going The remaining is used as animal and bird to the extent of publicly dissuading back to these traditional water sources feed or thrown away as waste. The seed people against consuming water from which are icons of traditional wisdom. constitutes about 0.05 per cent of the these sources. As a result, all traditional L R SHARMA whole fruit. The annual production of tomato in India is about 3 million tonnes. NOTICE BOARD About 15,000 tonnes of tomato seeds 9246273275 with a potential of 3,000 tonnes of 9666966457 The Bhoomi College 9553571900 tomato seed oil could be produced in the Komarabanda , Kodad,Nalgonda (Dt) ,Telangana. country every year. The technology of The Bhoomi college requires a seed extraction and refining of tomato farm manager for their Organic Our school is located in a quiet, Farming Gurukul near Bengaluru. seed oil has been perfected by the Oil serene and eco-friendly environment where Candidate must enjoy rural living there is nothing that would disturb the Technological Research Institute in and community building and have tranquility of our life. Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Tomato seed minimum 3 years of organic farming KLR Avenue, the place where the school is oil is similar to sunflower seed oil in taste experience. Must know situated, is just 90 km from Vijayawada, and and has nutritional value. Telugu /Tamil / Kannada. 160 km from Hyderabad. G AZEEMODDIN Contact: [email protected] Apart from regular academic program, we focus on a variety of co-curricular and extra- Subscribe to: curricular activities which make every child a NOTICE BOARD www.bhoomimagazine.org genuine all-rounder. We are looking forward to working with SHOLAI SCHOOL Qualified teachers having passion for teaching Located in the campus of the Centre for Learning, and good communication skills in English. Organic Agriculture and Appropriate Technology, in a beautiful sylvan valley of the Palani Hills, we are We allow our teachers to involve themselves a non-conventional, 70 acre residential School in music, art and craft, dance, sports, registered with the University of Cambridge whatever they are good at. Our school is an International Examinations (IN499). The students ideal place for you to hone your innate skills. take IGCSE (Xth standard) and A level exams. If you are interested in teaching, please send Having a teacher : student ratio of 1:6 we are able to us your CV immediately. Our E-mail is given explore learning well beyond the confines of syllabi. For trade enquiries hereunder. Comprehension of conditioning and its limiting effect on The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co. Ltd., Chamraj Estate, The Nilgiris - 643 204, India the mind and reflecting on responsibility and sensitivity Ph: 91-423-2258737, Fax: + 91-423-2258837 Along with your CV, Please enclose a 200 in relationships are some of the themes explored e-mail: [email protected] word write-up on “The Education System in between students and teachers. Send for brochure to: www.unitednilgiritea.com India - changes you would like to suggest” Sholai School, P.O.Box 57, Kodaikanal - 624 101. Telephone-04542-230393/297/487 Shop online at www.tejavidyalaya.blogspot.in, www.tejainstitutions.com Email: [email protected] Website: sholaicloaat.org www.chamrajtea.in Email: [email protected]

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 7

05-07Letters.indd 7 20/02/15 3:34 PM 08-09Contents.indd 8 8 DOWN TO EARTH have survived the disease lead to disability in children who Acute encephalitis syndrome can Survivor, yet victim THE FORTNIGHT

contentsNDA's first full budget gives many too many misses Despite the right diagnosis, important important sectors a miss 11 Few hits,

14 Narmada river to the Malwa plateau is as impractical as to connect the water of The ambitious project institutions and mechanisms Mind the mines disaster A link to The new mining ordinance it is expensive aims to reform the mining strengthening regulatory sector, but it is silent on 20 22 Will the thriving biotechnology sector in India prove to be Biotech boom COVER STORY a mere bubble? 26 1-15 2015 MARCH shortcomings its lakes has glaring Karnataka to save A new law passed by holes Bill with 28

02/03/15 1:50 PM

48

INTERVIEW Pressure on plateau China is responsible for the 56 gradual degradation of Tibetan landscape, says Canadian GOOD NEWS author Michael Buckley For the women, by the women 41 A community initiative gives speedy insurance benefits to women during emergencies SCIENCE No beginning, no end 44 A new study questions the Big Bang, the TECHNOLOGY most prevalent 52 theory on the Cushion for origin of the the back OPINION universe A plucking basket with improved features will Climate test ease body pain of Will India buckle under tea garden workers Western pressure on capping agricultural carbon emissions?

58

Chasing jobs Modi government has no agenda to create jobs for India's unemployed youth

HEALTH WILDLIFE Genes as Winged nuisance ANALYSIS cancer cure Pigeons have become a menace Livestock Personalised cancer in many parts of the world losing home treatments target a Agriculture and mining patient's genetic code are destroying grazing lands in Rajasthan

36 When biodiversity eats into profit Fearing loss in business, manufacturers of traditional Indian medicines protest royalty 51 54 42 20-PAGE DTE SUPPLEMENT WITH SUBSCRIPTION COPIES gobartimes

COLUMN A medical gamble 59-78 Individual medical studies have Supplement Editor: Souparno Banerjee to be independently verified to Copy: Prachi Guron, Ajanta Sikdar ensure accuracy of the findings 46 Design: Kadambari Misra, Surender Singh

www.downtoearth.org.in 9

08-09Contents.indd 9 02/03/15 1:00 PM SUBSCRIBE DownToEarth www.downtoearth.org.in A Good Addiction

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT FORTNIGHTLY Sales & Despatch Department, Society for Environmental Communications, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062 DownToEarth Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6394 Fax: 91-11-2995 5879 Email: [email protected] (Please write in BLOCK LETTERS) For myself To gift to a friend For my institution Subscriber’s Name: Mr/Ms______Institution______

Address: ■ Off ■ Res______

______State:______Pin Code ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Phone: Off ■ Res ■ ______Fax: ______E-mail: ______

I wish to pay Rs ______by ■ Cash / MO ■ Cheque / Demand draft (add Rs 15 for outstation / non-Delhi cheque) DD / Cheque No ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Dated ______payable to Society for Environmental Communications, New Delhi.

Buy online at http://csestore.cse.org.in Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery

Colleges/Universities, Schools, NGOs & DTE Tariff — w.e.f. July 1, 2013 Govt/Private Sector etc. Individuals Only Option @ `45 You You You You cover price Save Pay Only Save Pay Only 3 Years Sub. (72 issues) ❑ `4,790 `1,845 `2,945 `2,495 `2,295 + Annual Issues of 2014, 2015, 2016 ❑ 3 Years Sub. only `3,240 `970 `2,270 `1,620 `1,620 2 Years Sub. (48 issues) ❑ `3,160 `1,090 `2,070 `1,520 `1,640 + Annual Issues of 2014, 2015 ❑ 2 Years Sub. only `2,160 `540 `1,620 `970 `1,190 1 Year Sub. (24 issues) ❑ `1,530 `445 `1,085 `655 `875 + Annual Issue of 2014 ❑ 1 Year Sub. only `1,080 `220 `860 `430 `650 Subscribers can order any of the Annual Issues separately also just by paying `225 for each Issue.

Avail your free gift offer + Access to Down To Earth Website with archives + gobartimes Environment for beginners, A Down To Earth Supplement. p10 march15 THE FORTNIGHT CROSS HAIRS CROSS

Encephalitis could lead to disability POINT CHILDREN WHO have survived brain showed disability of various magnitudes. fever or Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (aes) The team suggests that these children are more prone to mental and physical might have suffered damage in the veins 200 disability, say researchers from the All of their brain that could have led to minor India Institute of Medical Sciences and to severe paralytic attacks. The findings, million tonnes Unicef in Patna, Bihar. which will be released soon, are expected or more of fertiliser would be used In a first study focusing on survivors, to force the state government to improvise globally in 2018 researchers found that out of the 33 the treatment given to children suffering Source: World Fertilizer Trends and Outlook to 2018, aes survivors in Muzaffarpur district, 16 from disability due to aes.  Food and Agriculture Organization

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 11

11-13The Fortnight.indd 11 23/02/15 4:37 PM THE FORTNIGHT OCEANS NASA GODDARD NASA Global sea ice is decreasing

SEA ICE is being lost at an average rate of 35,000 square the increases in Antarctic sea ice. kilometres a year since 1979, according to nasa. This is despite a Her analysis of global sea ice from November 1978 to rise in Antarctic sea ice. Claire Parkinson, a climate scientist at December 2013 shows that the trend in ice extents was downward the Goddard Space Flight Centre who has conducted the study, in all months of the year. The study has been published in the explains this is because the decreases in Arctic sea ice far exceed Journal of Climate. 

Kargil landslide dams river HAMON JP A LANDSLIDE in the a channel for flow of Kargil region of Jammu water. This was proposed and Kashmir created a pile at a meeting chaired by of debris on Phutkal river, Union minister of state blocking its course and for home affairs, Kiren resulting in accumulation Rijiju, to assess the risks of water. With the snow posed by the landslide. The melt season round the length of the artificial lake corner, the Centre, fearing is 15 kilometres, having flash floods, is planning to approximately 24 million blast the debris to create cubic metres of water. 

12 DOWN TO EARTH

11-13The Fortnight.indd 12 23/02/15 4:37 PM THE FORTNIGHT

Control over maps Will Tamil Nadu cull its wild boars? The survey and mapping THE TAMIL Nadu government has taken to be completed by March. In 2012-13, 290 industry has demanded up a study to determine the population of cases of crop damage due to attacks by wild wild boars in the state. There have been boars were reported in the state. In 2014, the easy clearances of maps. repeated complaints from farmers about number of cases rose to 350. Consequently, At present, the control wild boars uprooting their crops. Frustrated the compensation paid by the forest over maps rests with at the loss, the farmers have also demanded department to farmers increased from culling of wild boars. The study is expected `26 lakh in 2012-13 to `32 lakh in 2014.  the defence ministry for security reasons. But as the topography Maharashtra awaits drought fund VERBATIM of restricted areas can now be seen online, the industry says the monopoly is redundant. Its recommendations "Some of the have been submitted neglected to the Centre. Another tropical diseases are no reason for the demand longer strictly is to make maps easily tropical. The potential accessible to the public. for spread

The industry has also / CSE PALLAVI APARNA provides yet another strong proposed a shift from UNION AGRICULTURE Minister Radhamohan Singh argument 2D maps to 3D maps has promised to release drought relief funds for Maharashtra for making at the earliest. As many as 9 million farmers in the state have investments" to reduce costs and been affected by drought till date. Marathwada and Vidarbha Ð Dirk Engels, the time taken to make regions are the worst-affected, with kharif crop in these areas director, WHO completely destroyed. In November last year, the state had Control of Neglected calculations for asked for a drought relief package of `4,000 crore. The state is Tropical Diseases new projects.  also experiencing hailstorm and rain in other parts.  Department

Fukushima challenge IAEA

THE INTERNATIONAL complex. While increasing Atomic Energy Agency amount of contaminated has applauded Japan's water poses a short-term efforts to decommission challenge, removing the Fukushima Daiichi highly radioactive spent Nuclear Power Station, fuel, including damaged which was responsible for fuel and fuel debris, the nuclear disaster in the from the reactors that country in March 2011. suffered meltdowns However, the agency says poses a major long-term that the situation remains challenge. 

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 13

11-13The Fortnight.indd 13 23/02/15 11:43 AM BUDGET

Whose budget is it, Mr Jaitley? Being the first full year budget of the National Democratic Alliance government, there was expectation that the finance minister's announcements would usher in a new era in the fields of renewable energy, rural development, healthcare and agriculture. But the budget has left a lot to be desired in these areas. One area it does well is in granting more financial autonomy to states. However, it remains to be seen how smoothly the new arrangement works. A Down To Earth analysis on what lies ahead

PHOTOGRAPHS: VIKAS CHOUDHARY / CSE

14 DOWN TO EARTH

14-19Budget.indd 14 02/03/15 1:49 PM BUDGET

States at centre States have got an unprecedented share in the Central tax pool

Gross Tax receipts cr HE MOST definite message that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley `1,449,490 gave out in budget 2015-16 was that the Centre will share funds for development schemes with states, but the autonomy which states States' share have been demanding for decades will come at a cost. The budget, as `5,23,958cr well as the decisions taken by the National Democratic Alliance in the run up, show that the Centre is willing to fund states if they are ready to take responsibility for implementing schemes effectively. It is pouring money for states. Just days before the budget, the government accepted the 14th Finance Commission recommendation that awarded T42 per cent of the Central tax pool to states, an increase of 10 per cent from the current share. This means states will get `5.24 lakh crore in 2015-16. An additional `3.04 lakh crore will be given to states through grants and plan transfer (see ‘States at centre’). But with money comes responsibilities. The Centre has decided to retain support for programmes that are a national priority, such as poverty alleviation, while giving states the responsibility to implement others with yet-to-be-finalised budget-sharing mechanism. Central government share The Central government will stop funding eight programmes, including the Backward `9,19,842cr Region Grant Funds in operation in 250 districts and the National Mission on Food Source: Union budget 2015-16 Processing. It will support 31 Centrally-sponsored schemes while 24 will be implemented with states bearing more costs. Under this new mechanism, programmes such as the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will be funded by the Centre and programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Industry representatives listening to the Guarantee Scheme (mgnregs) will continue to get full Central assistance. budget speech in Delhi on February 28 This change in stance of the Centre was reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent letter to chief ministers in which he said: “In this overall context, when you are flush with resources, I would like you to have a fresh look at some of the erstwhile schemes and programmes supported by the Centre. States are free to continue or change these schemes and programmes as per their discretion and requirement.” But will the states be able to handle this deluge of resources? They may be rejoicing at this windfall, but their worry starts from here. With massive funds, states need to urgently set up the institutional mechanism to manage this responsibility. They have been grappling with unspent budget allocations for various social sector programmes. One of the reasons for this is the absence of capacity at the states’ level to implement programmes. As currently most development programmes are routed through the panchayats, states need to increase institutional capacity of the local bodies in a big way. States and panchayats continue to fight each other over delayed

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 15

14-19Budget.indd 15 02/03/15 1:49 PM BUDGET

Crucial miss release of funds for programme implementation as well as states refuse to depute Allocations to key ministries have functionaries to panchayats to implement programmes. This is the situation after 25 years of enacting the Panchayati Raj system of local governance. been reduced On the other hand, for poor states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Amount raised (in `crore) Odisha, the spread of social programmes will be big and the budget will be high. Currently, 2014-15 2015-16 these are the states infamous for bad governance and least capacity to implement Total budget expenditure programmes. So, the states that host the country’s largest chunk of poor may not get any 17,94,892 result in the immediate future due to the financial gain and autonomy to implement 17,77,477 programmes. The other important question is how will the Central government monitor Agriculture the progress of development programmes? The newly formedniti Aayog is empowered 31,062 to monitor this, as Modi has written to the chief ministers. The new body comprises chief 24,910 ministers and we cannot expect objectivity in performance evaluation. What’s more, the Rural development new body is yet to spell out the specifics of how it wants to monitor states’ performance 83,852 with the new changes. From this year, the Central government will send all development 79,526 assistance straight to the common pool of states to be used as budgetary support. This Health & family welfare means state budgets will be the new instruments to gauge development performance. 39,238 33,152 A crisis ignored Consumer affairs, food & public distribution 1,15,952 Despite falling wages, the government has reduced rural budget 1,24,419 NDIA IS staring at a rural economic crisis, a fact even the latest economic survey Drinking water & sanitation accepts. But it looks like the finance minister believes otherwise. The total budgetary 15,267 allocation for rural development this year—`79,526 crore—is the lowest in the past 6,244 Ithree years and five per cent lower than last year’s` 83,852 crore (see ‘Crucial miss’). Environment, forest & climate change The cut comes at a time when most villages are witnessing reverse migration, which 2,256 has resulted in a three per cent dip in rural wage growth and a huge backlog of unpaid 1,682 salary under mgnregs. The budgetary allocation to mgnregs is `34,700 crore—a marginal ` Source: Union budget 2015-16 700 crore more than last year’s allocation. The current unpaid wages under the scheme is `4,350 crore. After meeting this liability, the scheme will be left with just `30,000 crore, which is `4,000 crore less than last year’s allocation. Jaitley announced he will “endeavour” to raise another `5,000 crore for the scheme, which will not be part of the budget. The Centre’s flagship rural road construction programme, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, has also seen a cut in allocations from `14,400 crore to `10,100 crore. The reduction comes despite the fact that the scheme failed to meet last year’s road target because of budgetary shortage. The budget also reduced allocation for the pension scheme, National Social Assistance Programme, to `9,000 crore from last year’s `10,547 crore. As part of its plan to give autonomy to states, the Centre announced states would design and implement the National Rural Livelihood Mission, which supports self-help groups. In the case of agriculture, the finance minister got the diagnosis right when he said in his speech that the country’s farmers are struggling with “declining agriculture income” and “farm distress”. But the pill he prescribed for the malady is hardly going to help.

