An activist-environmentalist
23 years, 2 months ago

An activist-environmentalist

The Hindu  

THE death of Anil Agarwal at the age of 54 on January 2, 2002 is a loss to the environmental movement in India. After documenting the state of India's forests, rivers, cities and industries, Agarwal argued here for holistic management of land and water resources in the country. The shift in Agarwal's political activism towards closer collaboration with the state probably began during Rajiv Gandhi's prime ministership, during which period he often briefed the Cabinet and senior bureaucrats on environment and development. Agarwal's uncritical endorsement of Digvijay Singh's environmental credentials appalled many mass organisations in Madhya Pradesh that regularly face the brunt of state repression in their struggle to claim the rights of poor adivasis to the resources of forests, land and water. The CSE's 1996 study report titled Slow Murder showed Agarwal at his best, brilliantly dissecting the problem, assigning responsibility and not hesitating to name names.

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History of this topic

BOOK REVIEW | The Genesis of Indian Environmentalism in Ramachandra Guha’s “Speaking with Nature”
2 months, 1 week ago

BOOK REVIEW | The Genesis of Indian Environmentalism in Ramachandra Guha’s “Speaking with Nature”

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 13, 2025 20:58 IST - 6 MINS READ Tagore was one of the founders of Indian environmentalism,” Ram Guha told me, when I had finally managed to grab a seat near him and start a conversation. I waited keenly to read Speaking with Nature, a book described by Guha as a “group portrait” of 10 nation-shapers who …

Echoes of nature: Frontline’s top 12 environment stories of 2024
3 months, 1 week ago

Echoes of nature: Frontline’s top 12 environment stories of 2024

The Hindu  

Published : Dec 17, 2024 18:01 IST - 1 MIN READ Arguably one of the most disturbing headlines from the world of environment came when we rang in the New Year. In January 2024, from a pristine little island in the Indian Ocean, the Great Nicobar Island, author Pankaj Sekhsaria reported on the unimaginable havoc a proposed Rs.72,000 crore infrastructure …

Speak with Nature, Not Just for Nature: Guha Advises at Vidyaranga High Event
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Speak with Nature, Not Just for Nature: Guha Advises at Vidyaranga High Event

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: Historian and environmental thinker Ramachandra Guha inspired citizens to 'speak with nature' and not just 'for nature' at a talk and book-signing event at Vidyaranga High School on Friday. Providing a brief of his book, Guha said, "Chipko movement combined a concern for environmental conservation with an equally abiding concern for community rights and social justice. A large number …

A legacy of balance
4 months, 2 weeks ago

A legacy of balance

New Indian Express  

BENGALURU: In his latest book, Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism, historian Ramachandra Guha takes readers on a journey through India’s environmental past – a legacy that few are familiar with. Through their lives and writings, these figures – ranging from the poet Rabindranath Tagore to the economist J C Kumarappa – anticipated the environmental challenges we face …

The Enduring Legacy of Gandhi's Environmental Philosophy: A Journey Through India's Enduring Environmentalism
Trending News
4 months, 3 weeks ago

The Enduring Legacy of Gandhi's Environmental Philosophy: A Journey Through India's Enduring Environmentalism

ABP News  

Ramachandra Guha's 'Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism' is a nuanced exploration of India's environmental consciousness and its evolution. Guha examines 10 influential thinkers who predated global environmental movements and argues that India's environmentalism has developed its own trajectory shaped by sublime ecological, social, and cultural contexts. The book highlights the importance of livelihood environmentalism, a matter of …

World Environment Day: Arati Kumar-Rao wants you to listen to the land
1 year, 9 months ago

World Environment Day: Arati Kumar-Rao wants you to listen to the land

Live Mint  

There is an interesting anecdote from Arati Kumar-Rao’s new book, Marginlands: Indian Landscapes On The Brink, which best describes the beauty of India’s vast natural landscapes and the urgency to rescue them from the precipice of destruction. The people of the Thar get only forty cloudy days in a year, and yet they have as many names for clouds.” Many …

Ignoring the environment is bad economics
4 years, 2 months ago

Ignoring the environment is bad economics

Live Mint  

In hindsight, India’s tryst with liberalization came only a few years after a pivotal but increasingly forgotten moment in the world’s environmental history, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984. It developed a feeble framework to protect ecology and people; environment remained a mutable variable of India’s economic policy, appended to its corporate growth. Our deteriorating environment—abysmal air quality, toxin-laden water, …

A clean environment will empower us, writes PM Narendra Modi
6 years, 5 months ago

A clean environment will empower us, writes PM Narendra Modi

Hindustan Times  

Yesterday, the United Nations honoured me with the ‘Champions of the Earth Award’. It was a proud moment for every Indian to see India’s proactive role in mitigating climate change being acknowledged and appreciated by the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, and Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of the UNEP. When we as a society are aware of our …

25 years of reforms: The environment vs growth debate
8 years, 9 months ago

25 years of reforms: The environment vs growth debate

Live Mint  

In his 1991 budget speech, finance minister Manmohan Singh made an emphatic declaration: “We cannot deforest our way to prosperity and we cannot pollute our way to prosperity”. While India had strong environmental legislation even in the pre-1991 era – the Wildlife Act of 1972, Water Act of 1974, Forest Act of 1980, Air Act of 1981, and the Environment …

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