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Modern educationists still confused - When should a child start school?
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/when-should-a-child-start-school/article8046299.ece?homepage=true
How early do parents start looking for schools for their toddlers? The time when parental anxiety over schooling sets in appears to be receding by the year, and now, it starts when the child just about turns one.
With the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) not laying down clear cut rules on the age criteria for pre-nursery, nursery and even class one admissions, schools have set their own limits. Though the department announced norms last January, both for kindergarten and Standard One, the order was altered midway leading to much confusion.
Adding to the mess is the varying criteria adopted by the top city-based schools while offering admissions for pre-nursery.
Admission age ranges from two years six months to three years 10 months depending on the school. For lower kindergarten (LKG), the range is from three-and-a-half years to four years 10 months.
Many managements and teachers say that parents request them to admit children young, citing that their child's date of birth falls a few months short of the cut-off date. However, early childhood educators warn that both managements and parents should not enrol children into formal schooling before the age of four.
Manilal Carvalho, principal, Delhi Public School Bengaluru East, says, "During every admission season, parents plead with us to admit their child even though they are underage, as they fear that they may lose out on one year. But I explain to them that enrolling a child who is not ready for schooling would make it very difficult for the child to cope. Despite this, they insist that we admit them."
Pre-school or nursery?
Another dilemma parents face is whether to enrol their child in the pre-school or nursery section of a full-fledged school. For instance, Pooja S., parent of a two-year-eight-month-old has decided to enrol her daughter in the pre-nursery section of a popular school. She says, "I did not want my child to travel many kilometres and be in a formal school environment. But I took the decision as it would ease the transition to LKG. More important, I can avoid the hassle of trying to obtain admission in LKG."
However, Ms. Carvalho said that many schools have more seats in LKG as compared to nursery to accommodate children from other pre-schools.
Saranya Sundararajan plans to enrol her two-year-two-month-old son in a Montessori pre-school between the age of three and six. "I do not want regular schooling as I do not believe in black board-based education in the early years. I prefer an interactive life-based education in his initial years," she explains.
Trainers without training
Whether the parents chose to enrol their child for kindergarten or Montessori, early educators feel that many school managements and pre-schools are not adequately trained.
Rajalakshmi M.S., Head of the Department, Early Childhood Education and administration course, VHD Central Institute of Home Science, says that pre-school should not introduce formal writing until the age of five. "The fine motor coordination and neuromuscular development of the child would not have set in until five years. There is a need to ensure that pre-schools teach age appropriate skills. While they can allow them to read and colour using crayons, they should avoid asking the child to use pencil until the age of five," she says.
She also said that although many pre-schools project themselves as Montessori schools, they either do not follow the Montessori Method or club it with the traditional chalk and board method. An advocate of a multiple intelligence approach, Ms. Rajalakshmi said that a good childhood centre should ideally have corners and the child should be left free to choose whether he/she wants to play with pictures or engage with numbers through games and activities.
"I have seen many children in UKG being taught the tables. The child has the ability to grasp and will learn it by rote, but without understanding anything. Therefore, there is a need to be very careful about what the child learns in the first few years as they are the formative period."
She pointed out that there is no regulatory mechanism and uniformity and each pre-school has its own syllabus and curriculum.
Divya B.A., a Waldorf early childhood educator, said that parents often tend to set difficult goals for the child, which is not achievable. "Parents and schools should not urge children to write when their hands are not ready. In fact, once their motor skills are developed, they will be able to write in a couple of months," she said.
DPI promises new norms
With the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) not laying down clear cut age criteria for pre-nursery, nursery and class one admissions, schools have set their own limits. The lack of standardisation has been a matter of concern for parents.
Last January, the department had issued a circular during admissions under the RTE quota that the lower age limit for LKG admissions would be three and upper limit would be four years and six months. For class one admission, the lower age limit was five and upper was six years six months.
However, in March the department retracted the circular and extended the upper limit for both LKG and class one admission by three months, which led to confusion.
While Section 20 of the Karnataka Education Act 1983 highlights how the age should be computed, it fails to fix an upper and lower limit for admissions.
Officials said that since both orders were issued in the form of a circular, they have very little legal binding. They are hoping to issue age criterion shortly.
This child-centric approach was developed by Maria Montessori. The fundamental principle is for educators to believe that a child is naturally eager to learn and gain knowledge. This method facilitates the physical, social, cognitive as well as the emotion approach of the child. The teacher acts merely as a facilitator and the child learns at his/her own pace.
This term was coined by Friedrich Fröbel. The child learns through singing, drawing and games. However, this method involves guided learning. Play and other activities are designed to make the child learn.
This method was founded by Rudolf Steiner. It aims to integrate various faculties in the child and gives importance to imagination and hands-on activities. Teachers have a lot of autonomy in designing the teaching methodology and curriculum. The assessment of a student is integrated into day-to-day activities while testing is introduced at a much later stage.
Labels: Central Institute of Home Science, Education, Kindergarten, LKG, Montessori, Pre school, toddlers, UKG, Waldroff
Red meat triggers toxic immune reaction which causes cancer, scientists find
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11316316/Red-meat-triggers-toxic-immune-reaction-which-causes-cancer-scientists-find.html
Red meat has been linked to cancer for decades, with research suggesting that eating large amounts of pork, beef or lamb raises the risk of deadly tumours.
But for the first time scientists think they know what is causing the effect. The body, it seems, views red meat as a foreign invader and sparks a toxic immune response.
Researchers have always been puzzled about how other mammals could eat a diet high in red meat without any adverse health consequences.
Now they have discovered that pork, beef and lamb contains a sugar which is naturally produced by other carnivores but not humans.
It means that when humans eat red meat, the body triggers an immune response to the foreign sugar, producing antibodies which spark inflammation, and eventually cancer.
Red meat blamed for one in 10 early deaths
Have your steak and eat it: how red meat could become healthier
Eat less red meat to help save the planet, say academics
A sausage a day increases risk of deadly pancreatic cancer
In other carnivores the immune system does not kick in, because the sugar – called Neu5Gc – is already in the body.
Scientists at the University of California proved that mice which were genetically engineered so they did not produce Neu5Gc naturally developed tumours when they were fed the sugar.
"This is the first time we have directly shown that mimicking the exact situation in humans increases spontaneous cancers in mice," said Dr Ajit Varki, Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California.
"The final proof in humans will be much harder to come by.
"This work may also help explain potential connections of red meat consumption to other diseases exacerbated by chronic inflammation, such as atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes.
"Of course, moderate amounts of red meat can be a source of good nutrition for young people. We hope that our work will eventually lead the way to practical solutions for this catch-22."
Red meat is a good source of protein, vitamin and minerals, but an increasing body of research suggests too much is bad for long-term health.
Health experts recommend eating no more than 2.5oz (70g) a day, the equivalent of three slices of ham, one lamb chop or two slices of roast beef a day
A study published by Harvard University in June suggested that a diet high in red meat raised the risk of breast cancer for women by 22 per cent.
In 2005 a study found those who regularly ate 5.6oz (160g) of red meat a day had one third higher risk of bowel cancer.
The average person in the UK has 2.5oz (70g) meat a day 3oz (88g) among men, 2oz (52g) among women) but 33 per cent have more than 3.5oz (100g) a day.
Previous research has suggested that a pigment in red meat may also damage the DNA of cells lining the digestive system.
The new research was published online in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Labels: cancer, carnivore, Cow protection, Meat, National Academy of Sciences, Neu5Gc, Red meat
Beef eating bad for environment, says United Nations body
http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/beef-eating-bad-for-environment-united-nations-55199.html
Beef eating has impassioned the nation, with politicians of all hues duelling like bulls in rage. Religious taboos are one aspect, but there is also a very strong environmental angle for not eating beef.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has dubbed beef as a 'climate-harmful meat'. It is very energy intensive to produce every gram of beef, on an average every hamburger results in 3 kg of carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Today, saving the planet is really about ensuring sustainable consumption and meat production is, unfortunately, a highly energy intensive exercise.
eat eaters in general and beef eaters, in particular, are among the most unfriendly to the global environment, reports the United Nations body, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome. It may come as a surprise, but globally beef production is one of the leading culprits for climate change. Some even suggest that beef is the devil or the 'shaitan' of the meat production industry. That having said, the lynching of a man on the suspicion that he consumed beef can never be justified in any society.
Experts suggest that giving up beef will reduce the global carbon footprint on earth far more than avoiding the use of cars!
Here is why, if one examines the numbers closely livestock production contributes more towards global warming than does the transport sector in total, through emissions of gases that result in changing the climate.
According to FAO, the livestock sector is responsible for 18% of the global greenhouse gas emissions as compared to the transport sectors' 15%. In a study 'Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options', the FAO concludes that "the livestock sector is major player (and its contributions to climate change has) a higher share than transport".
Earth lovers are voicing their concern and shaming meat eaters, most recently Laurence Tubiana. The charismatic French Ambassador for Climate Change Negotiations for the big climate summit to be held in a few weeks in Paris said, "This over consumption of meat is really killing many things (there has to be a campaign) that big meat consumers should stop that. At least try one day without meat."
According to a 2012 estimate by Ministry of Agriculture, India is home to 512 million livestock of which cows and buffaloes together account for 111 million animals. Most of the animals in India are not reared for slaughtering but prized for milk and ploughing. UNEP estimates that in 2012 the world was home to 1.43 billion cattle.
So do not start feeling guilty that Indians are highly environment-friendly when measured on the scale of meat eating and livestock numbers. A landmark 2012 study 'Growing greenhouse gas emissions due to meat production' by UNEP finds that on an average Indians consume only 12 grams of meat per person per day which is almost 10 times lower than the global average of 115 grams.