"More power to states "We had asked the in areas such as Centre to include farming will allow them rubber in `Make in to prioritise according India' project. That to regional needs. This request has been will benefit the poor" ignored" ÐVinayak Deshpande, Economist ÐK M Mani, Finance Minister, Kerala

16 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

14-19Budget.indd 16 02/03/15 1:49 PM BUDGET

In the budget, Jaitley increased the farm credit corpus from `8 lakh crore to `8.5 lakh crore and announced the setting up of a Unified National Agriculture Market to provide farmers better price for their produce. The new market, he said, will replace the state-run Agriculture Marketing Price Committees (apmcs). Currently, 2,477 principal apmcs operate across the country; these regulate 4,843 sub-market yards. But they benefit just 8 per cent of country’s farmers, according to the Shanta Kumar committee report released in January this year. “The prescription is misplaced and routine,” says Devinder Sharma, agriculture and food policy analyst. His disappointment arises from the fact that around 94 per cent of the present farm credit corpus goes directly to agro-based industries, not to farmers. Experts say instead of just mindlessly increasing the farm credit corpus, the Centre should define farm credit. “The problem is that the definition of farm credit has expanded over time and now includes retail chains From this year, the Centre will and storage houses that eat into the subsidy,” says G V Ramanjaneyulu of Hyderabad- send all development assistance based non-profit, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. Experts are also unsure of the to the common pool of states to Centre’s decision to restructure and delink Centrally-sponsored schemes. The 14th be used as budgetary support Finance Commission recommendation, accepted by the Centre, say states should be given autonomy over farmer schemes because agriculture is a state subject. “Now each state will have to decide how much budget it needs under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (rkvy),” says Nilachala Acharya, senior research fellow at Delhi-based advocacy group, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability. “But it is too early to put the responsibility on the states because they do not have the required infrastructure to implement the scheme. This will finally impact farmers,” says Acharya. Public health in private hands Health budget cut; push for universal health insurance OR THE first time in the past seven years, India’s health budget has been slashed. The allocation this time—`33,152 crore—is `6,000 crore less than last year’s grant of `39,238 crore. Though health budget has seen an increase of 81 per cent Fin the past six years, from `21,680 crore in 2009-10 to `39,238 crore in 2014-15, the good run has ended. While presenting budget 2015, the finance minister continued his party’s rhetoric on health, saying that good health is necessary for a person to ensure a good quality of life, productivity and for being able to support his or her family. However,

"The definition of farm "Now each state will credit has expanded decide the budget it over time and now needs under Rastriya includes retail chains Krishi Vikas Yojana... and storage houses but they are incapable that eat into subsidies" of implementing it" ÐG V Ramanjaneyulu, farm sector expert ÐNilachala Acharya, analyst

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 17

14-19Budget.indd 17 02/03/15 1:49 PM BUDGET

his idea of providing healthcare facilities to public began and ended with providing health insurance. “A large proportion of India’s population is without insurance of any kind— health, accidental or life,” he said in the budget speech. He announced increase in tax exemption on health insurance premium from `15,000 to `25,000. For senior citizens, the limit will be increased from `20,000 to `30,000. “For very senior citizens of the age 80 years or more, who are not covered by health insurance, deduction of `30,000 towards expenditure incurred on their treatment will be allowed,” Jaitley said in his speech. The minister also announced his intention to amend laws and help government employees choose between the government-owned Employees States Insurance Corporation and private health insurance companies (recognised by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority). But as people opt for private health insurance and move to private hospitals, the state of public health facilities is likely to deteriorate. Jaitley’s announcements are likely to increase patients in private health institutions and put public health in the hands of the private sector. Concrete steps to improve public healthcare infrastructure do not figure in his scheme of things. Public health experts would term this as abdication of duty. The finance minister did talk about providing medical services to each village and city, The government did talk about providing but the budget allocated is simply not sufficient. His special scheme to provide physical medical services to each village and city, but aids and assistive living devices to senior citizens living below the poverty line (bpl) also the budget allocated is simply not sufficient lacked focus because he did not mention how many senior citizens come under the bpl category. It is, therefore, not clear how many people will benefit. A miss to green energy Allocation to the renewable energy ministry reduced by 35.5% UDGET 2015 says the government targets to add 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. Of this, 100,000 MW would be produced Bfrom solar energy, 60,000 MW from wind, 10,000 MW from biomass and 5,000 MW from small hydropower plants. Though these targets are higher than previous ones, experts say achieving them would require substantial investments in generation and trans- mission. But the allocation to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been reduced from `3,941 crore last year to `2,541 crore—a reduction of 35.5 per cent.

ALOK GUPTA / CSE There is no change in grants for the Power Grid

"Allocations to the " The government is health sector have giving tax benefits to been reduced by about corporates, but when 17 per cent. This is it comes to people and unprecedented and their health, it does not shameless" have money" ÐAnant Phadke, activist ÐT Sunderaraman, activist

18 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

14-19Budget.indd 18 02/03/15 1:49 PM BUDGET

Corporation of India Ltd or for green energy initiatives, such as Green Energy Corridors, Misplaced focus says Jyotsna Goel, senior budget analyst. This does not raise much hope. A promise the budget does make is to provide round-the-clock power to the entire country by 2020. This Clean energy fund pool increased includes providing power to 20,000 villages which have yet not received electricity. Solar but most of it remains unused power, generated off the grid, would be taken into account for gauging success in reaching Clean energy cess this target. A good initiative announced in the budget is for training 50,000 people in (Till June, 2014) solar energy technology. Named Surya Mitra, the programme aims to increase solar power Total collection of ` generation by making people aware of the advantages of solar power use. An outlay of 10 clean energy cess by crore has been given to the scheme. Reduction of customs duty on solar photovoltaic cells National Clean is also likely to encourage the use of solar energy. Energy Fund Overall, the planning this time is better than what it was in previous years, says `40,000cr Jasmeet Khurana of non-profit Bridge to India, which works on renewable energy. The inverted duty structure introduced in the budget (a scenario wherein the customs duty on Total amount raw material/components is higher than the duty on the finished product) is expected to disbursed to Ministry encourage production of solar power equipment in India, he says. of New and Renewable Energy Dampener for climate action `400cr Tax, surcharge increased on fossil fuel, but no concrete plans on how to contain carbon footprint Oil development cess (Till December, 2013) HE FINANCE minister paid lip service to climate change and mitigation this bud- ` Total Oil Industry get. He mechanically increased the cost of diesel and petrol by 3 per litre and Development Tax ` ` hiked clean energy cess on coal and lignite from 100 per tonne to 200 per collected Ttonne in a bid to rationalise the country’s carbon footprint. `1,18,500cr However, experts say the rise in the cost will do more harm than good. E A S Sarma, former power secretary, says the demand for petrol, diesel and coal is not elastic and therefore, an increase in such taxes will not bring down carbon footprint. Additionally, Total money disbursed power manufacturers say the additional surcharge will increase the production cost of to Oil Development electricity and, in turn, impact people. Fund Experts say that instead of just increasing taxes, the government should devise a `908cr mechanism to successfully channelise the already collected money for funding research and implementation of green technology. Their demand seems valid when one considers Source: Union budget 2015-16 that just 1 per cent of funds have been used by National Clean Energy Fund, which was created in 2010-11 using carbon tax and clean energy cess to fund clean technology. Till June 2014, the fund had a collection of `40,000 crore, out of which just `400 crore got spent. The story is not much different in the case of the annual cess collected through petrol and diesel sales as Oil Industry Development Tax for conservation and research and development of petroleum resources remained underutilised till 2013. According to an oil ministry note, from December 2013, India’s oil industry had paid `118,500 crore cess of which the finance ministry had paid only `908 crore to the Oil Industry Development Board (see ‘Misplaced focus’). 

"There is no roadmap " The cess will increase for how the cess the energy charge, collected from petrol, making a difference of diesel or coal will be 10-12 paise per unit of utilised " power" ÐE A S Sarma, former power secretary, ÐRavi Uppal, CEO, Jindal Steel and Government of India Power Limited

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 19

14-19Budget.indd 19 02/03/15 1:49 PM RIVER INTERLINKING Weak link As Madhya Pradesh's ambitious plan to transport Narmada water to the Malwa plateau takes shape, it demonstrates the futility of river-interlinking projects APARNA PALLAVI | indore

E HAVE no water problems an- ymore. Now, Kshipra ji has sufficient water for everyone,” Wannounces a smiling Manish Dangi, resident of Mudla village in the water-deficit Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh. He is standing on the bank of a con- crete canal filled with swift-flowing water. It takes a while to fathom that the 3 metre-wide canal from the Narmada river feeds the fast drying Kshipra river, and is its new origin. Just 50 kilometres away, residents of Aatwan village located in the Nimar plains of the Narmada river, are facing severe water crisis. The village is located in the command area of the Sislia reservoir but does not re- ceive a drop from it. “Every day, the reservoir fills up and then, the water disappears,” says Deoram Narvare of Aatwan, staring rueful- ly into the nearly empty reservoir. This reversal in water situation of the two places is the result of the Madhya Pradesh government’s ambitious Narmada-Malwa river-link project, the first river-linking pro- ject of the country. Under the project, the government plans to transport Narmada wa- ter to the arid Malwa region. This will be done by linking five rivers of the Malwa re- gion—the Kshipra, Gambhir, Parvati, Kali Sindh and Khan—to various dams on the Narmada through canals and pipelines. The government claims that together, these links would provide drinking water to 3,000 villages and 70 cities and irrigate about 680,000 hectares (ha) in the arid Malwa. However, a close examination of the first phase of the project, linking the Narmada with the Kshipra, shows the `26,000 crore Narmada-Malwa link project is not only ex- pensive, but environmentally disastrous. It was completed in February. While there is no evidence to show that the project would alle- The canal from the viate Malwa’s water crisis, it is already depriv- Narmada river feeds the ing people along the Narmada of water. fast drying Kshipra river Besides, the project is highly impractical as it APARNA PALLAVI / CSE

20 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

20-21River interlinking.indd 20 20/02/15 3:35 PM RIVER INTERLINKING

requires transporting river water against started lifting water from the Kshipra for gravity. This is the reason National Water Defying gravity irrigation. “All along its 200 km route, the Development Agency dropped the project The Narmada-Kshipra Link will lift Kshipra is riddled with underground pipe- from its proposed National River Link- lines laid by water-starved farmers who rou- ing Project, which in itself is controversial. water to a height of 400 metres at tinely lift water from check-dams,” says a cost of `119 crore a year Shashikant Awasthi of Kshipra Punarpravah A white elephant Abhiyan, working to restore flow of the riv- The main problem involved in transporting Pump house er. Dangi says Mudla got water only after water against gravity is that it requires an im- MADHYA farmers forced nvda to provide for irrigation. practical amount of power. For instance, the Indore PRADESH The Narmada-Kshipra link has also led `432-crore Narmada-Kshipra link requires to conflicts in the region. Omkareshwar dam water to be transported from Sislia reservoir on the Narmada was originally meant to ben- in the plains of the Narmada to Mudla, locat- efit farmers in the Nimar plains. But now its ed at a height of 400 metres. For this, the pro- water has been diverted to Malwa plateau via ject employs a 1.82 metre-wide, 48 km-long Sislia reservoir (see ‘Defying gravity’). Early pipeline. As per initial estimates of Narmada Kshipra this year, farmers from Nimar filed a petition

Valley Development Authority (nvda), INDORE river with the Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh Mudla village in which is implementing the river-link project, Malwa plateau High Court, demanding a stay on inaugura- at least 27.5 MW of electricity is required to tion of the link. In its verdict, the court fault- lift 430 million litres per day (mld) of water. ed nvda for changing the dam’s command This will cost `119 crore annually over Narmada-Kshipra area to include Malwa. “This could mark the link, a 48 km-long one-fourth of the cost of the project’s con- pipeline beginning of an inter-regional water conflict struction. The daily cost of pumping would in the state,” says Rehmat bhai of Manthan be `32 lakh, which translates into `9 per kil- Adhyayan Kendra. Linking the Narmada olitre. Rajnish Vaish, principal secretary of with the Gambhir needs diverting water nvda, told Down To Earth (dte) that water from Maheshwar dam, while the Kali Sindh for domestic use will be provided to munici- and Parvati links will tap Indira Sagar dam. ` ` Sislia palities at 15- 17 per kilolitre. It is on a par reservoir with the tariff paid by nearby Indore city. in Nimar Alternatives ignored Estimates by Barwani-based non-prof- plains Original Narmada nvda has two explanations for undertaking it Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, however, water distribution the Narmada-Malwa river-link project. show that if other operation and mainte- system First, there is no other way to revive the arid nance costs and losses in transit are consid- Malwa. Second, it is the only way nvda can ered, the water tariff could go up to` 50 per use up its share of 18.25 million acre feet kilolitre 5-10 times the price that urban (22.5 million cubic metres) of Narmada wa- Omkareshwar consumers elsewhere in India pay. Whether dam ter by 2025, as awarded by the Narmada people can afford this water is not yet clear. Narmada river Water Disputes Tribunal (nwdt). After Similar misgivings have been expressed Source: Narmada Valley Development Authority 2025, nwdt will redistribute the unused wa- regarding accessibility of water for irrigation. ter among the other Narmada basin states. Vaish says water for irrigation would be pro- industries and urban areas, mainly those Rehmat bhai says, “The project is being vided at `10,000 per ha annually, but only for along the proposed Delhi-Mumbai pushed at the cost of Nimar plains, which re- micro-irrigation. A pre-paid water metering Industrial Corridor. Their contention is jus- ceives lower annual rainfall than Malwa. The system will ensure that farmers do not waste tified. Whilenvda is yet to supply drinking share of water allotted could be utilised by water, he says. Activists working with farm- water to beneficiary villages, it has already di- fulfilling Nimar’s needs.” Chief Minister ers, however, are not convinced. “Pre-paid verted 90 mld of water from the Narmada- Shivraj Singh Chouhan has stated several metering is the most effective ruse for deny- Kshipra link to Pithampur industrial estate times that 700,000 micro-water retaining ing water to the poor. Such schemes have in Dhar district. This was not part of the orig- structures have been constructed all over the failed in Africa and Bangladesh because peo- inal plan. Project in-charge M S Ajnare told state during his tenure. dte’s reportage ple could not pay,” says Chinmay Mishra of dte that nvda is not supplying water to ben- shows such structures have improved condi- features agency Sarvodaya Press, who has eficiary villages as the infrastructure is not tions of water-starved Dewas district (see been writing on Narmada-related issues. ready. He could not provide a time limit by ‘Penny Foolish, Pond Wise’, January 16-31, Mishra and several other activists fear that when the villages would get water. 2012). Activists say the government can pro- nvda may divert water from the project to Meanwhile, desperate farmers have mote similar structures to revive Malwa. n

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 21

20-21River interlinking.indd 21 23/02/15 2:47 PM MINING ORDINANCE UNDERMINED Ordinance to reform the mining sector will do more harm than good SRESTHA BANERJEE | new delhi

OON AFTER President Pranab However, auctioning is hardly a one-size- Mukherjee signed the ordinance to fits-all solution. amend the archaic Mines and It is the best way to allocate mineral con- SMinerals (Development and cessions where mineral deposits can be accu- Regulation) Act of 1957, Union minister for rately established and a proper valuation can steel and mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, be done. This will help the leaseholder cap- announced it is a revolutionary step towards ture the windfall profits as well as bring in reviving the country’s mining sector. transparency in the allocation process. His ministry highlighted that the Mines However, in cases where mineral deposits are and Minerals (Development and not properly established, auctioning can lead Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 to problems like undervaluation of minerals, will address problems that have been plagu- leading to lower revenue generation for the ing the sector for long. These include grant- government, or overvaluation, resulting in ing mineral leases in discretionary, non- the inability of the concession holder to meet transparent and delayed ways, problems in commitments. This will renewal of mining leases, illegal mining ac- lead to uncertainties tivities, reluctance to undertake exploration in case of pros- and investment in the sector, and grievance pecting-cum- of the civil society that the mining-affected mining leases. people are not cared for. If auction- But these problems are not new and ways ing has to be to address most of them have long been de- done for prospect- bated by the country’s intelligentsia. This in- ing-cum-mining leas- cludes the report of the High Level Comm- es, it can only be done for ittee on National Mineral Policy in 2006 by bulk minerals, such as the Planning Commission. In 2011, the then iron ore, government led by the United Progressive Alliance (upa) introduced a bill to reform mmdr Act, 1957 which later lapsed. So, what was the urgency behind intro- ducing an ordinance? Is it to reform the sec- tor, as highlighted by the mines ministry, or to give an impetus to the mining sector, by expediting and expanding mining leases? The ministry has several times acknowledged that delays in granting mining leases has been a major factor for “significant reduction in the output of the mining sector”. Sources say the Prime Minister’s Office has already an- nounced a deadline of March 10 to begin the first phase of auctioning of non-coal mines. Auction is the buzzword The ordinance introduces a provision to grant all mineral concessions through auctioning.

