Latest news with #SunitaNarain
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Business Standard
07-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: US trade deal or not, India must cast its net wider
Hello and welcome to BS Views, your doorway to today's opinion page. The deadline for US-imposed higher tariffs is almost upon us, and yet there is little to suggest that it has reached a trade deal with India, notes our first editorial. Reports suggest that the US is seeking greater market access in agricultural commodities and genetically-modified (GM) foods, which India is uncomfortable with. One thing is clear, though: the US will have much higher tariffs, increasing friction in global trade. While India and the US might yet reach a deal, the former must seek deeper engagement with other partners. This is necessary also because of China's arm-twisting: it recently recalled some of its engineers working in India as a means to disrupt India's growing strength in mobile manufacturing. Doing all of this won't be easy, but ways must be found to advance engagement with multiple trading partners. Vehicle pollution needs structured solutions, argues our second editorial, as shown by the recent ban - and withdrawal soon after - on selling fuel to overage cars in the national capital. It might have been well-intentioned but was inherently impractical solution to the issue Delhi's toxic air pollution. While the science and law was behind the ban, inadequate monitoring equipment has made a mockery of the directive. Then there was the public outcry, which had political implications. A more structured approach towards vehicular pollution, such as accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles and offering more rigorous testing standards, would work better. Sunita Narain writes on behalf of a cohort that grew up in the post-colonial era and witnessed a world order that was intensely inequitable but still seemed capable of reform. She rues the changing world order, where countries can take unilateral action to bomb another, and the world stands by, helpless and silent. Her lament is in the context of the Israeli bombing of Iran, which is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (unlike Israel, which is suspected of having a covert nuclear programme), and was under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The attack on Iran is, she argues, about the future of a world order built on rules, or even the future of multilateralism. All this adds up to crisis of the commons, and one that can only be solved by consensus and trust. Our columnist Ajay Shah argues that China's recall of some of its engineers to stymie efforts by Foxconn to shift globalised manufacturing to India reflects its weakness, not strength. While this may delay movement of high skill activities from China to India, it increases incentives for global firms to do less in China. Globalised manufacturing is a high wire act, requiring building complex firms and deep knowledge, which is available in many places other than China. What's more, China faces two key issues: first, its foreign policy is one of strategic autonomy but at a much lower scale than, say, the US; the second is a lack of intellectual leadership. India's firms need to redouble their efforts at obtaining frontiers knowledge from abroad, rather than just mobilising factory workers into shifts. That is quite a journey ahead. Megan Greenwell's BAD COMPANY: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream maps the rise of private equity, one of the most powerful forces in America's, if not the globe's, financial and corporate world. Jennifer Szalai says the book emphasises the human costs of private equity, but offers stories that are textured, not one-note tales of woe, stories of tentative hopefulness followed by a rude awakening. The author, herself the editor of an online magazine that was taken over by a PE firm and then run into the ground, notes that she wrote the book not out of spite but of curiosity towards how powerful private equity had become. The catch is that PE firms charge fees and benefit from tax breaks that delink risk and reward. The book points out how abstractions like 'consolidation' and 'efficiency' have given cover to real betrayals.
Business Standard
06-07-2025
- Science
- Business Standard
Sunita Narain
Sunita Narain is an Indian environmentalist and the director general of the Centre for Science and Environment. She is also the editor of Down To Earth and was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize in 2005 for her work in promoting water literacy.
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Business Standard
08-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Electric vehicles: Why change is needed and how to make it happen
By 2030, the penetration of EV sales would be 70 per cent of all new commercial cars, 30 per cent of private cars, 40 per cent of buses, and 80 per cent of two- and three wheelers Sunita Narain Listen to This Article There are three key reasons why countries need to electrify their vehicle fleet. One is climate change. The transport sector guzzles massive amounts of oil (petrol and diesel) and globally contributes roughly 15 per cent of annual carbon dioxide emissions. Zero-emission vehicles, or electric vehicles (EVs), replace oil with electricity, which is ideally generated in renewable-energy plants, and are seen as the solution. The second reason, which is more important for Indian cities, is that replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with zero-emission ones will reduce local pollution. And third: It will save us valuable foreign exchange because oil consumption will
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Mixed report card for Bengal environment
Kolkata: Bengal received mixed results in a nationwide assessment of states' performance on environment, sustainability, agriculture, public health, and infrastructure, according to State of India's Environment in Figures 2025, released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on the eve of World Environment Day. When it comes to agriculture and land use, Bengal fared better, ranking 6th with a score of 60.5, thanks to improved agricultural input usage and land sustainability. However, it lagged in terms of farmer welfare indicators, like indebtedness and insurance coverage. The report placed Bengal 23rd among 28 states in overall environmental performance, with a score of 50.1 out of 100. It fell behind on key indicators, like solid waste management, sewage treatment, and polluted river stretches, although it had moderate scores in climate-related parameters and forest cover. In terms of public health, Bengal fared poorly, ranking 23rd with a score of 39.4. The state continued to grapple with high rates of undernutrition among children, poor health infrastructure, and low percentages of medically certified deaths. Its performance across health outcomes, such as infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy, and insurance coverage, was also weak. In public infrastructure and human development, Bengal ranked 22nd, with a score of 43 out of 100. The state struggled with issues such as low female workforce participation, high graduate unemployment, and inadequate per capita power availability. CSE director general Sunita Narain emphasised that the data, sourced entirely from official govt statistics, offers a sobering picture. "India's most populous states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh — home to 49% of the country's population, rank low on nearly every theme. This shows that large segments of the population remain vulnerable and exposed to multiple threats," she said. Narain added: "Numbers usually give us the truth, and what we are unveiling clearly indicates that this is not the time for complacency, nor chest-thumping." No state emerged as a comprehensive leader, with even top-ranking states struggling in key areas. Andhra Pradesh, while leading in forest and biodiversity conservation, struggled with sewage and river pollution; Sikkim excelled in sustainable land use but lagged in farmer welfare; Goa, despite being the best in health and human development, faced bed shortages and low female labour participation.
The Hindu
09-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Yamuna cleaning: Faecal sludge to free flow, CSE report charts new course
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based research and advocacy group, released a comprehensive report on Thursday that calls for immediate and systemic reforms to revive the heavily polluted Yamuna river. The report titled 'Yamuna: The Agenda for Cleaning the River' emphasises the need to collect and treat all faecal sludge from non-sewered areas. It recommends reworking strategies for the Najafgarh and Shahdara drains, which contribute a staggering 84% of the pollution load into the river. Highlighting inefficiencies in current sewage treatment practices, the CSE criticises the discharge of treated water into drains that are already polluted with untreated waste, rendering the treatment process ineffective. 'Each sewage treatment plant (STP) must plan not just how it will treat, but also how it will discharge treated effluents,' the report notes. It also calls for an increase in river flow to improve the river's ability to assimilate waste. This could involve reducing water intake, enhancing storage, and directly discharging clean, treated water into the river. The report raises concerns about unchecked industrial pollution, particularly from units operating in unauthorised areas beyond regulatory oversight. CSE Director General Sunita Narain stated that despite years of investment and legal pressure, the river shows no sign of improvement. 'The agenda for cleaning the river is critical as a 'dead Yamuna' is not just a matter of shame, it also adds to the burden of providing clean water to Delhi as well as to the cities downstream,' Ms. Narain said. 'We must realise that cleaning the Yamuna will require much more than money. It will need a reworked plan which will guide us towards thinking and acting differently,' she added. Faecal coliform levels, an indicator of sewage contamination, remain alarmingly high, said the report, which likens the river to a 'sewage canal.'