In comparison, the US leads with over 322 grams of meat being eaten per person per day with China at about 160. Hence, on an average a meat-eating American contributes 25 times more to global warming as compared to a non-vegetarian Indian.
A 2012 estimate by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries says the country produced 5.9 million tonnes of meat of which poultry's (mostly chicken) contribution to the total meat production is about half with less than 5 % of the meat coming from beef.
In comparison in 2009, the world produced 278 million tonnes of meat, which means that India accounts for just about 2 % of the world's meat production while housing 17 % of the world's population. There is no doubt that meats provide the vital protein and nutrients needed for proper human development. Milk is a healthy substitute.
It may sound astounding but beef production on an average requires 28 times more land and causes 11 times more global warming as compared to other livestock categories found a 2014 study by the prestigious Yale University in US, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which concluded that "minimising beef consumption mitigates the environmental costs of diet most effectively".
Tim Benton of the University of Leeds, UK, not associated with US study felt "the biggest intervention people could make towards reducing their carbon footprints would not be to abandon cars, but to eat significantly less red meat".
Beef production is also bad for water conservation since cattle rearing for beef require almost 10 times more water as compared to staple crops like wheat and rice. In contrast, pork production uses three times less water as compared to beef ranching. Cattle also emit a highly potent climate-changing gas called 'methane' in their farts and through belching. Also called 'marsh gas' this inflammable gas is produced in the guts of cattle by the bacteria as they digest the food of ruminants and methane is 21 times more potent than carbon-di-oxide in causing global warming.
Using data from a Swedish study the UNEP says "in terms of greenhouse gas emissions the consumption of 1 kg domestic beef in a household represents automobile use of a distance of 160 kilometers".
This means a car travelling all the way from New Delhi to Agra would cause about the same amount of global climate change as is done by consuming just one kg of beef! No wonder beef is considered highly environmentally un-friendly.
Nevertheless, at the same time in dry and arid regions of the world livestock are considered a 'savings bank' by local people as they form part of the life-saving kit to overcome the harsh environment.
Meat eating may not be 'green' but as more and more people become affluent, meat is becoming chic and fashionable. FAO estimates that by 2050 the global meat consumption will rise to 460 million tonnes. The global environment watchdogs the UNEP recommends a shift to 'less climate-harmful' meats and emphasises that "healthy eating is not just important for the individual but for the planet as whole".
Labels: 2050, Animal husbandry, Beef, Beef ban, Carbon dioxide, Climate change, Cow protection, FAO, Meat, Rome, Time Benton, UNEP, University of Leeds
This family prays and stays together
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/handle/this-family-prays-and-stays-together/
On any given day, the rather-congested commercial suburb of Koti in Hyderabad is not ideally a destination people staying in Banjara Hills, like moi, would like to venture to, especially with the disaster that the nowhere-near-completion L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail project is, spells to the already harassed commuters.
But, like they say, good things come to those who persevere. Like Chappan Bhog, the spread of 56 delicacies offered to Lord Krishna, after he lifted Govardhan Pahad on his little finger for a whole week.
Who are we, lesser mortals then to get hassled by minor hindrances like traffic snarls, to be able to partake of Chappan Bhog? Especially when your hosts are an ever-warm and extremely hospitable Gujarati joint family of Viren Shah, a food entrepreneur popular on Hyderabad's social circuit, because of his inherently helpful nature.
Every Janmashtami, about 150-200 guests from within their joint family and a few relatives and close friends are invited to the Nandotsav which has been a family tradition since a century. While his ancestors moved from Gujarat to Karwan, in 1722 , the eighth-generation Shah remembers Janmashtami celebrations as a young child at their ancestral haveli in Koti, where the family moved to in 1922 or so.
"My grandfather Parmanand Shah used to preside over the celebrations and I have seen him take personal care of each and every guest. We all have been continuing with the tradition and will always uphold the legacy, hopefully in the next few generations too."
A couple of days before the festival, the women of the household get up at the crack of dawn to do sewa, or make the sweetmeats, savouries and snacks to be offered to Bal Gopal on his birthday. Be it methi muthiya, sev, adrak papdi, different kinds of rice, shrikhand, kulfi, barfis of different kinds, Gujarati farsaan, everything is to be prepared personally, with only the general supervision of a 'maharaj' to oversee and help with the arrangements.
"I think it's the warmth of the family and their devotion to Lord Krishna which makes the Prasad so delicious," shares a guest.
But will the joint family of 18 members currently staying under the same roof, sustain the pressures of a modern, nuclear family? And carry on family traditions like these?
"Of course, we will, I am sure it will, " answers Shah with some confidence.
I see a child counting the sumptuous spread and remarking, "Mummy, these dishes are more than 56," and I smile to myself. The love for Krishna and his ways are infectious.
Labels: extended family, joint family
Beef Ban pan state of Jammu & Kasmir! Hurray!
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/jk-hc-bans-beef-across-the-state-asks-government-to-strictly-follow-orders-1090487.html
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday banned the sale of beef across the state. It has also asked state government to take steps to ensure that the ban is strictly implemented.
The order stating the ban was issued by divisional bench of J&K High Court while hearing a petition which sought ban on sale and consumption of beef.
Despite the orders issued on Wednesday, beef shops in the state remained open on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party government has not reacted to the ban so far. Enforcing the ban will be a huge task for the government in a state where majority of the population consumes beef.
Earlier, the Haryana and Maharashtra government had imposed a complete ban on the sale of beef in any form in the state.
It also comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party is under fire for banning meat in Mumbai for 4 days during the Jain festival of Paryushan.
Labels: Beef ban, Cow protection, Jammu, Kasmir
PMO Seeks New Cowboys as Saviors
Roadbloack is the mother of the BJP-led Central government's innovation. After deciding to put on hold the proposed national ban on cow slaughter due to political and legal reasons, it is coming up with innovative ways to encourage cow rearing while taking measures to discourage killing of cows.
Taking the lead in this is the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). It has asked Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh and various other ministries, including the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to come up with "innovative ideas" to make cow rearing a profitable practice. The directive came after the Ministry of Law and Justice opposed a national ban on the killing of cows. The ministries have also been asked to think out of the box and do "serious research" to find out more about productive ways in which cow waste can be used.
The ministries are doing exactly that. The Ministry of Agriculture has decided to encourage production and marketing of products made from cow dung and urine. The government will also encourage marketing of a cleaning liquid made from a mixture of cow urine, neem and a fragrant that can replace phenyl.
"While phenyl is made out of chemicals not good for human health, this liquid is 100 per cent natural. Cow urine has inherent medicinal components, which should make it more attractive," said an official with the ministry. He added that the product will be available at all kendriya bhandars across the country and will be made mandatory in all government spaces.
The government also plans to give subsidies to NGOs working in this area. "Making products out of cow urine and cow dung will make cow rearing a more lucrative proposition. The government hopes to dissuade farmers from selling cows when they become old. It will also help gaushalas across the country,'' the official added.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/PMO-Seeks-New-Cowboys-as-Saviors/2015/08/23/article2988259.ece
Labels: Agriculture, Cow manure, Cow protection, cow rearing, Hindu, India, Indigenous breeds of cow, Kendriya Bhandar, NGO, Phenyl, PMO, Prime Minster's office
Vedic Vidyalayas: The newly emerging trend
http://www.newsgram.com/vedic-vidyalayas-the-newly-emerging-trend/
ALLAHABAD: Vedic Vidyalayas have recently emerged as the latest trend. In contrast to last year's figure of 150, the numbers for the Prayag entrance test have doubled up. The Times of India reported how around "400 children, aged between 9 and 11 years, came to Prayag (Allahabad) from across the country on Wednesday to take the entrance test for 25 seats in two such schools. Most of them were from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP". Both written and oral tests were held as a part of the entrance.
These Vedic Vidyalayas are run jointly by Vishwa Ved Sansthan (an organ of Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and Maharshi Ved Vyas Pratisthan (Pune) and offer a seven-year course in Vedas. There are around 35 Vedic Vidyalayas in the country. Eight out of these are located in UP, two in Prayag and Haridwar and one each in Kashi, Mathura, Ayodhya, Rishikesh and Lucknow. Apart from these, Vedic schools have also been set up in Manipur, Kolkata, Jammu, Pune, Amrawati and Pushkar.
Shubham Tripathi, who had brought his son from Jaipur for the test, offered his opinion upon the rising trend of Vedic education. "Two years back, yoga was not too popular but today International Yoga Day is being celebrated across the world. Same is the case with Vedic education."
Maharshi Bhardwaj Ved Vedang Shikshan Kendra, Prayag, principal Acharya Pankaj Sharma said, "Many western universities offer graduate level courses in Vedas, Sanskrit, Hindu philosophy, yoga, ayurveda, jyotish and medicines. Meritorious students get a worldwide exposure as various universities are on the lookout for such students. Demand for acharyas and experts is on the rise in western countries."
Labels: Gurukula, Prayag, Sanskrit, Ved Pratisthan, Veda Pathashala, Vedic systems, Vedic vidyalaya
British school makes Sanskrit compulsory in their curriculum!