22 DOWN TO EARTH

22-24Mining ordinance.indd 22 23/02/15 4:36 PM MINING ORDINANCE

Revenue, but at what cost? The ordinance highlights bauxite and limestone that remain deposit- auctioning as a key ed close to the surface, and where substantial The prime objective of auctioning is to get exploration work has been done by state more revenue for the state government. tool to reform mining agencies. For deep-seated minerals, which While this is fair enough, focus on revenue governance. It remains require highly specialised human and tech- maximisation can lead to a race to the bot- silent on strengthening nical resources and is capital-intensive, “first- tom, wreaking havoc on the environment, regulatory institutions in-time” principle (whoever first applies for ecosystem and people. and mechanisms prospecting permit) is the most certain way Consider this. Most mineral deposits in of granting mineral concessions. the country are located in ecologically sensi- tive areas. A major share of bauxite deposits following proper exploration of minerals. are found in the hilltops of east coast states The ordinance has done away with the such as Odisha, while iron ore, manganese provision of renewal of leases. Given that as- and laterite are abundant in the Western sessment and monitoring of mines are weak Ghats. Auction guidelines thus need to be in India, such a provision in the mmdr Act developed to discourage mining in eco- offered an opportunity to assess the perfor- logically sensitive areas. mance of mines, both in terms of productiv- Environmental concerns increase ity and environmental impact. A long lease further when one considers the kind of period without any provision for periodic au- unscientific and inefficient mining prac- dit would further impact regulatory supervi- tices the ordinance encourages. sion. So, a mechanism must be put in place to While the mmdr Act grants mining ensure intermittent assessment of a mine’s leases for maximum 30 years and allows it performance. to be renewed for up to 20 years, the ordi- The ordinance further states that mines nance grants leases for 50 years without any will be re-auctioned after the leases expire. provision for lease renewal. This also applies This will discourage leaseholders from in- to existing mines. Worse, the ordinance puts vesting in progressive closure and rehabilita- a special emphasis on extending the min- tion of mines. The long duration of the lease ing lease of captive mines. Promotion of will also make it difficult to estimate and es- captive mines would only aid poor envi- tablish appropriate financial guarantee to en- ronmental performance of industries sure that mine closure will happen. This will owning the mines. encourage the practice of “dig and run”, add- Analyses by Delhi-based non-profit ing to the burden of abandoned mines. Centre for Science and Environment (cse) As per 2010 estimates by the Indian for the cement sector in 2005 and steel sec- Bureau of Mines, there are 297 abandoned tor in 2012 show that environmental perfor- mines of major minerals. This does not in- mance of these sectors largely depends on the clude abandoned coal mines, which, accord- way they source raw material from their cap- ing to a 2008 analysis by cse, number at least tive mines. While cement companies were 240. However, this could still be a gross un- reluctant to invest in proper management of derestimation of the scale of the problem. mines, steel companies were hardly develop- Former Union environment ministry offi- ing technologies for efficient use of raw -ma cials acknowledge the poor documentation terials. Besides, captive mine allocations in- of abandoned mines. In December 2014, re- volve unscrupulous activities. The Supreme sponding to a Lok Sabha question on the sta- Court, in its August 2014 judgement on the tus of abandoned mines, the Ministry of coal scam, noted that the way in which Mines stated that there are 5,028 non-work- coal blocks were allocated to private par- ing mines and that there is no “separate clas- ties for captive mining was highly “ad sification” of abandoned or sick mines. hoc”, due to which “common good and public interest suffered heavily”. Given Writing off social contract the inefficiency and non-transparency in It is not just the environment, the ordinance allocation and functioning of captive mines, also brushed aside the concerns of mining- the government should ensure that new al- affected communities. According to the locations are made through “open auction” Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 90 per cent

www.downtoearth.org.in 23

22-24Mining ordinance.indd 23 23/02/15 4:36 PM MINING ORDINANCE

Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 90 per cent area leased out for various mining activities seated minerals, such as base metals, noble of the 104 million poor tribal people in India can potentially displace more than 800,000 metals, rare earths, will remain unexplored. traditionally live in mineral-rich forest areas. people. This is a gross underestimation as dis- The government needs to promote both pub- So far, no law addresses this dichotomy or di- placement-related information is not avail- lic and private sectors for exploration works. rects companies to share profits earned from able for many projects. The ordinance is also weak at curbing the mining activities with the community. In Less benefit with the potential for more numerous illegalities that plague the mining 2008, cse had initiated this equity debate, displacement only perpetuates the exploita- sector. These include over-extraction of min- which prompted a nation-wide conversation tion by mining companies. The distrust and eral ore, illegal selling, export and transpor- on environmental justice in mining activities. anger of the dispossessed is evident in the up- tation of ore; removal of ore from overburden In 2011, the Ministry of Mines recognised risings in the forested and economically dumps and selling them without state ap- the problem in the Sustainable Development backward mining areas of Chhattisgarh, proval; mining outside the lease area; unsci- Framework formulated for the mining sec- Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. entific and unregulated practices in small- tor by saying that “in recent decades, mining scale mines; and carrying out mining in activities have resulted in little local benefit”. Uncertainties for mining sector officially closed mines. Tackling the situation To undo this historical injustice, the minis- Though provisions of the ordinance may help requires strengthening the regulatory insti- try that year introduced the mmdr the mining sector earn short-term gains, it tutions and mechanisms. But the ordinance Amendment Bill in Parliament. The Bill cannot remain immune for long. calls for increasing penalties for any violation specified that for mining for major minerals, The ordinance will hurt the sector in under mmdr Act, and creation of special the leaseholder shall pay the district mineral the long-run by limiting innovation and in- courts for speedy trial of mining offences. foundation (a non-profit body set up by the state government) “an amount equivalent to The ordinance has Tilting the balance? the royalty paid during the financial year” diluted the benefit- Instead of strengthening institutions and im- annually. For coal and lignite, it was to be an sharing provision in proving governance at the state level, the or- amount equal to 26 per cent of the profit the MMDR Bill, which dinance allows huge scope for interference by after tax. the Centre. Though it allows the state to The benefit-sharing provisions have directed companies to grant leases, the power to determine terms been diluted in the ordinance. Leaseholders share profits earned and conditions for bidding and auctioning are now required to pay not more than “one- from minerals with remains with the Centre. The Centre will also third of the royalty” from the respective min- affected communities have the power to direct the state on imple- erals, in addition to the royalty paid to the mentation of various provisions of the mmdr state. A back-of-the-envelope calculation Act. This is in addition to its power to revise shows that this will be a 20 per cent reduction vestments, required to ensure optimum ex- any order passed by the state with respect to in the funds made available to the communi- ploration. It promotes “open sky” policy minerals other than minor minerals. With ty. cse analysis shows that under the profit- (opening up the scope of exploration) by the Centre having such overriding powers, sharing provision of the mmdr Bill, the com- granting non-exclusive permits, but does not states no longer remain equal stakeholders in munity would have received `10,500 crore a guarantee any return to the investors. To en- mining governance. year. Going by the ordinance, they will re- sure returns the government should adopt The ordinance has failed to take into ceive `8,320 crore a year at the most. the “first-in-time” principle. consideration the need for reforms to im- The ordinance has proposed setting up a prove governance in the mining sector. It also More displacements, unrest? National Mineral Exploration Trust, which undermines the spirit of co-operative feder- Themmdr Act empowers the Centre to ex- will be created with the two per cent royalty alism, much championed by Prime Minister tend a mine lease up to 10 sq km for “devel- paid by leaseholders. This will at best create a Narendra Modi to ensure good governance. opment” of any mineral. The ordinance ex- corpus of `500 crore (about US $90 million). There is no doubt that our existing regula- tends this discretionary power for The amount will not be sufficient for explo- tions and institutions need reforms to deliv- development of an industry. With no speci- ration of strategic minerals required for elec- er better results on the ground. The country fication on the extent to which the area can tronics, renewable energy and advanced en- needs a new law and a reformed regulatory be extended, large areas can now be leased out ergy storage. Australia, with a similar mechanism. However, the Act must be for- to cater to industrial demands. potential of mineralisation, has an explora- mulated not only as a mechanism for aiding The increase in size of the mine lease area tion budget of about US $3 billion. Limiting mining, but to ensure a sustainable mining will effectively mean more displacement. An the scope of exploration will prompt compa- future, balancing the needs of people, the en- analysis by cse shows that since the begin- nies to cherry-pick mineral deposits close to vironment and economy.  ning of the 11th Five Year Plan in 2007, the the surface, such as bulk minerals, and deep- With inputs from Manavi Bhardwaj

24 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

22-24Mining ordinance.indd 24 23/02/15 11:09 AM 25 march 1-15 2015 25Sintex ad.indd 25 26/02/15 4:23 PM LAKE CONSERVATION LEO SALDANHA LEO Over two-thirds of Bengaluru's lakes have lost large parts of their catchment area Saving city lakes

To counter the rapid N FEBRUARY 9, the Legislative Sciences, Bengaluru. Lakes such as Assembly of Karnataka passed a Madiwala, Bellandur, Horamavu, Akere, decline of its lakes, Bill to create an authority for Ulsoor and Hebbal are covered by weed as Karnataka is creating Omanagement of lakes in the state. sewage is allowed to flow into them. More The Karnataka Lake Conservation and than 50 per cent of the lakes in the city have a new authority with Development Authority Bill (2014), which been encroached, says Ramachandra. A has been sent to the governor for approval, survey he did in 2007 showed that 72 per cent powers to fine and provides for a Karnataka Lake Conservation of lakes in Greater Bengaluru have seen a loss and Development of catchment area. His imprison encroachers Authority. Though the research predicts that if and polluters. Will state already has a Lake Urban the urban sprawl Development Authority Lakes continues to grow at the (lda), it has not been able current rate, Bengaluru it be able to reverse A SERIES ON URBAN to check the decline in the INDIA'S WATER BODIES may lose its water bodies, the trend? number of lakes or the green cover and open SUSHMITA SENGUPTA | deterioration in the quality spaces by 2020 (see ‘On a of water. lda chief downward spiral’). Setting new delhi executive officer C K Shivanna says the body up a new authority is, therefore, a welcome is toothless because it lacks legal power. The step, he says. new Bill seeks to address this shortcoming. “The number of lakes in Greater New set up Bengaluru has drastically reduced due to The new authority will function through a anthropogenic factors. From 207 lakes in the 16-member governing council, chaired by 1970s, the number came down to 93 in the chief secretary, and an executive commit- 2010,” says T V Ramachandra of Centre for tee. The governing council will also have three Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of government-nominated environment ex-

26 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

26-27Lake conservation.indd 26 23/02/15 4:36 PM LAKE CONSERVATION

perts. Its jurisdiction will extend to all water On a downward spiral bodies within the limits of all the city corpo- By 2020, the coverage of water bodies and vegetation in Bengaluru will rations in the state and any other water body become negligible of the state identified by the government. lda, on the other hand, had jurisdiction only 80 Built up area Vegetation area Water area over water bodies in Bengaluru and those wa- ter bodies in the state which are a source of 60 drinking water. The most important differ- ence between the two authorities is in their 40 punitive powers. While lda was not even % of landuse % of empowered to remove encroachments, the 20 new authority can remove encroachments, impose fines of` 10,000 to `20,000 and im- 0 prison violators for three to five years. Even 1973 2012 1992 2010 1999 2020 2020 2002 2008 2009 2006 lda officials agree this is the most crucial part 2000 of the new Bill. Source: T V Ramachandra Land use categories | Built up: Residential area, industrial area, paved surfaces, commercial areas; (prediction) Gaps in the Bill Vegetation: Forest, plantations; Water: Tanks, lakes, reservoirs and drainages Despite the changes, there are doubts how effective the new authority will be. Leo which comes under the Government of to many land grabbers in Bengaluru but could Saldanha, coordinator of Bengaluru-based Delhi and coordinates management of parks not take action. Karnataka, too, needs to non-profit Environment Support Group and gardens in the National Capital adopt the ways of lawda, says S R Nagraj, (esg), says government-nominated experts Territory, has a different view. He says legal executive engineer with lda. in the governing council can be removed by powers are crucial to make such an authority the state government. This will prevent them effective. He says water bodies in Delhi are What ails LDA? from interfering in controversial matters, he under different agencies for whom lda was constituted as a registered society in says. He also says that the Bill allows the new conservation is not a priority and Delhi, too, 2002 by Karnataka to conserve and protect authority to utilise or allow the usage of the is trying to set up a water bodies protection the lakes in Bengaluru and neighbouring area lakes for drinking water, fishing, irrigation, and development authority. as the city was losing water bodies due to education, tourism or any other purpose it His view is supported by Malik Tariq, urbanisation and pollution. Currently, its deems fit. This will give it a free hand to lease public relations and awareness officer of main function is limited to giving clearances out lakes to developers or hoteliers for devel- Lakes and Waterways Development to detailed project reports of lake development opment as has been happening under lda . Authority (lawda), a body constituted for projects to different authorities. However, it Further, there is no role of panchayats in the protection of Dal and Nagin lakes of has been authorised to undertake many other the new authority. The Bill also ignores Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The tasks, says Nagraj. These include preparing District Lake Protection Committees and authority operates effectively to conserve the environment impact assessment studies of State Level Apex (Appellate) Lake Dal and Nagin lakes. He says it is difficult to projects proposed on lakes, environmental Protection Committee which were consti- take action against polluters and encroachers planning, gis mapping of lakes, monitoring tuted under the direction of the Karnataka without effective powers. Tariq cites the and management of water quality and lake High Court to provide people a platform to example of a demolition drive the authority ecology, and restoring lakes, Nagraj adds. seek remedial measures against problems of carried out on January 21 in Srinagar’s “But toothless lda is contributing to a encroachment, pollution and destruction of Astanpora area which forms a part of the slow death of lakes,” says Saldanha. It lakes. The aim was to settle grievances local- catchment area of the Dal lake.“Since the recently failed to clear encroachments of ly and promptly. The order came in 2012 in authority has been formed, we have orgainsed Chikkalasandra lake, the only water body in response to a public interest petition filed by regular drives for clearing the green belt Bengaluru South taluk, which has esg in 2008 against privatisation of lakes. which is a 200 m strip around the lake,” Tariq completely dried. The lake is in the custody Shridhar Pabbisetty, chief executive says. “As and when we get complaints, our of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, officer of non-profit Namma Bengaluru enforcement cell along with a deputy super- which has laid a road on the lake bed. The case Foundation, also says lack of legal power is intendent of police (deputed for this purpose) shows the utter helplessness of lda in dealing not the main problem and even if lda was removes the encroachments,” he says, adding, with such matters. However, how effective given legal powers, the situation would not “Only sending notices to violators does not will the new authority be is yet to be seen improve. But Sukhdev Singh, chief executive serve any purpose.” This is exactly what the because its structure and composition leave a officer of Delhi Parks and Gardens Society, problem with lda was. It had served notices lot to be desired, says Saldanha. n

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 27

26-27Lake conservation.indd 27 23/02/15 4:36 PM COVER STORY WILL THE BOOM LAST?