In the heart of London, a British school has made Sanskrit compulsory subject for its junior division because it helps students grasp math, science and other languages better. "This is the most perfect and logical language in the world, the only one that is not named after the people who speak it. Indeed the word itself means 'perfected language." --Warwick Jessup, Head, Head, Sanskrit department "The Devnagri script and spoken Sanskrit are two of the best ways for a child to overcome stiffness of fingers and the tongue," says Moss. "Today's European languages do not use many parts of the tongue and mouth while speaking or many finger movements while writing, whereas Sanskrit helps immensely to develop cerebral dexterity through its phonetics."
http://www.charityfocus.org/blog/upload/2008/Sanskrit.pdf
Labels: British school, Devanagari, Europe, Sanskrit
Fake Rice! Beware!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haSsXxxQBSo
Labels: Fake rice, industrial rice, Plastic rice
Agastya samhita - secrets of Pushpaka vimana
http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/vedic_science/indian-chemist-discovers-secrets-agastya-samhita-1927/
Labels: Vimana
Back to natural living!
http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/story-of-farmer-couple-karpagam-and-sriram/article7188754.ece
Karpagam points outside her window: "This is the view I wake up to every morning." Ragi and neem seeds are drying in the sun. Parrot green paddy fields roll out into the distance, their borders dotted with palm trees. A gentle breeze drifts in — there is no need for a fan, even though it's peak summer in this quiet village near Maduranthakam in Tamil Nadu.
A commerce and management graduate, Karpagam was a top-ranking executive in a shipping company, her job taking her around the world. While volunteering with a non-profit organisation, she met her husband Sriram "We both wanted the same things in life," she says. Sriram is an IIT-IIM graduate, degrees he dismisses. "Why is it important?" he asks. "What is more important is what I was doing (or not doing!) for society."
Five years ago, the couple quit their lives in Bombay to take up farming. How did their families react? "Violently," Sriram laughs. "They were shocked," says Karpagam. Eventually their parents came to respect their decision.Reading Gandhi and Kabir, Sriram realised that "Nature, and not human beings, is supreme". What bothered him most was the chemicals in the food he ate everyday. "It's poison," he stresses. He was sure he wanted to quit and "do something with food". Karpagam says, "I had an out-of-body experience one day," when she was sales manager in a company. "I suddenly thought, 'will the world stop because a new model of car is not sold every six months'?"
The transition itself wasn't difficult. "We hit the ground running," smiles Sriram. "Farming is physically taxing, that was our only worry. Mentally, we were both prepared."
Today, they grow rice, groundnut, sesame, ragi, green gram, and urad dal. They distribute some of the produce to family members; the rest they sell. "We spend about Rs. 15,000 on one acre of paddy and make about Rs. 25,000. Commercially, I can make much more but there's no point escaping an exploitative society only to return to it," says Sriram.
They farm and drive away parrots and cows from their field. In the evenings, they read, blog, or do their accounts. These well-educated farmers quote Dharampal, Wendell Berry and Gandhi, but don't consider them as inspirations. "Less than 200 years ago, this is how people lived. Our inspiration is our farmers. We are alive because of them," they say.
Labels: Agriculture, Karpagam, Maduranthakam, Organic farming, Vaisya
Toyota Shows How Their Car Runs on Cow Manure!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pTluy9KpYU
There are those who don't believe that hydrogen, as an alternative fuel, is a feasible source. Yes, Elon Musk and Carlos Ghosn, we are looking at you. But for all these non-believers, Toyota came out with an answer in the form of the fuel-cell car - Mirai, which has already seen the light of production in Japan but the company has plans to introduce it in other markets soon.
As part of their Earth Day promotions, the company released the first episode of its series of Toyota Mirai ads called 'Fueled By Everything'. With this ad it tries to prove how hydrogen can be stripped from cow manure to power the Toyota Mirai.
It's very clear that through these ads, Toyota takes the cheeky road for there are many who have called hydrogen a bullshit fuel source. So the apt thing to do here was prove that it is indeed bullshit that powers the Toyota Mirai. The video essentially shows how hydrogen can be harnessed by processing cow manure, and therefore says that it isn't all that difficult.
The Mirai is the Japanese carmaker's first mass-production hydrogen-powered fuel-cell car, and it comes after 20 years and millions of dollars of investment in research and development. This is how it basically works.
The gas goes through a hydrogen fuel cell stack that mixes oxygen with the hydrogen and this reaction, in turn, generates electricity to charge the on-board battery. The Toyota Mirai is powered by a 114 kilowatt fuel cell stack along with a 113 kilowatt electric motor on board. The combination of hydrogen and oxygen creates pure water, which is dumped via the tailpipe while driving or when the vehicle is parked.
According to Toyota, 0-100Km/h takes around 10 seconds and the range expected from the car in real world driving conditions is about 550km. If you were wondering how long it takes to refill the tank, well you'll be surprised if I say 5 minutes. Currently Japan has only 10 hydrogen stations, though there's a plan to take that number up to 100 by the end of 2015.
The car is currently priced at around Rs. 35 lakh in Japan and the price could dip a little with select markets offering government incentives.
Labels: Biogas fuel, Car, Cow manure, Cow protection, Ecology, Economy, Energy conservation, Toyota
Modern educationists still confused - When should ...
Red meat triggers toxic immune reaction which caus...
Beef eating bad for environment, says United Natio...
British school makes Sanskrit compulsory in their ...


Back on Tuesday, May 5, Rush Limbaugh spent nearly a half hour of his syndicated radio program dissecting the actions of Maryland State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's.
Persons using an international drivers license who are resident in Japan can be. After that, foreign drivers must apply for and receive a Japanese driver license. Your U.S. auto insurance likely does not provide coverage in Japan; check.
Life at DU · Housing · Academics · Health · Campus Safety · Driver's License and Owning a Car · Student Groups · Programs & Events · Daily Life in Denver.
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Later that day, I wore a seatbelt for the first time when I sat on the front passenger side of the car on the way to the groc.
Aug 7, 2017. International Students: Getting a License and Car in the US. As you can imagine, I struggled to build up my car and driving. Here I'd like to share my experiences and tips for foreign students who are considering driving in the U.S. My important tip: Before buying a car, get an insurance quote and take.
Generally speaking, as long as you have a valid driver's license form a country that. you can drive in the State of Indiana, as long as your foreign license is valid and as. Insurance. You are not allowed to operate a motor vehicle on Indiana.
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When driving in Massachusetts, you must have your foreign license on you at all times. for License or Permit; Buying a Car; Car Insurance; Registering a Vehicle; Car. Those without a driver's license will find a Massachusetts State ID or.
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Plus, in an accident that isn't your fault, you can figure that the other driver's insurance will cover your car. license numbers of all drivers involved, and identify any witnesses. Record your ve.
The first things to go will be food, clean water, sanitation and human decency.
That move by the police in the Czech Republic reminds me of some police departments in rural areas of Pennsylvania who target drivers from out of the area with speed.
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Unfortunately some drivers are idiots, and try to pass another truck when they can only go one to two mph faster. Also John Q Public doesn't realize that most fleet.
Foreign nationals may drive on their foreign driver license for a period of up to one. The ISSS Office will take students to apply for their Texas ID at the beginning of. Proof of Texas vehicle registration and liability insurance if you have a car.
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(It might be reasonable to buy the insurance from your home country. When your car is registered in a non-EU country, you can only get frontier insurance in.
We would like to remind those attending of the dangers associated with exceeding the legal drink drive limit, especially the.
Many insurance companies will provide coverage, or offer you better rates only if you. cars) in California for one year as long as they have a valid driver's license from their. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has the latest California Driver. is on the Approved Foreign Passport (link is external) list with the DMV.
Meanwhile, the healthcare insurance is not cheap. (For) example, you can't get your license without proper training. No matter who you are, if you make more than one mistake in a driving test, you.
To drive a car or motorcycle in New York State, you must. Buy or Sell a Vehicle · Registrations · Inspections · Insurance · Plates · Titles · Change Address. DMV does not decide if you are a resident of New York State, if you must get a New. Police officers who can't read the language on your foreign driver license will be.
Can I drive in Pennsylvania with my Foreign Driver's License? 6. Where can I find out more about vehicle liability insurance on a (un)registered vehicle? 10.
Of course, one can renew. things — license, registration and insurance card — police ask for when a driver is pulled over. Or so I am told. But after paying good money, I'll be waiting again. In 90.
Almimoni said she was awaiting an expected government decision that would permit women to obtain a "racing license. driver.
We've found that driving cars in Australia and the United States is actually very similar, If your foreign licence does not have a photo, carry a formal photo.
Tourism Town Cairns is a marketplace where travellers can view & book a wide variety of services, attractions, tours & events and deal direct with the local Cairns.
A driver's license allows you to operate a motor vehicle legally. go to the DMV, you will have to show proof of your identity, which can be your foreign passport, The car that you will use for your road test must have proper liability insurance.
Jun 10, 2018. You do tell them you have a foreign driver's license, and they will list it as an unverifiable license as they cannot run a motor vehicle report on.
Dream of driving a. a member can add vehicles to Revolve's virtual garage and, when available, the car is delivered to the home or office. Vehicles can be driven up to 2,000 miles a month under the.
To drive in Germany, you can use your foreign driver's licence for a set period. You can opt to get an International Driving Permit (IDP), which provides a. car registration document from your home country) and your car insurance policy.
Statistically, motorcycle riders are at a higher risk of accident and injury than their car. if you get hit by another uninsured driver who had the same "foresight" as you did for not getting insur.
In many parts of our state, driving is a necessity. Getting to work, to school or to the doctor are all virtually impossible without a car. license system, which New York has done, so that people w.
In addition, if you do not have a US driver's license, many car insurance companies. Present your valid foreign passport with an acceptable visa or your valid.
As long as an officer can confirm you have insurance. to your driver's license, the law hasn't changed – you still have to have the physical copy of your license. Just because the law doesn't requi.
OPEC has released their Annual Statistial Bulletin 2014. Under the heading of "Oil and Gas Data" there are several tables you can download.


Any chance of a link to that here?
Is there any chance of a PDF or online version of the members discounts instead of waiting for the magazine to come out? Doing USA in a few weeks and just wondered what there is this year and if the 2016 card will come? The magazine is becoming very prolonged in coming out.
I enjoyed that one at Metroland, good to see it back again. Was thinking about hitting that May Bank Holiday. Good timings.
Topic: Computer Security potential issue?
Re: Computer Security potential issue?
I am getting emails like that too but all hitting my spam folder. Still, getting them all the same. Accounts hacked, deliveries accepted and payments made. Not stupid enough to open them but started coming out of nowhere a while back.
Will we all be in Italy?
Topic: Efteling Fan Day Coach Crossing?
Re: Efteling Fan Day Coach Crossing?
I'm not an email person just keep me in mind, I have already said it buddy.
Cheers For that Dave. Paul I know I have missed the date but open to the idea to be added to other names if you got any.
I think I threw that away on my bin all the roller coaster club merchandise day the other week. LOL. Smiler The Mutilator will cry again when he reads that.
Although I and a few others may have interest when you ae thinking about it dude.
Efteling Fan Day Coach Crossing?
Paul suggested back at the Dreamland ACM there was a possibility of organising a coach weekend version of the Efteling Fan Day.
Is this still a possibility and if so any thought on what the extension would be?


text:
30 abandoned cats rescued from condo
by: City News Service
Posted: Nov 18, 2020 / 09:07 AM PST
Updated: Nov 18, 2020 / 11:13 AM PST
ESCONDIDO (CNS) – Nearly three-dozen cats were taken in by the San Diego Humane Society after they were left behind inside a condominium in Escondido last month, the agency announced Wednesday.
The property manager of a condominium complex in the 1000 block of East Washington Avenue called the group on Oct. 22 to report that one of the condo's tenants had abandoned the cats after being evicted, according to the SDHS.
Officers from the SDHS' law enforcement division responded to the home and found 31 cats living in "unsanitary conditions" inside the unit, SDHS spokeswoman Nina Thompson said.
The cats were taken to SDHS campuses in Escondido and Oceanside for extensive medical exams, Thompson said. One cat had to be euthanized and a majority of the cats were found to be suffering from numerous medical conditions, including upper respiratory infections, diarrhea, ear infections and heart murmurs.
The remaining 30 cats underwent more than three weeks of intensive medical care and were in the process of being transferred to SDHS' rescue partner Love Your Feral Felines for recovery, Thompson said.
The Humane Society encourages the public to report animal emergencies, cruelty or neglect by calling 619-299-7012.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
DFID CRISSA Regional Consultation : Towards Greater Coordination
among Climate Researchers and Policy Makers in South Asia
India Habitat Center, Tamarind Hall, India, New Delhi, April 7th – 8th, 2016
About CRISSA
India: Operational Research to Support Mainstreaming of Integrated Flood Management under Climate Change
Country/Sites:
India [Burhi Gandak basin, Bihar I Brahmani/Baitarani basin, Odisha & Jharkhand]
This final consultant's report summarizes the outcome of the first phase of the Policy and Advisory Technical Assistance (PATA) 8089, Operational Research into Mainstreaming Integrated Flood Management under Climate Change...
Adaptation to Climate Change in Indus Basin: Indus Floods Research Project
Country/Sites: Pakistan
High mountains (Chitral district) | Indus-Kabul confluence and piedmont (Charsada district) | Plains (Dadu district) | Desert/coastal (Tharparkar district)
The main objective of the research undertaken through this project was to generate knowledge on climate related hazards in the Indus Basin in Pakistan and their impact on marginalised communities, along with the factors that enable their recovery following the floods.
Groundwater Resilience to Climate Change and Abstraction in the Indo- Gangetic Basin
Country/Sites: India, Pakistan Bangladesh, Nepal (Indo-Gangetic Basin)
The main research objective was to improve understanding of how resilient groundwater resources in the Indo- Gangetic basin are to changes in climate and abstraction. and to provide a robust scientific base to help guide policy development for groundwater development and management.
Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Glacier Monitoring in the Himalayas
Country/Sites: Nepal
This report describes the results of the "Using Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAV) for glacier monitoring in the Himalayas" project that was executed by the consortium comprising of Utrecht University, ICIMOD and FutureWater from May 2014 to January 2016.
Calibrating Above and Below Snow Line Precipitation as Inputs to Mountain Hydrology Models
Country/Sites: Nepal, Pakistan, India
The main research objective was to study the differential response of spatial distribution of precipitation in Asian mountain hydrology and as a result achieve a better calibrated relationship between rain and snow at higher altitudes to improve the modeling of climate changes on precipitation as inputs to hydrological models on mountain systems.
Strengthening Responses to Climate Variability in South Asia
Country/Sites: Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
This study is based on the findings from desk and field research conducted by International Alert and the South Asia Network for Security and Climate Change (SANSaC) in nine sub-national locations across Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The research looks at the root causes of vulnerability and non- adaptation in fragile contexts and at the opportunities for strengthening resilience to combined risks of climate change and conflict.
Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh (ARCAB)
Country/Sites: Bangladesh
Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh (ARCAB) is a long- term programme of action research that aims to address knowledge gaps through the generation of longitudinal data and evidence of effectiveness of CBA. ARCAB conducts and researches Community Based Adaptation (CBA) at locations from five major Ecosystem Zones and one urban site in Bangladesh, working through action partners, research partners, and knowledge management partners.
Scoping Green Growth Challenges and Opportunities in South Asia
Country/Sites: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan
The SARH, in consultation with DFID country offices in South Asia and the DFID Head Quarters, has identified Green Growth (i.e. economic growth that ensures natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services) as a key area for research. We see green growth as an important area for intervention as the potential synergies between economic development and environmental conservation are increasingly being recognized...
Climate Change in South Asia Latest News
Glacier melting in Himalayas is projected to increase flooding and will affect water resources within the next 2-3 days
The Himalayan glaciers that feed major south Asian rivers like the Indus, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges are melting more rapidly, reveals a major new study which says that soaring global temperatures are not the only reason.
Warming spells trouble for Himalayan people
Pakistan among 10 countries most affected by Climate Change well!
View detailed Agenda
APRIL7th, DAY 1
Theme: CRISSA Research Towards Key Climate Challenges in South Asia
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APRIL 7th, DAY 1
Theme: Lessons from the CRISSA Programme
Registration TIME: 9:30 - 10:00 AM
SESSION 1 TIME: 10:00 - 10:15 AM
Introduction/ Welcome
Ms. Jean-Marion Aitken,
Head, South Asia Research Hub (SARH), DFID
Mr. Anirban Ganguly,
Research Specialist, South Asia Research Hub (SARH), DFID
Operational Research to Support Mainstreaming of Integrated Flood Management Under Climate Change
PRESENTER - Dr. Marcel Marchand,
Specialist (ICZM, FRM), Deltares
PANELISTS - Mr. Joginder Singh,
Advisor –Technical, National Water Mission, Government of India
Mr. Muralidhar Panda,
Deputy Director, FF&FRM Cell, Government of Odisha
Dr. Sandhya Rao,
Executive Director, INRM Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
TEA BREAK TIME: 11:00- 11:15 AM
SESSION 3 TIME: 11:15- 12:00PM
Adaptation to Climate Change in Indus Basin
PRESENTER - Mr. Fawad Khan,
Senior Economist, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET)- Pakistan
PANELISTS - Dr. Pramod Aggarwal,
Regional Program Director, International Water Management Institute (IWMI)- India
SESSION 4 TIME: 12:00 - 12:45 PM
Groundwater Resilience to Climate Change and Abstraction in the Indo-Gangetic Basin
PRESENTER - Prof. Alan MacDonald,
Principal, Hydrogeologist, British Geological Survey
PANELISTS - Mr. C P Kumar,
Scientist 'G', National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee
Dr. Anwar Zahid,
Deputy Director- Ground Water Hydrology, Bangladesh Water Development Board
SESSION 5 TIME: 12:45 - 1:30 PM
Glacier Monitoring in the Himalayas using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
PRESENTER - Dr. W W Immerzeel,
Assistant Professor, Utrecht University
PANELISTS - Dr. Shresth Tayal,
Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Dr. AL Ramanathan,
Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
LUNCH BREAK TIME: 1:30 - 2:30 PM
SESSION 6 TIME: 2:30 - 3:15 PM
PANELISTS - Dr. Arun Bhakta Shrestha,
Regional Programme Manager, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal
Prof. A K Gosain,
Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi
Strengthening Responses to Climate Variability in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan)
PRESENTER - Ms. Shreya Mitra,
Senior Programme Officer, International Alert
PANELISTS - Dr. Madan Lall Shrestha,
Academician, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology
Dr. Himanshu Pathak,
Professor & Principal Scientist, National Innovation in Climate Resilient Agriculture
TEA BREAK TIME: 4:00 - 4:15 PM
SEASON 8 TIME: 4:15 - 5:00 PM
Action Research on Communty-Based Adaptation in Bangladesh
PRESENTER - Mr. Sarder Shafiqul Alam,
Senior Research, Coordinator, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
PANELISTS - Prof. K C Malhotra,
Former Professor of Anthropology, Indian Statistical Institute
Ms. Zeenat Niazi,
Vice President, Development Alternatives
Mr. Yogesh Gokhale,
Adjunct Faculty, Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Scoping Green Growth Challenges in South Asia
PRESENTER - Dr Cristina Rumbaitis Del Rio,
Regional Programme Manager, Oxford Policy Management
PANELISTS - Mr. Siddarthan Balasubramania,
Country Head, Global Green Growth Institute
Dr. Vikram Dayal,
Associate Professor, Institute of Economic Growth
SEASON 10 TIME: 5:45 PM
DFID/Vertiver
7.00 pm Onwards Dinner at Delhi 'O' Delhi, India Habitat Centre
Theme: Evidence based Policy Making for Climate Action