ILLUSTRATIONS: SORIT & AJIT BAJAJ/ CSE

28 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

28-35Cover Story.indd 28 24/02/15 10:36 AM COVER STORY

Fifteen years after it rose and went limp, the biotech sector, globally, as well as in India has seen a bull run of sorts. In January this year, some 10 healthcare companies went public on the NASDAQ. Meanwhile, India has become the world's 12th biggest biotechnology economy having the second highest number of USFDA-approved plants. But will this boom continue? Or will it prove to be just a bubble like it was in 2000, impacting drug manufacturing companies badly. RICHARD MAHAPATRA and KUNDAN PANDEY take stock

F ONE trawls through the vast, virtual world of stock market investors and analysts, one thing strikes the eye: the frequent appearance of the word “biotech”. Dig further into any posting on biotech and the computer screen gets almost deluged with recommen- dations for buying shares of biotech- nology companies. By the time one presses “quit”, Ithe message hits home overwhelmingly: the global biotechnology industry is booming, and in an un- precedented way. The news is like soothing balm for the reces- sion-hit world economy. Every new drug discovery or drug approval not only draws cheers from millions of victims of debilitating diseases but also adds value to biotechnology companies. Since the past two years, such discoveries and approvals are happening at an unusual pace, particularly in the US market. One also cannot ignore the length- ening list of generic drugs, mostly produced by small companies. This has, as analysts point out, prompted major drug companies to acquire smaller ones to retain their market share. In a complex play of scientific progress and market forces, the bio- technology industry is recording growth that can

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 29

28-35Cover Story.indd 29 24/02/15 12:09 PM

rival the information technology industry boom of the 1990s. With most conventional sources for invest- ment being looked upon with recession-triggered suspicion, biotech has arguably emerged as a pre- ferred investment sector. Money is pouring in and analysts are sure the sector will maintain its blue chip status in the coming years as well. The boom made global headlines this January during the J P Morgan Healthcare Conference, an annual event that provides a debating fo- rum for biotechnology and health investors. Over four days, some 400 biotech companies cheered the growth, both in investment and market capitalisation of the industry. The first presenta- tion by Robert J Hugin, chief ex- ecutive of Celgene, one of the larg- est biotech firms of the US, captured the euphoria. “It is an incredibly exciting time for our industry. This is not hype and smoke and mirrors,” Hugin said. The recent financial performance data from the US, which controls the global biotechnology market, supports this claim. To begin with, biotechnology companies have performed much better than other companies in terms of return on share and market capitalisation in the past six to seven years. In 2014, some 110 bio- technology companies were listed in the US to raise $9 billion from public and financial institu- tions. The nasdaq Biotechnology Index has been up 177 per cent in the past three years, compared to a 52 per cent increase in the Standard & Poor’s 500, the American stock market index based on market capitalisation of 500 large companies. In 2013, the nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose 35 per cent. One can gauge how big this growth is from the fact that the growth rate was only 11 per cent for the benchmark Standard and Poor’s 500. In January, some 10 healthcare companies planned to go public on the nasdaq. According to multinational management consultant network PricewaterhouseCoopers, venture capitalists pumped $5.97 billion into

30 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

28-35Cover Story.indd 30 24/02/15 10:36 AM COVER STORY

Year to watch out for excited at the revival in the US but also about its 2015 could be a boom year for domestic prospects. In February, the 15th edition US biotech investment of Bangalore India Bio 2015, the country’s annual biotechnology show by industries, noted the Amount raised ($ million) progress. “India’s biotechnology economy will be 2014 2015* more than $100 billion by 2025, which will make Venture it level with the information technology industry,” 700 says P M Murali, president of Association of 1,800 Biotechnology Led Enterprises (able), the coun- IPO try’s only biotechnology industry association. 1,500 The Indian bioeconomy grew to $4.3 billion "It is an 1,300 at the end of the 2013 financial year, up from incredibly PIPEs & other equity $530 million in 2003, according to BioSpectrum, a exciting 1,000 widely-read trade publication in India (see ‘Indian time for our 300 biotech’s steady growth’ on p33). industry. This Follow-on Though concentrated in Hyderabad and is not hype and 2,500 Bengaluru, there are units sprouting across the 5,200 smoke and country; currently some 350 companies are in op- mirrors" Debt eration. The bio-pharmaceutical sector, which in- 3,200 cludes vaccines, medical devices and stem cells, is ÐRobert J Hugin, CEO, 6,300 the main driver of India’s biotechnology growth, Celgene *Till February generating close to 63 per cent of the industry’s Source: BioCentury Data (as viewed on February 17, 2014); total revenue in 2013. “Companies are doing well CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate; IPO: Initial Public Offering; PIPE: Private Investment in Public Equity and the sector’s future prospects look bright. Many new start-ups are coming up in the Bengaluru cluster. This is really a good time and there is more innovation happening on the ground biotech companies in 2014. This was a 29 per cent now,” says Murali. increase over 2013. The year saw all sorts of inves- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the ceo of Biocon, tors—retail, venture capital trusts, emerging India’s first biotechnology company, says, “If we market vehicles—investing in biotechnology compare the Indian biotech industry with its stocks. They reported more than the expected global counterpart, we find that we are going there returns, highly unusual in times of market uncer- in terms of capability but as far as investment is tainty. This year, it seems, the industry is going to concerned, China and America are far ahead. be much more lucrative, both for investors and India has a huge market. Going by this, the sector buyers. According to journal BioCentury, till will become only bigger.” Biocon was in news last February, the biotech industry has already raised August when it launched Alzumab, an anti-CD6 $1,819 million, taking the total investment in bio- antibody for the treatment of psoriasis. The global technology up to $14.9 billion (see ‘Year to watch market for psoriasis drugs is expected to reach out for’). $8 billion by 2016. This has excited the attention This growth has come almost after a decade. of investors who look forward to lucrative returns Biotech remained dormant and off the popular from biotechnology. investment radar after a market crash in 2000. A “We had the stars aligned very well for us a few months before the crash, it was the prime decade ago, which we did not capitalise on due to choice of investors, riding on promises of progress ambiguous regulatory policies and knee-jerk reac- in human genome science and a boom in drug tions. Hopefully, the lessons learnt from the past discovery. Interestingly, the present boom is led by will now be used to accelerate growth in the 177% small- and mid-sized bio-pharma companies. health and agriculture sector,” says Murali. Increase in NASDAQ In India, the world’s 12th biggest biotechnol- The biotech economy boom is definitely not a biotechnology ogy economy and having the second highest “gold-rush” kind of phenomenon where desperate index in the past number of US Food and Drugs Administration investors chase a success story. Since the crash in 3 years (usfda)Ðapproved plants, the industry is not only 2000, many developments have happened in drug

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 31

28-35Cover Story.indd 31 24/02/15 10:36 AM COVER STORY

science and policy, that are fuelling the biotech- nology industry’s growth. It is not just a demand- supply phenomenon. There is an overarching change in drug policy in various countries and a push for freeing drugs from the patent regime. This is leading to a major realignment in the bio- tech industry in terms of investment. But the primary reasons for the current boom are: a spurt in new drug approvals in the US, discov- ery of new drugs for diseases like cancer, hepatitis C and cystic fibro- sis, and a major phase of drug pat- ents expiry. Besides, recent prog- ress in technology and increased investment on research and devel- opment (r&d) have lowered gesta- tion period of a drug from research level to trial to retail phase drastically. Boosted by drug approvals A surge in drug approvals is being cited as the most important booster for the biotechnology industry in the US and, consequently, in countries like India (see ‘Drugs take biggest share’ on p33). In 2004, the usfda-approved pain reliever, Vioxx, was removed from the market for raising risk of heart attacks. This led to usfda becoming extremely cautious in granting approvals, thus slowing down the arrival of new drugs in the mar- ket. Fast forward to 2014 and the usfda seems to have thrown caution to the wind. It approved 41 new drugs, the maximum for any year since 1997. Six of these were approved under usfda’s Accelerated Approval Program that allows early approval of a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness. Just two years before, in 2012, usfda had approved 39 drugs, the maximum for any year in "We see a decade-and-a-half. mergers and John Jenkins, director of the Office of New acquisitions in Drugs in usfda’s Center for Drug Evaluation and the healthcare Research, has a word of caution. In his annual sector being state of affairs blog on usfda site, he noted that up materially fast approvals were “more of a health need than in 2014 at all any business support”. The newly-approved drugs size levels consist of eight new drugs for treating patients and across all with various types of cancer, four new drugs to subsectors" treat Type-2 diabetes, four new antibiotics to treat serious infections, and two new products to ÐJeffrey Stute, head of treat patients with hepatitis C. Given the healthcare investment, large number of people suffering from these dis- J P Morgan eases, the approvals came as a major market boost.

32 DOWN TO EARTH

28-35Cover Story.indd 32 24/02/15 10:37 AM COVER STORY

to be approved more than two months ahead of its due date. The change in the US law has also led to fast approvals of antibacterial and antifungal drugs. 41 The government added a provision, the Generating Number of new Antibiotics Incentives Now Act, to the Food and drugs approved by Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. the USFDA in 2014, This new provision is to promote development of the highest for any antibacterial and antifungal drugs by granting a special designation Qualified Infectious Disease year since 1997 Product (qidp). So far, usfda has granted 57 qidp designations to new experimental products. A qidp designation grants a manufacturer the right to receive “priority review and fast track” status from usfda, significantly shortening the time for drug approval and allowing special consultations during the process with experts from the agency. qidps also receive an additional five years of mar- ket exclusivity. In fact, in his blog, Jenkins As mentioned earlier, the new boom is led by celebrated the fact that usfda’s approv- small players in the biotechnology industry. Most als are now given much before the stipu- of these small players are seeking approval for new lated deadlines. Recently, it approved Lenvima drugs. Of the 41 new drugs approved last year, 22 (lenvatinib) for a type of thyroid cancer. are made by little-known companies in the US. Manufactured by Japanese pharma firm, This is why the approvals are cited as boosting Eisai, the drug treats progressive, radioio- new business and new investors. dine-refractory differentiated thyroid Hans Bishop, ceo of Juno Therapeutics, cancer. The approval was given well pointed this out during the Morgan annual con- ahead of the drug’s official deadline of ference. “While the relentless growth-in-revenue April 14, making Lenvima the fifth dynamic of big pharma means they face distrac- cancer therapy in the past 11 months tion from having to pad their portfolios with fol-

Drugs take biggest share Indian biotech's steady growth Bio-pharma accounted for 64 per cent of The sector has grown steadily over the years and was Indian biotech's total revenues in 2013 worth US $4.3 billion at the end of 2013 Market size at CAGR of 22.2% 64% 1% 2013 $4.3 bn Bio-pharma Bio-informatics 2012 $4.3 bn 2011 $3.8 bn 2010 $3.0 bn 2009 $2.6 bn 2008 $2.6 bn 18% 14% 3% 2007 $1.9 bn Source: BioCentury Data (as Bio-services Bio-agri Bio-industrial viewed on February 17, 2014); CAGR: Compound Annual 2006 $1.5 bn Growth Rate

www.downtoearth.org.in 33

28-35Cover Story.indd 33 24/02/15 10:37 AM COVER STORY

low-on drugs, start-ups, by definition, have no These medicines are popular choices but to focus on one new thing,” he said. for treating various cancers, The approvals also indicate another key reason rheumatoid arthritis and ad- for the boom in the industry: advancement in verse cardiovascular condi- drug development. There have been major break- tions. Patented and brand throughs in treatment of critical diseases like can- biologics are expensive and cer, diabetes and hepatitis. These three diseases turn out to be prohibitive in afflict millions of people across the world and case of diseases like cancer there has been enormous demand for new effec- and hepatitis. The biosimi- tive medicines. It is for the first time in history lars are relatively dirt-cheap that worldwide prescription drugs sale will cross and are now being support- $1 trillion by 2020. From 2013 till 2020, it will ed by governments of devel- grow 5.1 per cent annually. This growth comes af- oped countries precisely for ter two years of stagnation. this reason. It is estimated that r&d spending by biotech companies has pro- in 2014, the US accounted for portionately surged. For example, in the US, the 80 per cent of the global market value of r&d commitment went up by 46 per cent and European countries are already in 2014 in comparison to 2013, according to evolving supportive policies. Initial EvaluatePharma, a leading research body focused estimates have pegged drug cost savings on the biotechnology industry. The World Preview at 20-30 per cent in countries that have Report 2015, brought out by EvaluatePharma, already approved biosimilars, and one study says that this is the highest figure since 2008. by global policy think tank rand Corporation es- timates that the US could save $44 billion over the Bullish on biosimilars next decade through biosimilars. The next big push for the industry comes from the unprecedented increase in the market for generic Patent cliff drugs, particularly in the US that controls the glob- Biosimilars are gaining ground for another develop- al market. Similarly, middle-income countries like ment in the biotechnology industry: currently, many India and Brazil are reporting increased demand and global pharmaceutical companies are going to hit local manufacturing capabilities. US President the “patent cliff ” or will be facing a situation where Barack Obama’s healthcare reform is centred on a significant number of their patented drugs will be low-priced drugs that can be made possible by ge- out of a restrictive regime. With a patent, a compa- nerics. The US is already pressuring drug firms to ny does not face competition in selling the drug for lower prices to reduce cost of government pro- 20 years. But once this period is over, generic drug grammes and to lower insurance rates, which will companies are allowed to manufacture the same benefit people. Though at present, generics account drug. Global players like Merck, Pfizer, for 70 per cent of America’s total prescription sales, GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co are market analysts estimate that it would grow further. going to lose their patents on many top-selling But what is fuelling the surge in generic drugs drugs. EvaluatePharma estimates that $100 billion growth? The definition of generics covers a group worth of drug sales will be in jeopardy due to expiry of medicines called biosimilars. These are termed of such patents in 2014 and 2015. By 2018, this as the “generic equivalent” of branded biological amount will increase to $290 billion. This covers products or biologics that are created through bio- popular drugs like acid-reflux pill Nexium (made by logical processes instead of chemical synthesis. AstraZeneca), cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin "There is The world is witnessing an unheard of boom in (made by Merck), and anti-inflammatory Celebrex some hype these medicines. Research and market analysis (made by Pfizer). but it is not a group Datamonitor estimates the global biosimi- This is advantageous for generic drug manu- bubble at all. It lar market will grow from $243 million in 2011 to facturers. First, the big players have already spent won't burst" $3.7 billion this year. That is a 1,422 per cent on research and marketing of the drug, thus doing growth in just four years. Sandoz, the global lead- away with the need for spending in these areas. ÐKiran Mazumdar-Shaw, er in biosimilars, has estimated that the market Lower input costs allow generic companies to CEO, Biocon could reach up to $30 billion by 2020. charge 60 per cent less than manufacturers of

34 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

28-35Cover Story.indd 34 24/02/15 10:37 AM COVER STORY

tion to strategic m&a announcements, share- holders are telling companies they want them to do m&a,” Stute said. The bull run continues. But the ghost of 1999-2000 bubble still haunts the sector. Is the new boom a bubble that might burst? “There is some hype but it is not a bubble at all and won’t burst. This sector is not facing a situation similar to what the information technol- ogy sector faced in early 2000s. It is need-based and has to solve many problems,” says an optimis- 1,422% tic Mazumdar-Shaw. But there is a rider. “In Increase in global India, no investor or government is even interest- biosimilar market ed in research, which is very important for the branded drugs. This results in an immediate boost growth of the sector,” says Mazumdar-Shaw. to these companies’ revenue—and their share Murali also give his thumbs up to the boom. prices. Generic companies have been quick to “There will always be ups and downs. Initially, the snap up the market created by patent expiry. sector was hyped but now it is coming close to According to Bloomberg, $60 billion in revenue what is called reality. Now real evaluation of the was lost by pharmaceuticals to cheaper generic field is coming,” he says. competition between 2010 and 2012. Another But market as an indicator is always fragile $50 billion may be lost in the next five years. and unpredictable. For example, there are some On the other hand, the big pharma players critical voices that raise concerns over the not-so- facing patent expiry are cutting down on human serious players jumping onto the bandwagon to resource and r&d costs, and are thus flush with make quick bucks. In such a case, at the slightest funds. This extra fund is being used to buy small sign of a down in the market, there will be a crash companies or getting invested in them. as such investors will quit the sector. However, de- This is leading to a situation where several spite the current boom, biotechnology shares have generic and small biotechnology companies are not been overvalued as in 2000. This is an indica- being bought or merged with existing companies. tor that the past may not play out in 2015. “We see mergers and acquisitions (m&a) in the But there are overall apprehensions about healthcare sector being up materially in 2014 at the industry. Arjun Kejriwal of Kejriwal Research all size levels and across all subsectors,” Jeffrey & Investment Service Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based Stute, J P Morgan’s head of healthcare invest- organisation providing financial solutions, down- ment, told Bloomberg. For example, the big com- plays the sector’s eminence in India while hinting panies that are going to lose patents are, in fact, that public investment may not be as big as it is ready to pump in money to buy new generic com- made out to be. “As of now, there is no big enthu- panies. Bristol-Myers, flush with billions in cash, siasm to invest in the sector. Whatever investment has already declared its intention to buy compa- has been made is because analysts have termed it nies manufacturing drugs for cancer, virology and as a sunrise sector,” he says. It is popularly said specialty drugs. Merck is looking for similar ac- money is meant to circulate. Who knows which quisitions. “Based on the strong stock price reac- way it will circulate this time around? 