Screening of film on Glacier Monitoring by Dr. W W Immerzeel, Assistant Professor, Utrecht University
Climate Studies on Allied Themes;
Exploring Linkages
Integrating peri-urban/urban synergies into urban development planning: Insights from ESPA research
PANELISTS - Dr. Simon Lucas,
Team Leader (Climate), DFID
Dr. Nafees Meah,
Director, Research Councils UK (RCUK)
Ms. Izabella Koziell,
Climate Lead (Asia Regional Team), DFID
Dr. Priyanie Amerasinghe,
Senior Researcher, Acting Head, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Delhi office/Head, Hyderabad office
TEA BREAK TIME: 11:15 - 11:30 AM
Evidence-Based Policy Making for Climate Action in South Asia: Policy Perspective
Moderator - Mr. Swapan Mehra,
CEO, Iora Ecological Solutions
PANELISTS - Mr. Aloke Barnwal,
Climate and Environment Adviser, Department for International Development (DFID)
Dr. Abid Suleri,
Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad
Dr. Engr. Jnan Ranjan Sil,
Additional secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Bangladesh
Mr. Madhav Karki,
Executive Director, Centre for Green Economy Development (CGED), Nepal
Evidence-Based Policy Making for Climate Action in South Asia: Donor Perspective
Moderator - Ms. Chhaya Bhanti,
Founder and Creative Director, Vertiver
PANELISTS - Dr. K Murali,
Senior Program Officer, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Ms. Vidisha Samarasekara,
Mr. Shirish Sinha,
Deputy Director, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Mr. Vivek Kumar,
Senior Advisor, Norwegian Embassy
LUNCH TIME: 1:30 - 2:30 PM
Towards Greater Coherence in Climate Research
Moderator - Anirban Ganguly,
PANELISTS - Dr. Kazi Matin Ahmed,
Professor, Department of Geology, University of Dhaka
Mr.Ali Tauqeer Sheikh,
Regional Director, Asia, Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN)
Mr. Jagat K. Bhusal,
Chairman, Society of Hydrologists and Meteorologists, Govt. of Nepal
Dr. Indrani Phukan,
Deputy Project Director, GIZ Natural Resource Management Programme
Er. Ajit Kumar Samaiyar,
Senior Advisor (Environment & Climate Change), Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA)
Vote of Thanks Followed by High Tea TIME: 4:00 PM
Vote of Thanks
Ms. Jean-Marion Aitken
Mr. Anirban Ganguly
Dr. Marcel Marchand
Mr. Joginder Singh
Advisor –Technical, Ministry of Water Resources, India
Mr. Muralidhar Panda
Ms Jean Marion Aitken is Head of South Asia Research Hub (SARH) at DFID. Prior to that, she has been a Health adviser at DFID itself for twelve years till July 2012.
Mr. Anirban Ganguly is involved in Research at South Asia Research Hub (SARH), DFID.
Marcel Marchand, currently designated as Specialist Flood Risk Management at Deltares, the Netherlands, is a flood risk management expert with over 25 years of experience. He is active as team leader / advisor for projects funded by the World Bank and ADB as well as bilateral cooperation programs on Flood Risk Assessments, Hydro-meteorological System Integration and Disaster Management in Asia. Currently he is living in Hanoi as Project Technical Director for System Integration of Weather Forecasting and Early Warning Systems in Vietnam.
Mr. Joginder Singh is an Adviser (technical) to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Prior to this, he has been a director at the Directorate of Procurement and Construction Planning (PCP), Central Water Commission.
Mr. Muralidhar Panda is a deputy director for flood risk management department at government of Odisha. Mr panda holds som 30 years of experience in managing and reporting water related projects with the government and the international agencies like ADB and World Bank. He has also been involved in processing consultancy work for 150 "Pani Panchayats"
Dr. Sandhya Rao
Mr. Fawad Khan
Dr. Pramod Aggarwal
Prof. Alan MacDonald
Principal Hydrogeologist, British Geological Survey
Mr. C P Kumar
Dr Sandhya Rao is currently Executive Director of INRM Consultants, New Delhi, an incubate company established through the Technology Business Incubator Program of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. She has been working in the area of water resources and natural resource management for more than 25 years, focusing extensively on issues related to climate change. Her areas of expertise include hydrological and hydraulic modelling and climate change impact assessments in the water, agriculture, and health sectors, including vulnerability and risk assessments. She has several internationally and nationally published papers. She holds a doctoral degree in water resources from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Fawad Khan is CEO and founder of Institute for Social and Environmental transition in Pakistan, a non-profit research institute. His research focuses on adaptation effectiveness, economics of adaptation strategies, community based local adaptation planning, and exploring factors contributing to resilience. His areas of expertise are the economics of climate change, and monitoring and evaluation. Fawad previously worked for the World Bank, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and has over 20 years' experience as a development consultant. He holds an MSc from London School of Economics and Political Science, BSc from Columbia University and BA from Middlebury College.
Prof. Pramod Aggarwal holds a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from the University of Indore, India, another Ph.D. from the Wageningen University, Netherlands, and a M.Sc. in Botany from University of Delhi, India. He currently leads the South Asia Regional Program for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Aggarwal was the Coordinating Lead Author for the chapter 'Food, Fiber, and Forest Products' of the Fourth Assessment Report (2007) of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. He was a Review Editor for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Before joining CCAFS, he was National Professor at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and Coordinator of the Indian network on climate change and agriculture. He did his post-doctoral in the mid-eighties at the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines on sustainability of upland rice farming and crop diversification. He returned to work at IRRI again during 1994-96 as SARP Coordinator and helped many scientists in Asia to learn quantitative techniques in agriculture. Aggarwal's research contributions include developing crop growth models for the tropical environments, impact assessment of climatic variability and climate change on crops, characterizing risks of yield loss for developing weather derivatives, adaptation strategies, inventories of greenhouse gases emissions, mitigation options, yield gap analysis, genotype by environment by management interactions, yield forecasting, and yield loss assessment due to pests.
Prof Alan MacDonald is Principal Hydrogeologist at the British Geological Survey and Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. He has a strong track record in groundwater science, particularly in Africa and South Asia in the context of environmental change and poverty reduction. He has published two books and 70 scientific papers including the first quantitative maps of groundwater for Africa, and the residence times of groundwater in Punjab. Currently Prof MacDonald leads projects in Southern Asia, Africa and Iceland, mostly related to the impact of environmental change on groundwater and the role groundwater plays in improving water security for all.
Mr. C. P. Kumar is a Scientist 'G' in Ground Water Hydrology division at National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee. He is a post-graduate in Hydraulic Engineering from University of Roorkee in 1985. From 1985, he has been working for National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee. His major research areas of interest include assessment of groundwater potential; seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers; umerical modelling of unsaturated flow and groundwater flow; and impact of climate change on groundwater. He is owner and moderating few technical groups on Yahoo! Groups, such as Hydrology Forum, Ground Water Modelling , Hydrological Modelling etc.
Dr. Anwar Zahid
Dr. W W Immerzeel
Dr. Shresth Tayal
Dr. AL Ramanathan
Dr. Arun Bhakta Shrestha
Currently working as Deputy Director, Ground Water Hydrology, Bangladesh Water Development Board and also a part-time teacher in the Department of Geology and Department of Disaster Science and Management, University of Dhaka. Groundwater specialist with Doctorate in hydrogeology and environmental geology. Professional and research background in groundwater hydrology, environmental and disaster science and management, water supply and groundwater model. 21 years' experience in Bangladesh Water Development Board and also involved in national and international activities with government, non-government and international organizations and universities. Worked as Deputy Project Director under a Climate Change Trust Fund project of the Ministry of Environment and Forest. As a research collaborator, currently involved in study projects with University College London, UK, Technical University of Darmstadt and University of Bremen, Germany and University of Delware, USA. Reviewer of many international journals published by Elsevier, Springer and others. Honored as 'Research Ambassador' by German Academic Exchange Service.
Dr. W.W. (Walter) Immerzeel has seventeen years' experience in geo-informatics, water resource management and climate change and is skilled in hydro-meteorological monitoring, the use of remote sensing, simulation models and spatial analysis and he is a leading young scientist in Himalayan hydrology. He holds a PhD degree in physical geography and works as senior scientist at Utrecht University and FutureWater and is responsible for several projects on the interface of climate change, atmospheric dynamics, hydrology and glaciology in the Himalayan region.
Shresth Tayal has obtained his doctoral degree on 'Glacier Hydrological Systems' on Gangotri and Dokriani glacier, Garhwal Himalaya, and has been involved in various hydrological, hydrochemical and meteorological research in glacierised regions, and vulnerability assessment of water resources using hydrological modeling tools at the watershed level. Currently, he is engaged in development of regional runoff model for high altitude catchments of Himalayan Rivers based on real time data series for mass balance, energy balance and hydrological balance of selected glaciated valleys, and quantification of aerosol impacts at the cryospheric regions of Himalaya. With more than 10 years of research experience in Glaciology, he has served Glacier and Climate Change Commission, Government of Sikkim, India as Post Doctoral Fellow and is a member of Scientific Research Council, Indian Mountaineering Foundation. At TERI University, Dr. Tayal is engaged in teaching about the concepts of glacier dynamism and their responses to climate change variables, and their influences on glacier hydrological processes.
AL. Ramanathan is a Professor at School of Environmental Sciences, JNU, New Delhi. He started his research career by focusing on various aspects of river basin geochemistry (water quality & quantity, river discharge, sediment load, sediment characteristics (physico-chemical) etc.). Later, he started his research program on coastal ecosystems namely estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs. Apart from hydrogeochemistry and biogeochemistry, Prof. Ramanathan has been working intensively on Dynamics of Himalayan Glaciers (such as mass balance, energy balance, hydrology and hydrogeochemistry). His work is well recognized throughout the world. He has published more than 150 papers in various peer reviewed National and International journals. Eighteen PhDs and more than 24 M.Phil. have been completed under his supervision and are well placed in India and abroad. He is the Chief Editor of Journal of Climate Change besides being a reviewer for various high impact journals.
Dr Arun Bhakta Shrestha is a Senior Climate Change Specialist and Programme Manager for Regional Programmes – River Basins and Cryosphere and Atmosphere. He has a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of New Hampshire, USA, and a Master's degree in Hydraulic Engineering from Minsk, former USSR. Before joining ICIMOD, Dr Shrestha worked for the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal. His main areas of expertise include climate change, glaciers and glacial hazards, glacial lake risk mitigation, atmospheric environment, and hydrological modelling. Dr Shrestha has had several publications in peer reviewed international journals, national journals, and magazines. He was involved in the Tsho Rolpa Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Risk Reduction Project and was in the scientific team for the preparation of the First National Communication of Nepal to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Dr Shrestha is on the editorial panel for Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk (Tylor and Francis) and Journal of Hydrology Meteorology (Society of Hydrologists and Meteorologists, Nepal).
Prof. A K Gosain
Ms. Shreya Mitra
Dr. Madan Lall Shrestha
Dr. Himanshu Pathak
Mr. Sarder Shafiqul Alam
Senior Research Coordinator, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
Dr. A. K. Gosain, Professor in the Civil Engineering Department, IIT Delhi has made a significant contribution to the NATCOM – the National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He has also been reviewer for AR4 and AR5 of IPCC. One of the recent assignments of Prof. Gosain include the formulation of the Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP), of which he was the Team Leader of the Water Resources Management group. He has also been engaged by the Delhi Government to formulate the Drainage Master Plan of NCT of Delhi. He is also part of the expert committees appointed by the National Green Tribunal to suggest solutions to deal with the ever increasing pollution levels in Yamuna. Prof Gosain has served as Head of the Civil Engineering Department and the Computer Services Centre of IIT Delhi. Presently, he is also coordinator of the Centre of Excellence for eWater formulated recently under the MoU with eWater (SOURCE), Australia. He did his B.Sc. Engg, Civil Engineering from PEC Chandigarh, M.Tech. Water Resources Engg. From IIT Delhi and Ph.D. in Water Resources Engg. (Hydrology) from IIT Delhi as well.
Shreya Mitra is a Senior Programme Officer with International Alert's Environment, Climate Change and Security Programme. Her interests include understanding the links between climate change, conflict and fragility; natural resource governance; urban resilience, conflict-sensitive adaptation, development and humanitarian responses. Shreya is a contributing author to the 2015 technical report, 'A New Climate for Peace: Taking Action on Climate and Fragility Links', commissioned by the G7 Foreign Ministries. She previously worked as a Researcher for ODI, where she was responsible for research and analysis on DRR, social protection, MDGs and evidence-based policy and practice. She has worked as a Consultant with Save the Children and Social Development Direct and as a Research Assistant for the London School of Economics and Political Science Cities-Urban Age programme. Shreya holds an MSc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Political Science from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
Dr. Madan Lall Shrestha, is an academician at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Kathmandu and The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) since 2007, prior to this he was the Director General (DG) of Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, GoN. He has worked closely with international bodies such as World Meteorological Organization (WMO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As the Director General, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, GoN, at took the position of the Permanent Representative of Nepal with WMO and focal person for IPCC. At the same time, he worked as the Member of the Governing Body of the SAARC meteorological Research Center (SMRC) located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Dr. Pathak is the Principal Investigator, Climate Change Challenge Programme at IARI, New Delhi. He has contributed significantly in quantification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from soil, evaluation of the effects of management practices and biotic and abiotic factors on GHG emission and development of inventories of methane and nitrous oxide emission from Indian agriculture. His research has helped in rationalizing the estimates of GHG emission from Indian agriculture. He has developed simulation models such as InfoSoil, InfoFert, InfoCrop, TechnoGAS and InfoRCT for predicting the impacts of management and climate on crop yield and optimizing resource use for increasing production and minimizing environmental pollution. Dr. Pathak is a BSc (Ag) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; and MSc and PhD in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry from Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He joined Agricultural Research Service of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as a Scientist in 1992 and promoted to Senior Scientist in 2001 and Principal Scientist in 2009. He has worked as a visiting scientist in the University of Essex, United Kingdom; International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines; CSIRO Land and Water, Australia and Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Germany. He was the Lead Author, Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report. Currently he is the Coordinator of DARE/ICAR for the climate negotiations in the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Sarder Shafiqul Alam is the ICCCAD climate change expert and senior researcher for the GIBIKA programme and previously worked as the ARCAB field research coordinator. He's gathered wide ranging experiences of designing and implementation of research projects on NRM, climate change adaptation, review LDCs prepared NAPA documents, poverty alleviation and livelihood promotion, agricultural development, stakeholder analysis and consensus building of local capacity, partnership building, policy and institutional analysis. He has coordinated and supervised more than 25 field based research projects. He also monitored and implemented a number of projects in various fields including adaptation to climate change, water resources, fisheries, forestry, socio-economic, rural and urban environment in Bangladesh. He worked for the DFID, WB, UNDP, IIED, IFC, REB, DoF, SSN, NCA, Oxfam, CARE, Caritas, RDRS, etc. He has wide range of connection among Government departments, NGOs and LGIs k in all ecosystems in Bangladesh as well with academics in home and abroad. He has prepared Training Manuals and Handouts on "Climate Change Adaptation", "Gender and Climate Change", "Climate Change and Disaster Risks Reduction", Research Methods, Planning and Project Management" etc. and facilitated over thirty training workshops for officials of Government departments, representatives of LGIs, INGOs, NGOs, media and local communities.
Prof. K C Malhotra
Ms. Zeenat Niazi
Dr. Yogesh Gokhale
Dr Cristina Rumbaitis
Mr. Siddarthan Balasubramania
Kailash Chandra Malhotra, an anthropologist and human ecologist has taught in Poona university and Indian statistical institute, Kolkata. He has carried out extensive research on anthropological and ecological dimensions of tribes, nomads and village communities of the country. He is a fellow of the Indian National Science academy and Indian Academy of sciences. He was president of the Indian society of human genetics. He has served as a member and / or chairman on various committees of DST, MoEF, planning commission, MoTA etc. He has carried out numerous studies on JFM, sacred groves, climate change etc His current research interests include Annual ritual hunting in Orissa, PBR and biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood. In 2013 he published the book: Micro- level people 's perception on climate change - A study on coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies with a focus on biodiversity and institutional arrangements in Meghalaya ( kc Malhotra, sk barik and bk Tiwari) and in 2014, Biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood in Kondhpungar village ( kc Malhotra and singru hontal). In 2015, he helped Orissa development action Forum to develop Climate Action Plan for 110 villages across 11 districts of Orissa.
Zeenat Niazi is the Vice President and Head - Communications Solutions Branch. She has over 26 years' experience in the field of habitat processes and housing technology involving women construction workers, masons and Women's Self Help Groups. She has managed, coordinated and built capacities in numerous projects for the design of habitat processes in both social housing and post-disaster situations, including post-tsunami response initiatives in South India. Additional areas of Ms. Niazi's professional engagement comprise the dissemination of large-scale environmentally friendly housing technologies in rural and urban areas, networking and policy development. An instrumental leader in the development of the first National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy for India, Ms. Niazi has contributed as one of the founding members of the basin – South Asia Network, which worked on the policy effort alongside the Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme Network and the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. At the level of local governance, Ms. Niazi has taken part in the preparation of guidelines for city councilors and decision makers for local agenda programmes in Asian urban centres and partnership implementation programmes. She has likewise provided support to provincial and local governments for sustainable habitat development. Ms. Niazi is a trained moderator and facilitator who holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and a Master's in the same discipline from McGill University, Montreal.
Dr. Gokhale holds a Doctoral degree in Botany from Mumbai University. He currently works as Fellow with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). He is the member IUCN Task Force on Cultural and Spiritual values of Protected Areas. Before joining TERI he worked as Consultant withSecretariat of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries hosted by Ministry of Environment and Forests. He also co-ordinated the India local level case study for Sub-Global Assessment of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Programme. He has been working on traditional conservation practices such as sacred groves in India for past several years. He has researched for the two documentaries on biodiversity issues (Reviving Faith, Back to the Roots) in past two years in TERI.
Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio is the Regional Programme manager for Action on Climate Today, a programme that seeks to mainstream climate change resilience into development planning and budgeting at the national and sub-national level in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. As programme manager she manages an implementation team of approximately 40 people across the programme locations. Prior to joining ACT, Dr. Rumbaitis del Rio worked at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York from 2007-2015. As a Senior Associate Director, Dr. Rumbaitis del Rio helped develop the Foundation's initiatives regarding building resilience for poor and vulnerable people who will be affected by climate change, as well as initiatives related to water management, small scale fisheries, and preservation of ecosystems and the services they provide to humankind. Dr. Rumbaitis del Rio was a post-doctoral fellow conducting research on sustainable development at Columbia University's Earth Institute. She also did policy research for the United Nations Environmental Program, the U.S. Department of State, and other institutions. She was a recipient of the 1996 National Harry S. Truman Scholarship for Public Service and a Mass Media Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement Science. Rumbaitis del Rio received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. She also has a Doctoral degree in Ecology from the University of Colorado.