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 35

28-35Cover Story.indd 35 24/02/15 12:08 PM LIVESTOCK ECONOMY

Deserted by policy

Rajasthan's livestock is IVESTOCK HAS sustained the people of Rajasthan during times of drought or when agriculture was unviable. State facing a threat as grazing government data suggests 80 per cent of rural families lands disappear and laws in Rajasthan keep livestock in their households, and 35 per cent of the total income of small and marginal farmers paralyse traditional economic Lcomes from dairy and animal husbandry. But this backup economy of Rajasthan is seeing a slow death because of the state’s narrow-minded incentives for keepers policies and the steady disappearance of grazing land due to mining JEMIMA ROHEKAR AND JITENDRA and agriculture. The 19th Livestock Census released in September 2014 shows that | pali and rajsamand, rajasthan Rajasthan, home to the second largest livestock population in India, has registered a sharp decline in the rate of increase of livestock heads. While livestock population increased by 15 per cent from 2002 to 2007, it grew by less than two per cent in the next five years. Of total livestock, the population of sheep experienced a sharp decline of 19 per cent from 2007 to 2012. The state, which has the highest population of goats, saw an increase of just 1 per cent in their numbers during the same period. However, the steady drop in the number of camels has been the most worrying finding of every livestock census in the past two decades. From 1992 until 2012, the population of camels has declined by more than 56 per cent (see ‘Low on livestock’ p37). Misguided approach Despite the alarming figures, the state’s livestock policy seems inclined towards protecting only the cow. In 1995, the state government enacted two laws: Rajasthan Go-Seva Ayog Act and Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition on Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act.

36 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

36-40Analysis.indd 36 23/02/15 11:10 AM LIVESTOCK ECONOMY

VIKAS CHOUDHARY/ CSE

Rajasthan, which has the highest population of goats in the country, saw an increase of just 1 per cent in their numbers between 2007 and 2012

This January, theVasundhara Raje- profits, which would result in the neglect of Low on livestock led government appointed Sirohi mla and indigenous breeds. While camel and sheep numbers are Raika leader Otaram as the state’s first cow minister. While many Indian states have Sinking ship of the desert’ falling, rise in goat numbers has slowed some sort of legal or executive structure After years of neglect, the government 1992 for the protection of cows, none had ever recently acknowledged the condition of Camel 2003 named a cow minister until now. Otaram camels and their keepers. It declared the 2012 (Figures in million) says, “The ministry wants to open an aadarsh camel as the second state animal, along with 0.75 gaushala (model cow shelter) in every the chinkara, in September 2014. The state 0.50 district. We want the development of these Cabinet is also in the process of enacting 0.33 shelters to be included under the Mahatma the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition Gandhi National Rural Employment of slaughter and regulation of temporary Guarantee Scheme.” (See ‘Open forests for migration or exports of camel) Bill 2014, on Sheep livestock grazing’ p38.) the lines of the cow legislation. The priority ofhis department, he adds, The proposed restrictions on migration 12.49 is to stop cow smuggling. But experts say have started affecting the sale of camels, the 10.05 the state’s legislation confuses smuggling source of livelihood of Raikas, the state’s 9.08 with sale. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson of Pali- traditional livestock keepers. Camel herds are based Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (lpps), composed of a majority of females with only an organisation which works with pastoral one breeding male. To avoid violent clashes Goat communities, says: “The Nagauri cattle among male camels during winter, their breed was in great demand in Bihar and breeding season, Raikas have traditionally 15.29 Uttar Pradesh for ploughing. The ban stops sold adult males at Rajasthan’s famous 16.81 the sale of bullocks outside the state. And Pushkar Fair held in November every year. 21.67 that leads to deterioration of these cattle Anticipating legal action and unsure of breeds.” Experts warn the fall in demand how the new draft law would affect trade, Source: 19th Livestock Census and Rajasthan animal will force keepers to shift to breeds that give many camel buyers from neighbouring husbandry department

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 37

36-40Analysis.indd 37 23/02/15 11:10 AM LIVESTOCK ECONOMY

states shied away from the fair last year. The migrate over small and large distances in `Open forests for demand fell, leading to a crash in prices. search of fallow land and unsown fields. livestock grazing' “Earlier, we used to get `30,000-`40,000 “Due to rain-fed agriculture, people for every male camel. But this time, camels used to follow an alternate grazing system. You claim to be the country's first were sold for just `10,000-`12,000, and the They cultivated half their land and left the cow minister. What is your depart- younger ones for as low as `6,000. How will remaining half fallow for grazing by domestic ment doing for the welfare of cows in we survive?” asks Gotam, a 55-year-old Raika animals,” says Anil Kumar Chhangani, Rajasthan? from Desuri tehsil of Pali district. associate professor, environmental science, We want to develop the 1,450 regis- tered gaushalas (cow sheds) in the While the laws paralyse traditional Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner. state in such a way that they become economic incentives of keepers, a more But the 1950s and 60s saw a major shift self-reliant. We also want to develop critical problem threatens the very survival in Rajasthan’s economy. The Indira Gandhi indigenous breeds so that of all livestock. Canal brought water into seven arid and people consider it profit- semi-arid north-western districts of the state. able to rear them. Shrinking pasture land The coinciding Green Revolution meant the In Chhoti Moraval village of Rajsamand population leaned further towards agriculture, But what about small district, a thick layer of white marble dust adopting tube well- and canal-fed irrigation farmers and herds? chokes five hectares (ha) of grazing land. and intensive cropping practices. People will keep cows only Situated in the Aravalli hills, this land A 1978 paper published in Proceedings if there is potential to earn was once the ideal pasture for cattle from of Indian National Science Academy from them. That is why nearby panchayats. A small natural lake by researchers Amal Kumar Sen and Otaram Dewasi we want to bring gaush- Rajasthan's Minister of sustained vegetation and provided water. K N Gupta of Jodhpur-based Central Dairy, Devasthan and ala construction under But the land was forcibly acquired by Arid Zone Research Institute show Gaupalan department Mahatma Gandhi National mining companies. The lake slowly dried up, that fallow land in the arid districts Rural Employment vegetation disappeared and the livestock lost of Ganganagar fell by 25 per cent, in Guarantee Scheme. a substantial source of food. Barmer by 21 per cent, in Churu by “In revenue records, it is still pasture 28 per cent and in Bikaner by 10 per cent What is the status of other livestock land,” says Sohan Lal Purohit, a senior between 1957-58 and 1963-64. The paper animals? As chairperson of Rajasthan Livestock government official. “The Supreme Court attributed this change to bringing more Board, I had started insurance has strictly prohibited mining on pasture land under cultivation for the government’s schemes such as Kamdhenu for cows, land. But it has been going on unchecked “grow more food” campaign (see ‘Harvesting Avika Kavach for sheep and so on. here for eight years.” doom’). We have made hostels for children of Stories of disappearing grazing land In the past two decades, agriculture shepherds who migrate. persist throughout Rajasthan. The state’s has continued to grow exponentially in livestock has traditionally relied on gochars Rajasthan. A report submitted by the The population of camels and sheep (common grazing lands), orans (sacred Agro-Economic Research Centre of has declined greatly. What is the groves) and forests. Livestock keepers would Gujarat’s Sardar Patel University to the government doing for them? To address this problem, the govern- ment just declared camel the state an- Harvesting doom imal and sent a proposal to the Centre With people taking to agriculture in the desert state of Rajasthan, pastoral to make camel the national animal. It lands have seen a steady dip will be a priority for us to stop camel slaughter and we are trying to include 22 21.74 camel milk in the Food Security Act. 19.38 19.23 19 Total cropped area Livestock keepers say there is not 16 enough fodder. What is the solution? Total pastoral area* Forests should be opened up for graz- Million hectares ing. We will send a proposal to the gov- 13 11.48 ernment in this regard. We are devel- 11.22 10.28 oping a fodder which grows in 15 days. 10 1990-91 2000-01 2009-10 Full interview on www.downtoearth.org.in Source: Rajasthan government *Total pastoral land consists of permanent pastures, cultivable wasteland and fallow land

38 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

36-40Analysis.indd 38 23/02/15 11:10 AM Advertisement

Positions in CLEAN

Clean Energy Acess Network (CLEAN) is a new initiative to represent the organisations engaged in the Decentralized Energy sector in India. The Network has been established

create a platform to project the needs and priorities of the sector by bringing together practitionersto help entrepreneurs and all stakeholders and organisations in the energy overcome ecosystem. sector The specific Network challenges is technology and and scale agnostic and includes both electricity and non-electricity energy usage. It

delivers five core sets of services: Information and networking; Technology development and innovation; Skills and training; opportunities for Policy advocacy and Access to Foundedfinance. by 10 committed and known organisations in the sector, Ashden India Renewable

Energy Collective, CEEW, Indian Renewable Energy Federation, SELCO Foundation, andShakti ICCo. Sustainable Energy Foundation, The Climate Group, The Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation, TERI, UN Foundation, and WWF; it is currently supported through USAID

1.CLEAN is looking to fill the following positions:

Manager (Policy and Access to Finance) – to lead the theme by interacting with policy makers, investors, and financial institutions to address the challenges in the sector. The ability to write incisive analytical papers and engage with investors and financial 2. institutions for smoother flow of funds for the enterprises and end users is a must.

andManager not articulated (Communication needs and and expectations. Membership) Ensure – to be that responsible membership for ofengaging the Network with growsall the andstakeholders remains active of the by Network continuous for flow engagement. of information, Also expected opinions, to and oversee articulated donor reporting, website, event management.

withBased education in Delhi, and both work the experience positions requirewould compare between reasonably 5 - 10 years within of the post sector. qualification Women candidatesexperience. are The especially positions encouragedinvolve 7- 10 to days apply. of travelling a month. Salaries, commensurate

Further details on the positions can be found at

http://s3idf.org/get-involved/work- with-us/ [email protected]

Please send your CVs with a statement of intent to

39 MARCH 1-15 2015 39cleand ad.indd 39 26/02/15 4:20 PM LIVESTOCK ECONOMY

In the absence of regular fodder, camels are chronically hungry and predisposed

JEMIMA ROHEKAR / CSE to diseases

Union Ministry of Agriculture states By 2016, only 62 million inter-dependent. “Vegetation in forests that from 1990-91 to 2009-10, the gross tonnes of fodder will be around the Aravallis has appeared because cropped area in Rajasthan increased available as against the of grazing. Sheep, goats and camels help from 19.4 million ha to cover almost 22 demand of 84 million tonnes in seed dispersal. When grazing is banned, million ha. In the same period, land under biodiversity disappears.” permanent pastures reduced from 1.9 Since the Forest Rights Act, 2006, million ha to 1.7 million ha. Cultivable elevated night temperatures, this leads the Köhler-Rollefson says lpps has supported waste land dipped almost 20 per cent to temperature humidity index level to exceed several Raikas to make their claim on these 4.5 million ha. 70, causing thermal stress to animals.” High grazing lands. “But the claims have not been With shrinking grazing lands, domestic humidity allows vectors to multiply and acted upon yet,” she says. animals are facing a severe shortage of camels fall prey to diseases, some fatal. The ban on cow slaughter revises our fodder. A 2012 report by the environment understanding of the animal’s economic assessment team for the Rajasthan Forests: No entry for livestock utility, placing focus entirely on promoting Agriculture Competitiveness Project states Tola Ram, 45, is a shepherd from Jatungura cow milk. Köhler-Rollefson wants the that fodder is likely to grow increasingly panchayat in Pali district. His herd of 200 government to evolve a similar policy for scarce. It estimates that by 2016, only sheep has shrunk to 80 in the last decade. other animals. “The draft camel law, for 62 million tonnes of fodder will be available He blames it on the ban on grazing in the example, pulls the plug on the current camel as against the demand of 84 million tonnes. Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary. economy. Since it is not used as a draught Minister Otaram, however, does not “Before it became a wildlife sanctuary, animal anymore and slaughter is not allowed, see any conflict between farms and pasture the Kumbhalgarh forest was open for the government must create other positive lands yet. “Before Rajasthan can progress in grazing,” he says. “But forest officials now incentives for camel keepers. If small scale agriculture, it will have to arrange for water,” fine me` 6 per head if I enter with my herd. I industries could get some incentives to he says. “As of today, millions of bighas of paid `480 in fines last year. What can I do? I develop the camel milk market, woollen land (1 bigha = 0.2 ha) are lying uncultivated. have nowhere else to take my animals.” and other products, it would make a big Villages don’t have water for basic needs. So Under rain-fed agriculture, farms were difference,”she says. how will people cultivate land? There is no sown before the rains and would remain The National Research Centre On shortage of land.” off-limits for livestock throughout the Camel says that camel milk has proven Experts, however, caution that the season. Keepers would turn to the forests, benefits in the treatment of Type 1 diabetes, changing pattern of agriculture and which would provide animals with a mix of tuberculosis and even autism. But the delay by industrialisation is resulting in climate nutritious trees, shrubs and plants. But in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of change. N V Patil, director of Bikaner-based 2002, the Supreme Court placed a ban on all India in recognising camel milk fit for human National Research Centre on Camel, says, human uses, including grazing, in sanctuaries consumption has stalled the development “Camels are adapted to high day and low to curb the transmission of diseases to of this product into a full-fledged night temperatures. Canal and tube well resident wildlife. business model. The urgent need,however, irrigation and intensive cropping cause Chhangani explains that forests, is to bring a balance between agriculture and an increase in humidity. Combined with wildlife and livestock have always been livestock rearing. n

40 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

36-40Analysis.indd 40 23/02/15 11:10 AM SCIENCE BYTES HEALTH

Sleep loss means weight gain EXPERTS HAVE claimed for years that lack of sleep leads to weight gain. It has now been proved true. Not only does a sleep- There was no Big Bang deprived person eat more, he/she also tends to eat more fat and less carbohydrates. It was A study has challenged the most thought that hormonal disturbances were behind this, but a study says salience network, prevalent theory on the origin of an area of the brain, is the key. The five-day- universe, reigniting an old debate four-night study on 34 people, whose brains were monitored through MRI, found that sleep-deprived subjects had an increased connectivity in salience network. It has a key role in determining responses to hunger stimuli. Scientific Reports, February 3

ECOLOGY JOSHUA MAYER Resilient to mass extinctions EARTH HAS witnessed five mass extinctions which changed the face of life on the planet. But plants coped with these events better than animals. The difference was most visible during the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction, caused by the impact of an asteroid off the Mexican coast 66 million years ago. The event killed almost all the dinosaurs, but had limited impact on plant diversity. Negative rates of diversification (a scenario where more species die than are formed) never continued for long periods for plants. Over 20,000 plant fossils were analysed during the study. JINHO JUNG New Phytologist, January 26

BIOLOGY HE UNIVERSE did not start with the Big Bang. It did not have a beginning, nor will it ever end. It has been present forever, says Iron, key to strong beaver tooth T a study which has formulated an equation. The most prevalent BEAVERS DO not brush yet their front theory of origin of universe says it all began 13.8 billion years ago teeth are strong enough to cut trees. This is when everything was condensed in an infinitesimally small point, or because their teeth contain small amounts of iron that protect the enamel from wear and singularity, and exploded and expanded. Mathematical calculations tear and acidic substance. Iron is present in an and Einstein's Theory of General Relativity explain the Big Bang and unstructured phase around the well-ordered what happened after it, but they do not explain singularity or what "nanowires" that form the enamel's core. The happened before it. The new study claims to have prepared a model find can be used in studies on tooth decay in which suggests that singularity did not exist and gives the universe humans. Science, February 13 an infinite age. Physics Letters B, February 4

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 41

41S&T Bytes.indd 41 20/02/15 3:35 PM HEALTH

Getting close and personal THIS LONELY MOMENT THIS LONELY The war on cancer intensifies as scientists try to tailor treatment according to a patient's genetic make-up INDU MATHI S

ANCER IS one of the few scourges that personalised cancer therapy has revolution- `25,000. Even if one gets it done, mutations have been known for thousands of ised cancer screening, prevention and treat- can be targeted only with approved drugs or a years but scientists are yet to find a de- ment. It is broadly classified into two types: new drug under clinical trial. This makes the Cfinitive treatment for it. According targeted therapies and pharmacogenomics cost of therapy prohibitive even for those in to who, cancer is a leading cause of death therapy. While pharmacogenomics focuses high income countries. worldwide, accounting for 8.2 million deaths on the way a person’s genes control the body’s Gordon B Mills, an expert in the field in 2012; the number will increase by 70 per immune reaction, in targeted therapy, drugs who has several research studies and awards cent in the next two decades. The problem is are targeted on specific molecules, proteins or to his credit, demystifies the scope of person- there are hundreds of types of cancer, and they genes in a tumour that contribute to cancer. alised therapies. “Our ability to analyse tu- are all caused by cells dividing interminably. Of late, targeted therapies are in vogue in mours at a molecular level has demonstrated So, conventionally they are treated by excising India, says P P Bapsy, who heads the oncology remarkable heterogeneity between patients, malignant tumours or backing up the surgery department at Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru. that is likely to explain the plateau,” says Mills, with drugs, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It is a blessing for those suffering from ad- chairperson of department of systems biolo- But these standardised treatments evoke dif- vanced stages of lung and kidney cancer and gy at the University of Texas M D Anderson ferent responses, depending on the physio- early stages of breast cancer. “We use target- Cancer Center, US. For instance, there are logical and genetic make-up of the patient. ed therapies as the first line of defence in ad- four to 20 kinds of ductal breast cancer, each This crudeness of treatment, however, vanced stages of lung and kidney cancer.” requiring specific therapy. This understanding is rapidly changing. In the past few decades, However, the treatment is still in its nas- has resulted in only 1-2 per cent of improve- scientists have realised that the possible cent stage. ment in breast cancer treatment in the past cure lies in the patient’s cells, in the genes. To tailor the therapies, scientists use the 15 years. Besides, all types of cancer do not Decoding the genes will not only help un- patient’s genetic make-up and tumour bi- have personalised treatment options. Mills derstand the tumours and predict the risk of ology. But tumour sampling and genetic or says, “Even following testing, only about half cancer but tailor the treatment (see ‘Tailor thy molecular testing (for biomarkers to iden- of patients have abnormalities that could be treatment’ on p43). tify gene mutations) is time consuming and treated with targeted therapies. Only about Since making its debut in the early 1990s, expensive, often ranging from `5,000 to 15 per cent of patients who undergo testing

42 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

42-43Health.indd 42 23/02/15 11:11 AM Tailor thy treatment Personalised cancer therapy is designed by identifying tumour biomarkers which can be genetic materials, protein or metabolic profile that can predict the patient's response to a specific therapy

Genetic/molecular profiling Prognostic markers Personlised drugs Markers predictive of drug sensitivity/ resistance

Markers predictive of adverse events

Source: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, US

actually received targeted therapies.” Besides, ent types of tumours to perfect personal- in bladder and found high response rates in some patients the therapy abruptly stops ised therapies. In recent years, a paradigm from the immune system of the patients. The working for unknown reasons. shift has also been observed in targeted ther- drug was considered a breakthrough by the Martine Piccart, president of the apy research wherein researchers are now US Food and Drug Administration in European Society of Medical Oncology increasingly focused on therapies that can February this year. (esmo), in a patient’s guide released in 2013 trigger the immune response against cancer. Clinical trials on targeted drugs are on admits this limitation. “Currently, we are not The November 27, 2014 issue of the journal full-swing across the world and the key play- yet in the era of personalised oncology but in Nature published five studies on personalised ers include global pharma giants such as the era of stratified oncology, which means therapies that target immune system to act Novartis, AstraZeneca and Pfizer, among we are able to classify cancers according to against cancer. others. According to a report by ims Institute critical targets against which we hope to de- For example, certain tumours can express for Healthcare Informatics released in 2014, velop effective drugs,” Piccart states. Modern a protein called PD-L1. The protein sends there are currently 374 experimental can- technologies such as deep dna sequencing the immune system to hibernation when it cer drugs in mid-stage trials, and the glob- will be powerful tools in the future allowing binds to PD-1 receptor, and the cancer cells al spending on oncology drugs is expected to us to identify drugable mutations, he adds. remain undetected. Targeted therapies can reach US $100 billion in 2018. block either PD-L1 or PD-1 to activate the Although personalised therapy for can- Making of wonder drugs immune system. cer is well known, the concept can be used At present, personalised therapies are most- A study published in November 2014 for treatment of diabetes, heart disease and ly restricted to clinical trials and may take found that targeted therapies that block Alzheimer’s that are often caused due to ge- some time to get approved. Research is also PD-1 receptors are successful in treating netic factors. To support studies on personal- under way to decode cancer biology and to bladder cancer. The researchers used an- ised treatment for bowel cancer, asthma, hy- find more molecular weak points in differ- ti-PD-L1 antibody drug to target tumour pertension and lupus, UK’s minister for life sciences, George Freeman, in January this year unveiled a US $21 million funding. That Personalised therapy requires genetic testing which month, US President Barack Obama also an- is not only time-consuming but also expensive. Not all nounced a plan for his country to be a world kinds of cancer have personalised treatment options leader in precision medicine. 

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 43

42-43Health.indd 43 23/02/15 11:11 AM TECHNOLOGY

Comfort backpack

OR MOST of us, the very mention of An improved plucking basket promises Assam conjures up an image of lush tea gardens sprawling over vast to alleviate muscular pain and fatigue, F stretches of the state. Assam is the world’s largest tea-growing region, and its tea two major health problems faced has gained global prominence for its strong by tea garden workers flavour and bright colour. About half the workforce in Assam’s tea gardens is AMARJYOTI BORAH | jorhat, assam women, as their nimble fingers are consid- ered better for plucking the leaves. But what often goes unnoticed is the hard work it re- quires and the accompanying health risks. The plucking process is a highly repetitive task, involving long hours of hand work. “Pluckers work for over seven hours a day, with an hour-long lunch break and a 10-minute drinking water break in between their shifts,” explains Nandita Bhattacharyya, associate professor at the College of Home Science, Assam Agricultural University (aau), Jorhat. The tea-plucking basket further aggravates the burden of work as workers have to carry heavy load throughout the day. The problemcould soon be resolved as a worker-friendly basket, aimed at reduc- ing physiological stress of the workers and increasing their work efficiency, is likely to hit the market. The new basket has been designed by the College of Home Science, aau, and funded by the National Tea Research Foundation (ntrf ). The initiative followed an ntrf- sponsored study in 2003 on “posture assessment of workers in performing different activities in tea gardens”. The study highlighted that the tea-plucking basket is a major reason for various health problems faced by women working in tea estates. Weighty issues The bamboo basket traditionally used by pluckers is strapped to their back, the belt of

SAYANTAN BERA / CSE which rests on their head. The full basket,

44 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

44-45Technology.indd 44 20/02/15 3:35 PM Light load "We develop body and shoulder Improved features of the pain very early. After working ergonomically designed basket Bigger for a few years, most women in size, can have difficulty sleeping at night hold up to 8 kg because of the pain" of tea leaves Ð Rupa Kurmi, tea grower in Amchanga tea estate in New Sonapur sub-division, Kamrup Metro district design keeps basket in place "Women in tea gardens have to carry heavy load. Workers who tried the new basket reported reduced muscular stress on the head, neck and upper back" Ð Nandita Bhattacharyya, faculty, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat

Belt can be Loosely adjusted to carry woven to allow “This basket fits the back curvature of the minute in case of the existing basket. the basket like a school passage of air and bag so that its weight is rainwater so that women, which keeps it in place unlike The basket isnow ready to be manufac- distributed evenly on leaves are not the existing round basket,” tured for commercial purpose. Researchers shoulders damaged Bhattacharyya says. The “tapering shape” are also re-designing the bigger basket for the also allows easy movement through the plucked leaves. bushes. The basket is made of cane and has While the existing basket is priced more capacity it can hold up to 8 kg of tea between `100-`300, the new one will which weighs about 5 kg, is emptied into a leaves. But since it is loosely woven, its weight cost `650-`700 due to design modifications bigger basket. Throughout the day, the is almost as light as the bamboo basket, and use of skilled labour. But the price is like- big basket is loaded four to five times. When which is more compact. The new basket also ly to reduce if it is purchased in bulk. “It will a shift gets over at 5 pm, a worker walks allows passage of air and water during the be a win-win situation for both tea garden several kilometres to deposit the tea leaves, rains, which ensures that the leaves are not owners and workers. Improved health of carrying the big basket a load of at least damaged. Its belt can be adjusted to carry the workers will result in more output for the tea 20 kg on her head. This is much more than basket like a school bag so that the weight garden,” Bhattacharyya says. the permissible limit of 10 kg, prescribed by does not fall on the head but is distributed Tea garden workers who tried the new the National Institute of Occupational evenly on the shoulders (see ‘Light load’). basket are eager to use it. “It will help us pluck Health and Safety. Moreover, the entire load Bhattacharyya and her team conducted more leaves but would not strain our back. falls on the head and neck. “This exerts pres- initial trials of the new basket in September- We hope the new basket gets introduced in sure on the spine and back and often results November of 2004 in Silikha tea garden in all tea gardens soon,” Orang says. Tea garden in neck and back pain. The workers also have Jorhat district. After that the design re- owners are interested too. “We will approach difficulty sleeping at night because of the mained at a discussion stage for further im- the university for some baskets,” says Pankaj pain,” Bhattacharyya says. provements. During the trial period, the Gogoi, director of Khuwa tea estate. “If it can “It becomes difficultfor us to continue heart rate, cardiac cost (strain on the heart ensure workers’ health and improve produc- working once we develop body pain, more so during work) and muscular pain of the work- tivity, there is no reason not to use it,” he adds. because we are paid minimal wages and do ers were monitored and the results were com- Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous body un- not have health insurance,” says 38-year-old pared to the three parameters while der the Ministry of Science and Technology, Sumi Orang, who works in Hahchurah tea using the traditional basket. Bhattacharyya has expressed interest to promote the estate in Sonitpur district. says muscular stress on the head, neck and product. Researchers hope entrepreneurs upper back as well as pain in the buttock re- would come forward to develop the basket Easy on body duced to a great extent while using the new commercially and create a manufacturing The new basketwas conceptualised keeping basket. Muscular pain reduced by 60 per cent. unit as it will generate employment opportu- in mind the ergonomics the body structure The average heart rate was recorded as 96.26 nities, besides addressing the health problem of the workers and their working conditions. beats per minute, compared to 102 beats per of tea garden workers. 

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 45

44-45Technology.indd 45 20/02/15 3:35 PM COLUMN

HEDGEHOG TALES RAKESH KALSHIAN

Disease of flawed insights Independent verification of medical research is a must to ensure that the findings are correct

UR BODIES and minds are prisoners of modern Arguably, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Most drug science. Not a day goes by without newspapers, companies are extremely secretive about data on clinical TV channels and the Internet plying us with trials. Ben Goldacre, a British doctor and author of the Othe latest medical “insights” into the workings bestseller Bad Science, is campaigning for penalising them of maladies such as diabetes, or the promising results of a if they don’t make full disclosure. clinical trial of a drug for Alzheimer’s. To verify, and not simply trust, a research finding is As most such studies are published in peer-reviewed the lynchpin of modern science’s prerogative to objective journals of repute, even peers and practising physicians truth. That scientists are not interested in replicating trust them, let alone the lay public. the findings of their peers is behind the current crisis of However, the truth is shockingly contradictory. In the fraudulent research. last one decade, a series of metastudies (study of studies) Statistical errors, inadvertent or otherwise, is just one has revealed that a large number of studies, especially of many factors that perpetuate bad science. Peer reviewers in medical science and psychology, are either shoddy or have been found guilty of oversight when it comes to statistically manipulated, and hence false. spotting errors. To make matters worse, professional John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist at Stanford rivalry coupled with competition for a shrinking pool of University, was the first to blow the whistle in his funds and jobs encourages a publish-or-perish culture, provocatively titled 2005 paper, Why Most Published which clearly affects the quality of papers published. Research Findings are False. He demonstrated that in There is dangerthat some of these shoddy scientific studies characterised by researcher prejudice, greater claims might get reflected in medical practice. Besides, it flexibility in design and technique, high glamour also means that precious funds, a significant amount of quotient, and high financial stakes (all of which is true of which comes from the taxpayers’ pocket, are squandered most studies), the researcher is likely to come up with an on bad or useless research. erroneous result. Alarmed by the scale of the problem, some In 2012, researchers at a US biotech firm, organisations have begun to put replication back on the Amgen, reported that they could replicate table. Notably, in 2012, plos one, an open access journal, no more than six of the 53 “landmark” launched the Reproducibility Initiative, a service through studies in cancer research. Likewise, which life scientists can get their work verified by an in 2011, researchers at Bayer independent lab for a fee. found they could not verify Unfortunately, even as India expands its medical more than 20-25 per cent of research footprint, there are no signs of alarm over this the research papers on cancer, worrisome issue. How much of Indian medical research is cardiovascular and women’s verified is anybody’s guess. But it’s high time the scientific health studies. Ominously, fraternity started a public debate on this subject that has between 2000 and 2010, no fewer bearing not only on the quality of research but also on the than 80,000 patients enrolled lives of millions of Indians. in clinical trials based on Ioannidis is all for making it a public affair but he is research that was later not very sanguine that this will happen quickly, though. retracted because of He told The Atlanticmagazine: “It’s difficult to change the errors or fraud. way that everyday doctors, patients, and healthy people think and behave.”  TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE Hope he’s wrong.

46 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

46Column.indd 46 20/02/15 3:36 PM Advertisements

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT, BHOPAL (An Autonomous Institute Under the Ministry of Environment & Forests & Climate Change GOI) Invites Application from open / in-service candidates for admission to M.Phil. (Natural Resource Management) 2015-16

The job oriented M.Phil. (NRM), focuses on Climate Change and is expected to meet the emerging demand for competent manpower is affiliated to Saurashtra University, Gujarat. Course also includes foreign study tour.

Eligibility: Post Graduate Degree/Diploma, with min. of 55% marks (50% for SC/ST/DA) in Science/ Agriculture/Forestry/ Environment/Life Science/Engineering/Management & Social Sciences. For In-service seats, officers from IFS, SFS, Group A officers or equivalent from other Govt. Dept./PSUs & NGOs with min. 3 years of experience.

Seats & Reservation: Total seats is 20(Reservation will be as per the prevailing GOI norms).

Selection Process: Entrance Test (English, Analytical Ability & NRM Aptitude) & Interview. Exemption from entrance test to In-service candidates, UGC/CSIR/ICAR-NET qualified PGDFM (min. of 3.0 OGPA).

Fee: Rs. 1,50,000/- covers tuition fee, hostel accommodation & travel & stay for foreign study tour.

Grant upto 20,000/- is given to students for dissertation work.

PLACEMENT: Support to open candidates.