Siddarthan Balasubramania is the first India Country Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), a grant making Inter Governmental Organisation (IGO) with its HQ in Seoul. In this role Siddarthan is responsible for the strategic direction, partnership, program management, grant making strategy of GGGI in India and also for the day to day administration and team management. GGGI's mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of robust economic growth while simultaneously achieving environmental and social objectives such as povertry eradication, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Prior to GGGI, Siddarthan spent a little over 3 years in Washington DC, USA as Director in World Resources Institute (WRI), leading WRI's Major Emerging Economies Initiative in energy and climate change in Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia and Mexico. Siddarthan has a wealth of experience in the areas of green growth planning and implementation, energy, climate change, international climate policy, natural resources management and broader sustainable development. His work experience also include a combined 12 years in UK's DFID/UKFCO and Norwegian NORAD. Siddarthan is an Agricultural Engineer by education"
Dr. Vikram Dayal
Dr. Simon Lucas
Team Leader (Climate), DFID, India
Dr. Nafees Meah
Ms. Izabella Koziell
Dr. Priyanie Amerasinghe
Vikram Dayal is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. He has worked on a range of environmental and developmental issues: from Prosopis juliflora and tigers in Ranthambhore National Park to indoor and outdoor air pollution in Goa, India. He was at TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), where he interacted with members of think-tanks and government officials from different sectors. He is a member of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics. His current interests are in implementing methodological pluralism, dynamic ecological-economic modelling, institutional enquiry and multilevel modelling. He studied economics in India and the USA and did his doctoral degree from the University of Delhi.
Dr Simon Lucas leads work on Climate and Development for the UK Department for International Development's (DFID) in India. His current role is leading UK work on lower carbon development in India and building resilience to climate change. Before Delhi he worked on the UK's International Climate Fund, and climate negotiations and resilience. He has 25 years' experience working in development, renewable energy and the environment across East and Southern Africa and most recently climate and growth work in Nepal and Vietnam with DFID. Before DFID, Dr Lucas worked in renewable energy research in the UK focusing on scaling up renewable energy supply and off-grid solutions.
Dr Nafees Meah joined the RCUK India team in October 2012. He was educated as a chemist at the Universities of Manchester, Toronto, London and Cambridge and joined the Chief Scientist's Group at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1988. There he managed research programmes on food safety, nutrition and environmental contamination of food. Following that, he was a senior policy maker in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs working on the environmental impact of food production and on climate change and food security. Before joining the RCUK India, he was head of science at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. He was called to the Bar in 2000 and is a member of Inner Temple. In his current role, he is responsible for delivering RCUK's vision for a stronger and deeper engagement with India on research that has impact.
Ms. Izabella Koziell is a Climate Lead (Asia Regional Team) at DFID. Currently serves as a Senior Climate Change adviser at before which she was a climate and Environment Adviser at the Research and Evidence Division of DFID. She has also worked with the International Institute for Environment and Development.
Priyanie is a Senior Researcher attached to the International Water Management Institute, at its Delhi office, India. Currently, she is also the Head at Hyderabad and Delhi (Acting) offices. She is a public health specialist by training and has over 35 years of teaching and research experience in the broad area of environmental health. She has carried out multidisciplinary research studies on arthropod-borne diseases of human and veterinary importance, community health and nutrition, human health impacts of wastewater agriculture, and policy advocacy and action planning linked to urban/peri-urban agriculture, in a number of countries. More recently, her focus has been on urban and peri-urban ecosystems and their ecosystem services, with special reference to natural resources utilization by underserved communities. She has published widely.
Mr. Swapan Mehra
CEO Iora Ecological Solutions
Mr. Aloke Barnwal
Dr. Abid Suleri
Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad
Dr. Engr. Jnan Ranjan Sil
Additional Secretary Ministry of Environment & Forests, Bangladesh
Dr. Madhav Karki
Swapan is an environmental finance/ expert with extensive experience in identifying, developing and implementing carbon mitigation projects across Asia. Prior to founding Iora Ecological solutions, Swapan served in top management with several international firms to develop climate change related business opportunities. He led led teams of international carbon trading and was responsible for carrying out transactions totalling 3 Million credits. Swapan has an MBA from Indian Institute of Forestry Management, Bhopal where he now serves as the institute's key carbon and climate change technology faculty. Swapan has engaged extensively with Government ministries, project developers, international technology providers and financiers to create a convergent platform for implementing climate change solutions across public and private sectors in India. His hands on expertise with the CDM cycle includes coal mine methane, forestry, fuel switch, solar, hydro, biomass and wind projects. He is focused on developing renewable energy and REDD opportunities in SE Asia and India.
Mr. Aloke Barnwal is the Climate and Environment Adviser at Department for International Development (DFID).
Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri is Executive Director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute since 2007. He earned his PhD in Food Security from the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich, United Kingdom. Currently, he is also serving as member of National Economic Advisory Council; member of Advisory Committee of National Planning Commission; and member of the National advisory Committee jointly formed by Government of Pakistan and the USAID for Pakistan Strategic Support Program. Dr. Suleri is invited to give policy advice on various other policy forums and advisory boards at national, regional, and international levels. He has also served as Member of Board of management of Pakistan State Oil (PSO), and chaired PSO Board's Audit and Finance Committee from 2010-2012. He is an Adjunct Professor of Institute of Business Management Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad and also serves on Board of Studies of various universities. Prior to joining SDPI, he served as Head of Programs, OXFAM GB Pakistan. Dr. Suleri imparts trainings and delivers lectures on different aspects of sustainable development to parliamentarians, academia, government officials, journalists, and development practitioners. He has been published in many national and international journals. He also contributes his policy analysis on sustainable development issues in major national and regional papers and is invited as guest analyst in electronic media on political economy of sustainable development.
Dr. Engr. Jnan Ranjan Sil joined as a Managing Director of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust, Ministry of Environment and Forests. He is an Additional Secretary of Govt. of the People's Republic of Bangladesh .He was born in Patuakhali District in 1958. He did B.Sc. Engineering in Civil from BUET in1981. Later he earned Masters in Civil Engineering and a PhD in Civil Engineering. He also earned a MBA major in HRM and also a Doctorate degree in Business Administration. He started his civil service career in the year of 1984 as a member of BCS (Roads and Highway) Cadre. Before that he worked 3(three) years in a Consulting Engineering Farm. During this long journey of his career he worked in various capacities of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) for about 22 years. In April 2005 he joined as a Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration. Here he worked in Bureau of Non-Formal Education and I.R.D (Ministry of Finance) as Deputy Secretary. In 2009 he promoted as Joint Secretary and worked in BEPZA as a Member of Engineering .He also worked about 5(Five) years in BIWTC as a Director of Admin and Technical. He promoted as Additional Secretary on April 2015. He has been serving the country for last 32 years in the different capacities of the government service. He participated in many training programs at home and abroad. For work he has travelled several countries including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Japan, France & USA. He received Life Fellow IEB (F/3607) and Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) award.
Dr. Madhav Karki is a Natural Resources Management and Climate Change Adaptation Specialist with a geographic focus in South and Southeast Asia. Among his several positions, he is the Executive Director of the Centre for Green Economy Development, Nepal (CGED-Nepal), South Asia Chair of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM); co-chair of the IPBES Regional Assessment of Biodiversity and Eco-system Services in Asia Pacific and global member of the Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) Task Force set by IPBES/UN. Dr. Karki served as the Deputy Director General (DDG) of ICIMOD from 2005 to 2012 and Senior Program Officer in IDRC' Canada's Delhi office from 1995 to 2005.
Ms. Chhaya Bhanti
Dr. K Murali
Dr. Vidhisha N Samarasekara
Senior Climate Change Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Mr. Shirish Sinha
Mr. Vivek Kumar
Chhaya is a brand and sustainability strategist, passionate about accelerating environmental and social responsibility through business innovation. She worked for fifteen years in New York across several marketing and brand development executive functions, most recently serving as Executive Vice President of Assouline Inc. with clients that included Cole Haan, New York Times, Harry Winston, Chanel, Starwood Hotels, and the Related Group among several others. After pursuing an MBA in Sustainability at the Presidio School of Management, Chhaya transitioned to working in the sustainability field. Her experience includes developing business model and marketing strategy for LumiSolair, a solar/wind hybrid street light startup based in New York, serving as Vice President, development for OneSun Solar, a biomimicry based third- gen PV company founded by Jenine Benyus and Paul Hawken in California, working on a sustainability report for Paradeep Phosphates and conducting Life Cycle Assessment and GRI reporting for Williams Sonoma and Starbucks Corporation respectively. Since 2008, Chhaya has also created environmental advocacy and vocational training workshops through media training for her NGO, SANJHI in Udaipur. She has helped train 60 youth in environmental "storytelling" since 2008. Chhaya is the founder of Vertiver, a creative agency based in New Delhi with strategy and communications expertise with a mission to create positive environmental and social impact.