How to Apply: Completed application form in prescribed format along with a DD of Rs.500/- in favour of Director IIFM, payable at Bhopal, should be sent to the Chairperson, M.Phil. Indian Institute of Forest Management, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal 462003, latest by 2nd April 2015. In services candidates should apply through proper channel (advance copy can be sent). Visit www.iifm.ac.in/mphil for details

Chairperson, M.Phil (NRM) Admission

GOOD MORNING

CSE DELHI ON

Beginning March 4 Every Wednesday, at 9 AM A CSE and Radio One initiative to inform, involve and engage Delhi on issues of environment, development and health

Tune in and For details, please visit let’s talk! www.cseindia.org

47 feb28 2015 47IIFM + Radio ad.indd 47 26/02/15 4:20 PM DENNIS JARVIS

Tibetan landscape may soon disappear In the 1980s, when very few people visited Tibet, MICHAEL BUCKLEY, an Australian settled in Canada, wrote the first Lonely Planet guide to the region. A regular visitor to the world's highest plateau for the past 30 years, Buckley says he has witnessed Tibet's landscape deteriorating. He recently wrote a book, Meltdown in Tibet, in which he has held China responsible for the degradation. In an interview with ANUPAM CHAKRAVARTTY, he says China has big plans to build mega dams in Tibet and is collaborating with multinationals to extract shale oil and minerals to provide electricity and fuel to its urban centres and industries. Edited excerpts

48 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

48-50Interview.indd 48 20/02/15 5:09 PM

From tourist guidebooks, you shifted to The fact is that if you have mining, if you on that water. If somebody wants to divert writing on Tibet's environment. What remove mountain tops to extract minerals, if that water, which is what China wants to do, made you write Meltdown in Tibet? you change or drain a lake, you can change it becomes a serious issue for the people When I first arrived in Tibet in the 1980s, the the whole ecosystem within a matter of years. living downstream. landscape was fairly pristine. There was not And we have already witnessed this in some much activity. There were no mines or dams. places. This upset me and I started to write Not much information is available on I always assumed that this landscape at a about it. what is happening in Tibet. What does high altitude, with snow-capped mountains, your story say? grasslands and beautiful lakes, would be there What is the significance of Tibet for the Journalists do not have access to central parts for future generations to see. But the scenario whole of Asia? of Tibet where most of the mining activity is rapidly changing, especially after the train If you look at the map of the Tibetan plateau, is taking place. They may get access to eastern to Lhasa was started in 2006. I thought the highest plateau on Earth, there are Tibet in Amdo and Kham provinces. But somebody should say something about this 10 major rivers emerging from it. That if you go as a tourists, you have a better chance because it is going to get worse. If the puts Tibet in an unusual position. It is a of getting access to mining areas. I always Chinese authorities do not stop what they are provider of water to all of South Asia, East go as a tourist, which is what I am. I am a doing, the landscape will soon disappear. You Asia, to about 10 different countries in the freelance journalist, not affiliated to any might ask, “How can a landscape disappear?” downstream. Over 2 billion people depend news agency.

Cost of China's growth CHINA Hydropower and mining projects are under Gansu way in Tibet to fuel industrial projects in southwest China

Qinghai

Tibet autonomous region Sichuan

Hydroelectric power projects: Most of the operational, under- Mining: Oil, shale and natural gas are being Yunnan construction and proposed mined in northwestern Tibet, while projects are concentrated in uranium, copper, rare earths are present in southeastern Tibet southern Tibet. Gold deposits lie in eastern Source: Meltdown in Tibet and north-eastern Tibet

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 49

48-50Interview.indd 49 23/02/15 2:46 PM INTERVIEW

The lack of information in the public sources. They already have two diversions violations by these Canadian companies. domain is also because there is no link running from the Yangtze river. The third is There have been movements in Canada to between Tibetans living in Tibet and those planned from the Tibetan region. Nobody make these companies conform to the same staying outside—their communication lines seems to know how exactly these plans would standards in China that are applicable to are blocked. They cannot send e-mails critical be executed, but it will probably involve a them in Canada. The biggest mining of the government because they will get huge amount of tunneling and a large company, China Gold International arrested. They do not have access to usual number of dams. The facts and data have not Limited, has 60 per cent of its stake in a social networks, such as Facebook, in China. been released. Chinese government-owned corporation, Tibet does not get news from the outside There are also big plans for mining in but it is listed in the Canadian stock exchange world, and news from Tibet does not go out Tibet. The region is a major source of lithium, in Vancouver. It has a big mine in Gyama in either. So we do not get a clear picture of what copper, gold and silver, which are desperately east Tibet. This is actually a Chinese company is happening. sought by China. Lithium is used in batteries masquerading as a Canadian one and raising money in the Vancouver stock exchange. What is China's big plan in Tibet? What is There are European companies involved it seeking to do by building dams across as well. Shell, an Anglo-Dutch company, has rivers or diverting rivers? "You do not need a 500MW dam for Tibet... China a major contract for shale oil drilling in Chinese authorities do not reveal much of Sichuan. There are half-a-dozen European their plans. They will release information needs the power... So the companies manufacturing silicate chips. only after the plan is executed. But it is clear plan is to hook up these American companies such as General that they plan to construct mega dams on power generating dams to Electric and Canadian companies such as Tibet’s rivers and link the hydroelectricity the national grid and feed Bombardier are involved in the train project generated to national grids. The developers factories in Chengdu and between Lhasa and the rest of China. The have saturated the rivers in southeastern Chongqing in southwest bottom line is that Tibetans do not have any China with dams and are now looking China, where most of the control over their resources and the foreign towards western China. They are moving to industries are planned" companies are plundering these resources. higher grounds. They are adding cascades to the dams to ensure turbines run smoothly. What are the specific impacts of various They have built cascades in the lower projects on Tibet and its neighbourhood? Mekong and are now moving to its higher for electric vehicles, among other things. In I am not an expert in climatology but China reaches in Chambo, which is in Tibet. future, there will be a huge demand for claims that environmental degradation that The demand for electricity is not much lithium in China. It could come from Chile is happening in Tibet and elsewhere is in Tibet because only 6 million people live in and Bolivia, too, but getting the mineral from because of climate change. But the fact is the whole of the Tibetan region. They would Tibet will be a lot cheaper. that China is driving the climate change. It fit into half of the Chinese city of Chongqing. is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide Is it just China which is in need of You do not need a 500 MW dam for Tibet. (CO2). It has surpassed the United States. In these resources? Who are the people The electricity generated from these dams 2013, 27 per cent of CO2 came from China. will be transmitted to areas like Beijing and operating in these areas and who gets (US was at 15 per cent and India, 6 per cent). Shanghai, where there is demand for power, the benefit? This is contributing to the glacial melting and to factories in Chengdu and Chongqing I am from Canada and the major mining in the Himalayas. The rate of melting in in southwest China where most of the companies involved in Tibet are Canadian Tibet is twice as fast as global melting industries are planned. Basically, they are companies. There are about a dozen of glaciers. exporting power from Tibet. companies helping their Chinese counter- The other factor that is contributing to The other thing that is planned is water parts with exploration by bringing the the glacial melt is the emission of black soot diversion from eastern Tibet to northeast and technical know-how and supplying mining due to inefficient burning of fossil fuels. northwest China, where there is a huge equipment which are not locally available. Black soot is essentially composed of tiny demand. Northwest China has the But when it comes to actual mining, these black specks. They accumulate on glaciers, Taklamakan desert where there are plans for companies get bullied by their Chinese turning them grey. This attracts more heat mining, and you need large amounts of water counterparts. Once Chinese companies get from the sun. The more the black soot for that. There is already mining going on for the required technical support or understand accumulates on glaciers, the more rapid is the shale gas, tar sands, shale oil and oil sands, to various processes involved in mining, foreign melting. This has been underestimated by name a few. In the northeast, they need water counterparts are shown the door. It has been some scientists but it possibly contributes to for people. There are about 300 million happening for many years. 50 per cent of the melting. We still do not people in this part with very few water There are also ethical and environmental know as we do not have exact data. 

50 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

48-50Interview.indd 50 20/02/15 3:36 PM COLUMN

PATENTLY ABSURD LATHA JISHNU

Bitter ABS medicine for AYUSH Manufacturers cry foul as they receive notices from state boards to pay royalty

HAT'S GOOD for biodiversity is not always National Biodiversity Authority (nba) is deprived of good for business—or so it appears. The another `5,000 crore. long overdue guidelines on access and Under the new rules, domestic and foreign companies Wbenefit sharing (abs) of biological resources will have to pay 0.1 to 1 per cent royalty on their gross sales notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest of products using biological resources and traditional and Climate Change (moef&cc) in November 2014 is knowledge. Those who fail to do so face jail terms of three proving to be bitter physic for the makers of ayush or to five years with fines. abs has to be paid by any ayush unit traditional medicines who fear their healthy profits will that extracts plant based materials for commercial purposes. decline. ayush is an acronym for traditional Indian Domestic manufacturers cannot use these bio resources medical systems of ayurveda, yoga, unani and siddha apart without getting the permission of their respective sbbs, from homeopathy. while foreign companies must approach nba. In just two months after the guidelines were issued, sbbs, fund-starved and champing at the bit all states have issued notices to hundreds of units that use these years, have been enthusiastic in issuing notices to herbs and plant resources to make ayush units in recent weeks. News traditional medicines to pay the reports say that the Kerala ssb, the abs royalty. The rules, intended most exemplary in protecting its to promote sustainable use of bio bio resources, has issued notices to resources, give state biodiversity 800 ayurvedic manufacturers while boards (sbbs) the power to determine a newly galvanised Maharashtra the amount of royalty or benefit sbb has asked 1,500 ayush units in sharing to be paid by makers of ayush the state to comply with the latest products that are enjoying a boom. bda guidelines. But if the cries of protest are anything But these guidelines are vague to go by, industry is unlikely to accept and confusing, claims industry the new dispensation meekly after which is palpably worried by the the free run it has enjoyed for the past TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE hit it will take on profits. For the decade through successful lobbying. industry’s lobby group, the Ayurvedic Although India passed the Biological Diversity Drugs Manufacturers Association (adma), the key issue Act (bda) in 2002, the mandated abs guidelines revolves around what is known as the “normally traded as were held back by the government because of commodities” or ntac list. Those plant varieties listed as pressure from the ayush industry. With traditional ntac are exempt from the purview of bda. systems of medicine increasingly finding favour Thentac list has been highly controversial. In 2009, with patients who suffer from a host of ailments and the environment ministry had put 190 bio resources diseases that the allopathic system is unable to treat, on this list, prompting an outcry from conservationists the market has been growing at a fast clip both here and who alleged this had been done at the behest of industry abroad. The reluctance of moef&cc to notify the rules and trade which had brought in the powerful Ministry for so long is said to have helped ayush makers to avoid of Commerce to weigh in on their side. adma, which is paying any royalty to sbbs, a sum that is said to run into confronting the newly empowered sbbs, now says the several thousand crore rupees. An unnamed official of ntac is being “wrongly interpreted”. the Kerala sbb was recently quoted as saying the states Hopefully, however, the fight between profits and lose as much as `10,000 crore annually while the apex conservation may be more evenly matched this time.

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org 51

51Column.indd 51 23/02/15 11:11 AM OPINION INDIA'S CLIMATE DILEMMA Will India toe the US line of capping carbon emissions from farming? VIJETA RATTANI

SORIT / CSE

52-53Opinion.indd 52 20/02/15 3:37 PM NDIA SEEMS to be bowing out of its long-standing position financial and technological support from developed countries on climate change, as far as the farm sector is concerned. to undertake domestically suited climate actions. IOn January 19 this year, the Prime Minister’s Council on However, from the Kyoto summit in 1997, which was the Climate Change, in its first meeting since it was re-constituted first comprehensive global summit on climate change, to the under the current government, discussed cutting emissions Lima summit in December 2014, this landmark principle of from the agriculture sector. The proposal was put forth by the equity has been diluted. Developed countries have nearly Union Ministry of Agriculture. succeeded in bringing all countries, whether developed or Over the past few years, developed countries have developing, on the same platform to address climate change. been campaigning to force developing countries to cut Instead of focusing on historical emissions, current emissions from agriculture and livestock. Till now, India has international climate change negotiations are deliberately vehemently opposed bringing farm emissions within the ambit focused on current emissions, in the process denying developing of climate action in an effort to safeguard its farmers, who are countries their basic right to grow and develop. mostly small and marginal landholders. This has been an India, like other developing countries, has meekly bowed important component of its international climate position. down to the Western countries’ ploy of altering the course of The new proposal, if accepted, will dilute India’s position on the climate talks to suit their interests. The Lima climate change the matter. summit testifies to this. According to World Resources Institute’s (wri’s) 2011 In the final text adopted at Lima, the principle of data for sector-wise emissions, agricultural emissions account differentiation expressed in the legal language as “common but for 15 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. differentiated responsibility” has the additional phrase “in the The same institute ranks electricity and heat sector as light of national circumstances”. This is touted as one of the contributing 36 per cent of total emissions. Total greenhouse major outcomes of the Lima summit, where the Western gas emissions from India in 2011 were countries in a rather hegemonic manner

2,486.17 million tonnes of CO2, of which During the 2013 re-interpreted the basic principle of the the agriculture sector accounted for 14 Warsaw summit, 1992 UN Convention. per cent. In line with the global trend, the India and China had Thus, in one stroke the rich countries energy sector was responsible for 77 per vehemently opposed shrugged off their historical cent emissions. the US' and the EU's responsibility to address climate change, The Western countries, led by the US proposal to adopt limiting the developing countries and the EU, have pressed for the need to emission targets for development right. It is against this reduce emissions from the agricultural backdrop that the latest proposal in India sector as they consider it a “significant” the agricultural sector to discuss cutting emissions from the proportion of the total emissions, agriculture sector needs to be understood. especially in developing countries that have substantial area Though it has not been approved yet, it could very well happen under agriculture and large population of livestock. in future meetings. If approved, this could be disastrous for During the 2013 Warsaw climate change summit, India developing countries in view of the approaching Paris summit and China vehemently opposed the US’ and the EU’s proposal this December, where a new climate agreement is scheduled to to adopt emission targets for the agricultural sector. Moreover, be formalised. in India, the agricultural sector, which is a major source of With growing economic and political clout, India is employment, is vulnerable to the vagaries of extreme weather a crucial player in the climate regime. The meeting of events. It hardly uses modern agricultural techniques and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Barack equipment. Therefore, India has stressed on the need for Obama on occasion of the Republic Day was crucial in this assistance from developed countries to adapt to climate change. regard, when both leaders reiterated the need to address climate But now, with the latest proposal to discuss reduction in change and hoped for a successful outcome in Paris. Now in the agricultural emissions, India seems to be giving in to the run up to the summit, India must not under any circumstance developed countries’ agenda. On a general note, climate give in to the demands of the West to further cut its emission negotiations are West-centric. An overview of the climate talks targets or announce its peaking year or add agricultural makes this clear. emissions under climate action. The cornerstone of the climate regime, enshrined in the It is high time India got its act together in securing its right UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, is the to develop and be energy sufficient. It should fight to bring principle of equity. This principle advocates “differentiation”, equity back on the climate agenda by agreeing for a review meaning it recognises the historical responsibility of Western of “intended nationally determined contributions” and play a countries to address climate change while taking into account pivotal role among developing nations to secure an inclusive developing countries’ right to growth and their need for and fair climate deal. n

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 53

52-53Opinion.indd 53 20/02/15 3:37 PM WILDLIFE VIKAS CHOUDHARY / CSE VIKAS CHOUDHARY

One of the first species domesticated by man, the pigeon is now an invasive species and Pesky a pest in many parts of the world pets KAUSHIK DAS GUPTA

HEY ARE not the cleanest neighbour unless you prefer a house that looks like someone is throwing raw eggs at it on a regular basis. Almost every day, we have to scrub away crusty pigeon poop,” lamented Durban resident, Walter. He Tbelieves the South African city has been overrun by pigeons. “They get easy access in open plumbing ducts and find good nesting area on pipes and parapets inside the duct. They make nests and lay eggs there. The ducts are full of bird droppings,” says his neighbour, Chandran. Durban is not the only South African city with a pigeon problem. A document of the country’s urban affairs ministry notes, “The appearance of many of our finest buildings is marred by the birds. They render foodstuffs inedible; introduce insects, mites and diseas- es harmful to man and cause breaches of the Public Health Act. Pigeon droppings damage masonry, block drains and cause structural damage.” The pigeons in question are

54-55Wildlife.indd 54 20/02/15 5:53 PM feral. In August 2014, the country’s good time for a rendezvous with the food Department of Environmental Affairs listed The Basel provider. Pigeons can eat their daily food the feral pigeon as an invasive species. experience requirements of 20-50 gram within a few “Activities including importing, breeding, minutes. And as they are fed, they no longer trading and translocation of pigeons are now IN 1961, Basel in have to look for food by foraging for hours listed as prohibited,” according to a press Switzerland began rapaciously and can spend their gained ‘spare time’ in release of the department. culling a population of what the breeding instead,” he explains. Daniel Haag Wackernagel, a biologist municipal authorities believed Curt Vogel, a German biologist who has were 20,000 pigeons. Trappers based in Basel, Switzerland, who has studied studied the feeding habits of pigeons, says, and marksmen depleted some pigeons for more than 20 years, says that sev- “Pigeon milk is produced under the influence flocks by 80 per cent, only to eral other countries, including the US, have watch them return, sometimes of the hormone prolactin, by cells in the wall declared the feral pigeon as a pest and their in greater numbers, within of the crop of both parents. It is extremely menace has earned them the derisive moni- weeks. The shooting spree nourishing since it consists mainly of ker, “flying rats”, in many parts of the world. went on for 25 years. The city proteins and fats, together with water.” This “Feral pigeons are free-roaming descendants finally stood down, having killed concentrated, rich nutrient enables nestlings of once-domesticated birds. The pigeon was 100,000 pigeons. There were to double their weight within 34 hours after one of the first bird species domesticated by still 20,000 pigeons in Basel! hatching. That is why pigeons are one of the man, more than 5,000 years ago. Millions In 1988, biologist Daniel fastest-growing vertebrates. Crop milk were raised in ancient and medieval Asia and Haag Wackernagel embarked makes the parent pigeons independent of on a programme to check Europe. They arrived in Africa and the special foods during the breeding season, the city's pigeon population. Americas with the Europeans in the 17th while an insect-eating bird like the great tit, "Our intention was to reverse century. Another batch appeared in Africa attitudes towards pigeon- and even seed-eating birds like finches, have with the Asians two centuries later,” the feeding, convincing the to search diligently for adequate nutritious biologist explains. public that feeding ultimately food—small insects—to offer to their nest- Wackernagel ascribes the menace from harms the pigeons and is lings. “So parent pigeons can simply enjoy the birds to several factors. “The ideal habitat counterproductive. We chocolate, sausage or whatever they find to and nesting sites for pigeons are sea-cliffs, demonstrated the negative eat and transform it into ‘all-round baby preferably those affording caves and crevic- effects of feeding with milk,’” Vogel adds. es. But the pigeon is a highly adaptable bird. pamphlets and posters and Pigeons also transmit diseases and para- High buildings that border streets form tried to explain the complicated sites that can attack man, says Wackernagel. relationship between feeding gorges resembling rocky cliffs, their original “They pass infections like ornithosis, crypto- and overcrowding by pigeons," habitat. Pigeons, thus, adapt easily to the coccosis and toxoplasmosis to people. Soft he says. structure of our towns. Vast food sources are Wackernagel's team built ticks like Argas reflexus, fleas and red mites available nearby through accumulation of supervised pigeon lofts to that disperse from pigeon-breeding places rubbish, accidental spillage and deliberate house a small but healthy can attack people,” he adds. feeding by people,” he explains. population of pigeon. "These The expansion of the bird population, Wackernagel adds that in most parts of lofts prove that we do not intend besides being inimical to humans, is not good Europe, Asia, North America and Africa to exterminate the pigeons at for the pigeons themselves. “As the density of there is one pigeon for every 20 human be- all; we want to develop a small nesting and roosting pigeons increases, the ings. “The explosion of the pigeon population but healthy pigeon stock," the quality of life of a population deteriorates, in many parts of the world is, in some meas- biologist notes. just as in human populations,” says ure, due to the large food supply. After World Wackernagel. Excessive population density War II, food became cheap in relation to in- exposes the bird to diseases and attacks from come. This was initially so in parts of Europe human instinct. Children in particular enjoy parasites. Crowded breeding places make and America, where society produced abun- feeding pigeons,” he adds. pigeons behave more aggressively, which dant pigeon food through wasteful practices. Chandran agrees, reminiscing days when mostly affects nestlings and juveniles that are Pigeons living in urban areas have expanded he would huddle with his grandparents feed- the weakest members of the population. their originally granivorous diet to eat all ing grains to pigeons. Wackernagel says this “Pigeons would probably never behave this kinds of filth, to the extent that town pigeons is not necessarily a healthy practice (see “The way in their natural environments. Territorial are now omnivorous,” says the biologist. Basel experience”). “Pigeons are extremely behaviour as well as other regulatory mech- Besides, in most parts of the world, feeding fast learners and immediately get used to a anisms, including predation by birds of prey, pigeons is regarded as a wonderful experi- reliable food source. Knowing quickly the would keep pigeon population at levels where ence. “Feeding animals is probably an innate habits of their fanciers, the birds arrive in they lead less stressful lives,” he adds. n

1-15 MARCH 2015 www.downtoearth.org.in 55

54-55Wildlife.indd 55 20/02/15 5:52 PM GOOD NEWS Insured by community

ONI BAI, a woman from the Gond premium of `300. In November 2013, the Death of a tribal tribe in Madhya Pradesh, became women registered under the non-profit, woman in Madhya a widow last year. Her 35-year-old Saksham Mahila Samuday Kalyan Mandal Ghusband, Lakhan, died of an un- (literally, community welfare fund of capable Pradesh prompts known illness. The family was already in debt women), which lends money to its members community to provide and Lakhan’s sudden death came as a blow to meet emergency expenses. to his wife as she had no means to repay the Goni Bai was entitled to the benefit as speedy insurance medical arrears. It was in this time of crisis her ailing mother-in-law is an shg member. that a community-run insurance programme She got `5,000 the day her husband died and benefits to women came to her rescue. received the remaining amount in 10 days. during emergencies The cooperative effort is an initiative of She used the money to settle her debt and pay nearly 7,500 women from villages across the medical expenses. JITENDRA | panna Panna district in the state. Most of them are In the first two years, 86 insurance claims members of various self-help groups (shgs), were settled under this project. Although the although a non-shg member can also be a insurance can be availed by both husband and part of this initiative. The project, which wife for a premium of `150 each, the initia- started informally in 2011, provides insur- tive is aimed at empowering women. Thus, a ance of `15,000 on submission of an annual widow can claim the money, but a widower JITENDRA / CSE

56-57Good News.indd 56 20/02/15 3:37 PM UTTAR PRADESH cannot. A married member can claim it for discuss when and how humiliated all its members,” herself and her husband, but a man cannot the remaining amount says S B Singh Baghel, claim insurance if his wife’s membership of should be transferred to Panna project facilitator and the non-profit ceases at her death. the beneficiary and also team coordinator, National MADHYA PRADESH check whether the bene- Rural Livelihood Mission. Quick funds, no hassles ficiary has deposited the The incident sparked a dis- What makes this initiative unique is the fact premium. In case of any cussion among the women in that beneficiaries can get emergency funds anomaly, the beneficiary’s shgs in Kherwa and neighbour- immediately, without any paper work, says membership is cancelled. ing villages, who came together to help Anil Namdeo, a state government official The project has become more popular each other financially in times of crisis. “We who facilitates micro-finance to shgs than the much-publicised Pradhan Mantri decided to keep aside some money out of through the District Poverty Initiative Jan Dhan Yojana. The Union government’s our savings to help women in difficult times,” Programme, a poverty-alleviation project of financial inclusion plan was launched in explains Maya Kumari, an shg member the state. August last year with the purpose of from Kherwa. In the event of a death, usually of connecting every rural family with the bank- After consultations with insurance agents the bread-earner in the family, members of ing sector. But many people, like Goni Bai, and local government officials, the women the non-profit are informed by word of have not heard about it. She is also not famil- struck on the idea of a “risk management mouth. One of them approaches the benefi- iar with the state government’s insurance fund”. “An account was opened at Regional ciary and gives her `5,000 either on the same scheme, Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, for Rural Bank in Panna and the amount collect- day or the next. The remaining amount is dis- families below the poverty line, under which, ed from the initial premium was deposited,” bursed within 10-15 days after a district the state claims, 8 million families have Namdeo says. “In 2012, nearly 1,000 women committee meeting of the non-profit. benefited so far. There is no data or study on across Panna came forward to be a part of the Chaired by 26 members, the committee the government’s performance. “I have not initiative. By October 2014, the number in- holds a fortnightly meeting where they re- heard about any of the government insurance creased to 7,000,” says Rajkumari Yadav, pres- view the claims pending settlement. They schemes. I only know about our community ident of the non-profit. initiative,” Goni Bai says. The initiative has struck a chord with the people. “I did not trust the project at first as I Outcome of a tragedy had once been cheated by a non-banking The idea of community insurance evolved in firm. But when I saw two families in my 2011 after the death of Ramesh Bai. She had village getting the benefits, I asked my wife helped form more than 50 shgs in her village, to join the initiative,” says Bhagwan Ram, a Kherwa, and other neighbouring villages in resident of Bhagoha village in Panna. Panna district. These include Sirsawaha, Dharampur, Gurha, Pali and Matlipeta Helping with loan, too villages. Her tips and training to women on The women, however, feel the initiative has micro-savings made her a popular shg to be more organised in terms of documen- volunteer in her community. tation. “Our members are spread over 339 But her life was cut short at 40. Ramesh villages in Panna, but other districts also want Bai was expecting her sixth child. There was to join. As the scope is expanding, there is no basic healthcare facility in her village or in need for more staff who can look after the the nearby panchayats. When she went into renewal of the insurance policy and collec- labour, she was taken to the Panna district tion of premium,” Yadav says. hospital, where she was referred to a private Since last year, the non-profit has also hospital in Satana district, 80 kilometres lent money to a local farmers’ federation away. The doctors declared her dead on arriv- named Karnavati Agri-Producer Company al. “The hospital demanded` 5,000 to give us Limited, a seed-making venture started in her body, and that was all we had. Since we 2006. The amount to be lent is used from the had no money left to arrange for a car, her premium and the interest charged is Women who are body was stranded on the roadside,” says her lower than that of the banks. While the fed- ` insured get `5,000 husband, Malakha Gond. eration got a loan of 5 lakh, the non-profit immediately and the ` remaining amount is The disgrace with which Ramesh Bai has got 1 lakh as interest so far. “We settled handed over within was treated outraged the women. “Her death six insurance claims with this money,” 10-15 days was a big loss to the shg movement and it beams Yadav. 

www.downtoearth.org.in 57

56-57Good News.indd 57 20/02/15 3:37 PM LAST WORD

RIGHT TO DISSENT LATHA JISHNU

We create jobsÐfor the US Modi government still has no clear strategy for creating employment for the hordes of the jobless young in India

ARACK OBAMA'S town hall speech at Siri Fort at the 12 million jobs for its ever increasing legions of young un- tail end of his India visit captured the country’s employed? As Prime Minister Modi responded with a imagination and, very likely, touched its soul. platitudinous delivery at the high-level business meeting BThat’s as it should be. Such a stirring “address it was clear that the government still has no idea how to to the people of India” on the sensitive issue of religious create the much-needed jobs for its huge workforce that tolerance is unusual from a visiting head of state. But there swells by 10 million annually. was another speech by the American president that did At the recent Aero India 2015 in Bengaluru, Modi not get enough play in the media and that’s his address came out with an idea—not a blueprint—that local to the US-India Business Council summit a day earlier. defence production would be the heart of his Make in It was not the kind to move hearts but it should certainly India programme. His logic was rather simple. Since have worried our policy makers. India was the largest importer of defence equipment, a Here, Obama made no bones about what the US 20-25 per cent reduction in imports could directly add wanted from its partnership with India and how this up to 120,000 highly skilled jobs. But it was more a flight was already paying off for his country. Since he outlined of fancy since he knows as well as anyone else that such his vision of the economic partnership during his 2010 skills are thin on the ground in India’s poorly educated visit to India, bilateral trade has gone up some 60 per and largely untrained workforce. To believe that foreign cent to nearly $100 billion a year. This was undeniably a companies in the high-tech defence sector could use India win for the US and its workers because exports to India as part of their supply chain and an export hub is merely are up nearly 35 per cent and, as Obama exulted, those wishful thinking. exports “support about 170,000 well-paying American For investors to consider India as any kind of jobs”. At the same time, Indian investment in the US manufacturing base there needs to be a major overhaul of had been growing, too. “And those Indian investments its infrastructure and ways of doing business. The fact is for are supporting jobs across America. We’ve got high-tech all his rhetoric about turning India into a manufacturing jobs in upstate New York, manufacturing jobs in powerhouse, Modi has been unable to impart any North Carolina, engineering jobs in places like dynamism to the economy. The latest criticism came Michigan and Ohio.” from a doyen of industry, Deepak Parekh, chairperson of Bully for America. But hdfc Bank, who bluntly said that after nine months of the what of India which des- Modi government, very little had changed on the ground. perately needs to create If anything, ease of doing business had become a little more tough since it took more time for his bank to get approval to raise capital than in earlier years. The bigger issueremains jobs. Modi must be well aware employment in the formal, organised sector is stagnating owing to higher automation. According to official data, 400,000 people lost their factory jobs in India during 2012-13—at a time when Obama was setting a record by having created 4.5 million jobs, a figure that seems a pie in the sky for us. Modi needs more than catchy slogans to give the young the jobs they desperately need.  TARIQUE AZIZ / CSE

58 DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MARCH 2015

58Last Word.indd 58 23/02/15 11:12 AM One Week Advanced Training Program on POLLUTION MONITORING TECHNIQUES AND INSTRUMENTATION March 16–20, 2015

Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit organisation set up Pollution Monitoring Laboratory (PML) in 2000 to monitor environmental COURSE FEE pollution. PML is an ISO certified laboratory with highly qualified and `8,000 per participant experienced staff that exercise Analytical Quality Control and meticulously follow Good Laboratory Practices. It is equipped with sophisticated Accommodation and related costs state-of-art equipments including GC, GC-MS, HPLC, AAS, microwave are not included in the course fee.

assisted digestion system, PM1.0, PM2.5 & PM10 analyser, ozone monitor, However, CSE can help you find a sound level meter, EMF radiation measurement system etc. and has place to stay facilities for microbiological analysis also. Nominations are invited from PML has conducted several scientific studies that have brought Scientists/analysts working government food standards and food safety policy changes and new in government organisations, regulations in India. This includes pesticides in bottled water, pesticides academic institutions, CPCB in soft drinks, phthalates in toys, lead in paints, antibiotics in honey and laboratories, SPCB laboratories, antibiotics in chicken, etc. private sector analytical labs, EIA PML has been organising training and capacity building programmes consultants, and students for Central and State Pollution Control Boards for mid/senior level officers on water quality, air quality, trace metals and organic analysis. The PROGRAM SCHEDULE participants get hands-on experience on the use of sophisticated analytical equipment for analysis of air, water and soil pollution parameters. The Date: March 16–20, 2015 programme includes lectures, demonstrations and experiments and on Time: 10 am to 6 pm latest equipments and technologies for pollution monitoring. Venue: CSE, Core 6A, 4th Floor India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road LECTURE CONTENT New Delhi-110003 n Sample collection, storage and preservation techniques Contact: Poornima Saxena n Emerging chromatographic techniques and their applications in Email: [email protected] fuels, antibiotics in food, pesticides in air, water and soil, etc n Ambient air pesticides concentration—detection, methodology and analysis n Existing and emerging sample preparation techniques for trace organic analysis n “Decibel Drumming”—Monitoring, instrumentation and control strategies

Centre for Science and Environment LAB CONTENT Core 6A, 4th Floor, India Habitat Centre n Laboratory experiments on determination of pesticides in water, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003 determination of heavy metals in soil, microbiological analysis of Phone: 011-24645334/335 water, measurement of EMF radiations from cell phone towers

Training on Pollution Monitoring Techniques and Instrumentation NOMINATIONFORM March 16 - 20, 2015

Name:...... Age:...... Phone(s): ...... Fax:...... Designation:...... Official Website:...... Name of Organisation:...... Contact email:...... Brief description of present responsibilities (if any): What does the participant expect to learn? ...... Office Address:...... Send this form by Post/Email : [email protected] OR Apply online at http://www.cseindia.org/node/5501

IBC march15 2015 79IBClab ad revised.indd 42 26/02/15 4:21 PM R.N.I. NO. 53588/92 POSTAL REGN. NO. DL(S)-01/3109/2015-2017 ISSN 0971-8079. Licensed to Post without Pre-payment U(SE)-44/2012-2014 at Lodhi Road HO, New Delhi-110003. Published on 1st of every month. POSTED ON: 2-3 of the same fortnight.

First-ever environment impact study of India’s coal thermal power sector, covering 47 plants with 55% of the country’s thermal electricity capacity

GET YOUR COPY TODAY

You can order this or other CSE books by visiting our online store http://csestore.cse.org.in

For further details contact [email protected] Centre for Science and Environment, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110 062 Tel: 91-11-40616000, 29955124 Website: www.cseindia.org

80BC Heat On Power ad.indd 3 26/02/15 4:21 PM