Murali Kallur is an ecologist specialized in the sustainable use of natural resources and the conservation of biodiversity. He is also an expert on climate change adaptation for communities dependent on forests, oceans, and agriculture. His work at IDRC includes a program on climate change adaptation in Asia, a joint initiative with the UK's Department for International Development. Before joining IDRC, Murali worked at the United Nations on biodiversity and other environmental issues that affect smallholder agriculture. He has extensive experience with community-based conservation initiatives. Kallur has worked at academic institutions, international and local NGOs, and French government institutions. He has many scientific journal articles to his credit as well as books in English and local Indian languages. Murali has a PhD in ecology from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Dr. Vidhisha Samarasekara is an ecologist by training, with extensive field research and work experience in environment and natural resources management across South and South East Asia, spanning almost 20 years. Since 2004 she has been working with the Asian Development Bank where she is responsible for the design and implementation of environment and natural resources management technical assistance and investment programmes across the Asia region including demonstrated country level experience in: Afghanistan, Cambodia; China; India, Indonesia; Laos; Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines; Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. From 2014 to date she has been working as a Senior Climate Change Specialist, based in the Nepal ADB Resident Mission. Here she has been primarily responsible for the design and implementation of climate change adaptation, environment and natural resources management programmes with an emphasis on regional and sub-regional partnerships. During her assignments in Delhi and more recently Kathmandu, significant progress has been made in a relatively short period of time in terms of mainstreaming environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation concerns into ADB's operational programmes.
Dr. Shirish Sinha is the Deputy Director of Cooperation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in India since May 2014. Shirish has worked over 22 years in development policy making and project implementation in the fields of rural and renewable energy, climate resilient development, and energy/climate policy. He is responsible for SDC's Global Programme Climate Change in India and specifically leads initiatives on Science-Policy Interface in the Himalayas, Low carbon and climate resilient planning in cities, Clean technology diffusion in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector and Energy access for rural households. Prior to his current post, he was Senior Thematic Advisor – Climate Change with SDC in India, Head – Climate & Energy Programme of WWF India, Principal Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India, Principal Researcher (Water – Energy) with International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Research Associate with TERI. Shirish Sinha holds a Ph D in Public Policy from the University of Twente, the Netherlands and Masters in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) in India.
Dr Vivek Kumar is a senior advsior with the Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi. He is working with the energy, environment and climate change programme of the Embassy. Prior to that, Dr Kumar has worked with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Development Alternatives and has been following climate change issues, impacts, adaptation, carbon markets as well as international climate negotiations. Dr Kumar holds a doctorate in environmental sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Dr Kumar has studied at Allahabad University.
Dr. Kazi Matin Ahmed
Mr. Ali Tauqeer Sheikh
Mr. Jagat K Bhusal
Dr. Indrani Phukan
Er. Ajit Kumar Samaiyar
Dr. Kazi Matin Ahmed is a Professor at the Department of Geology, University of Dhaka and is a leading researcher on groundwater in Bangladesh with focuses on urban groundwater, arsenic, salinity and environmental aspects of groundwater development. Prof. Ahmed completed his BSc (Honours) and MSc degrees in Geology from the Department of Geology, University of Dhaka. He started his career as a Junior Hydrogeologist with the National Water Plan Project of Bangladesh in 1985. He worked in Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission as a Geologist from 1985-1987 before joining Dhaka University as a Lecture of Geology. He went to the UK for his higher studies under Commonwealth Scholarship in 1990 and got PhD in Hydrogeology from University of London in 1994. On his return from the UK, he has been involved in research on various aspects of groundwater in collaboration with National and International Institutions. Major project include the landmark National Hydro geochemical Survey in Bangladesh with the British Geological Survey and Department of Public Health Engineering. Hydro geochemistry and Health Affect of Arsenic and Manganese with Columbia University, USA; and Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation with the Royal Institute of Technology and NGO Forum. His current research includes the Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Coastal Aquifers of Bangladesh with Acacia Water and DPHE; Subsurface Arsenic Removal with Technical University of Delft, Netherlands. So far he has collaborated with universities in the USA, UK, Netherlands and Japan etc. Apart from conducting research, he also worked as advisors/consultants for projects run and funded by national and international agencies such as UNICEF, WB, ADB, DFID, JICA, DANIDA, SIDA, DPHE etc. He was a member of Bangladesh Government's inter-ministerial committee on use of deep aquifer for arsenic mitigation. He has published more than 150 papers in international journals and presented papers at many conferences at home and abroad.
Ali Tauqeer Sheikh is the founding CEO & National Program Director of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) Pakistan (www.lead.org.pk). He also heads Climate Leaders Action Network [CLAN] which gives him access to over 2,000 experts in the field. His work involves engagement with multiple stakeholders, from government and private sector, to academia, media, think tanks and civil society from several Asian, African and North American countries. He has served on several boards and is a member of national commissions and committees including the apex environmental body in the country, Pakistan Environment Protection Council (PEPC) chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Taskforce on Climate Change set up by the Planning Commission of Pakistan, and the Core Group constituted by the Ministry of Climate Change charged to advise the Government of Pakistan on climate negotiations. In his capacity as the Asia Director for CDKN Mr. Sheikh leads efforts to assist developing country governments in Asia to mainstream climate compatible development in their policies and plans, strengthen their capacity to cope with climate induced disasters and extreme events, enhance their readiness to access international climate finance and to meaningfully engage in international climate negotiations for an equitable and ambitious global agreement. Mr. Sheikh is deeply involved in various facets of sustainable development, particularly in poverty-environment nexus, climate vulnerabilities and equitable development. He has served as advisor/consultant to a number of national/international organizations such as Asian Development Bank, European Commission, IDRC, IFAD, JICA, Packard Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, The Asia Foundation, UNDP, UNESCO and the USAID.
Mr. Jagat Kumar Bhusal is a hydrologist by profession. He has 30 years of working experience in the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Government of Nepal. He has provided hydrological inputs for more than 35 different water related projects and has published more than 35 papers in proceedings, magazines and journals. Currently, he is engaged in research related to climate change and water availability focused to irrigation practices, and also as an investigator in an ESPA supported research programme on mountain cosystem services (Mountain-evo–Nepal). Mr Bhusal is the Chairperson of Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission, GoN, and the Society of Hydrologists and Meteorologists-Nepal, Vice Chairperson of IITRAAN Nepal chapter and, a member of International Hydrological Proramme of Nepal National Committee.
Dr. Indrani is working as Deputy Project Director in GIZ, Climate Change Adaptation in North Eastern Region Project New Delhi. An Applied Geologist academically from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, she did her PhD from the University of Delhi and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, India, in the topic "Geo-Environmental Analyses of a part of West Garo Hills, Meghalaya using Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS". She has 15 plus years of experience in the Natural resources management and Climate Change Adaptation. Key Expertise in Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into integrated natural resources management and disaster risk reduction; Designing climate change adaptation strategies and vulnerability assessments; Integrated natural resources management for sustainable development; Project conceptualization, management, project appraisals and feasibility studies; Liaising with central and state government partners, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies at various levels; Capacity building & training for watershed development agriculture extension management and climate change adaptation; Information Communication Technology (including Remote Sensing & GIS) applications; Rural renewable energy and energy efficient technologies for rural enterprise development and poverty alleviation; Impact monitoring and evaluation including participatory & technical approaches and Addressing gender issues in the agriculture and climate change sectors.
Er. Ajit Kumar Samaiyar is a Senior Advisor- Ecnvironment and Climate Change in Bihar State Disaster Management Auhority. He is a Retd. Joint Director FMISC, Water Resources Department, Govt. of Bihar has joined BSDMA on 14th Jan, 2015 as Senior Advisor, Environment & Climate Change. As a landmark achievement of his career, he established FMISC in WRD as an effective Flood Management decision support tool and for his this effort, got appreciation from the department and was awarded ''Abhiyanta Shree" in 2009.
DFID's South Asia Research Hub funded a suite of research studies on key climate challenges between 2010 and 2015 under its Climate Research and Information Services in South Asia (CRISSA) programme. With these studies now completed, a regional stakeholder consultation is being organised on April 7-8, 2016 in New Delhi.
The following studies are being covered by this event:
Climate Change and Conflict (Strengthening the response to climate variability)
Climate Change Adaptation (to floods) in the Indus basin of Pakistan
Calibrating below and above Snowline Precipitation as Inputs to Mountain Hydrology Models
Glacier monitoring in the Himalayas using Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAVs)
Action Research on Community-based Adaptation in Bangladesh
(All study outputs can be accessed at http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/Project/60918/)
The purpose of the event is to present the key policy relevant messages from these studies to a group of academics and policy-makers drawn from the South Asian region. While each of the research projects have generated technical reports and peer reviewed journal articles accessible to a technical audience, this event will attempt to reach out to decision-makers who are in a position to use these findings for enhancing the evidence base for decisions they need to make.
The expected output from the event would be a short working paper that would synthesize the discussion generated from the view-point of making scientific studies more policy-relevant and enhancing the base of scientific evidence that could feed into policy. The paper would also address the issue of coherence among research funders in terms of complementarities of themes/ approaches and modes of outreach and dissemination.
The Consultation is being hosted by DFID-SARH in association with its dissemination partner, Vertiver. The format of the event would be interactive with panels comprising both academics and practitioners. On Day 1, lead researchers would make brief presentations on the key research findings and practitioners would be invited to comment on the relevance of these findings. The science-policy interface created this way would serve as a mode of enhanced dialogue among various beneficiaries of publicly funded research. Day 2 will feature several cross-cutting sessions on evidence based policy making. These will include panels for donors and policy makers. A final session will explore issues of coherence in climate research and constraints/ challenges for regional research.
DFID CRISSA CONSULTATION: INTRODUCTION
DFID CRISSA CONSULTATION SESSION 2
DFID CRISSA CONSULTATION SESSION 10
Climate Studies on Allied Themes:Exploring Linkages