Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) is a widely practiced policy of the Government of India in the area of rural employment generation and poverty alleviation. While it has clear economic objectives, it also has a host of environmental benefits. Proper implementation of the scheme can generate a stream of economic, ecological and environmental services. The present study covers three villages of the state Uttarakhand which lies in the midst of the Himalayas. These small, medium and large sized rural areas have gained significantly by MGNREGA. The MGNREGA works have generated employment and income, improved connectivity and reduced migration to urban areas in search of jobs. On the other hand, there have been distinct improvements in the standards of sanitation, resource use, water conservation, etc. However, there is considerable scope in the MGNREGA for improvement in terms of efficiency, institutional support, policy formulation and implementation. The paper brings forward the dual – economic and environmental – benefits of MGNREGA and also highlights improvements which can make it one of the largest and most productive rural employment scheme with significant environmental benefits.

Delhi Ridge is the Northern extension of the Aravalli hill range and is a prominent landscape feature of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Presence of Delhi Ridge, along with River Yamuna, has been of strategic significance in the selection of Delhi as a capital city since ancient times. Modern Delhi has grown beyond the physical boundaries of the Ridge and the Yamuna. The once barren Ridge has now been transformed into a forest, which provides useful ecosystem services to Delhi. Despite the large number of benefits provided by the Delhi Ridge, the latter is under a constant threat of encroachment and degradation. This is because land is a highly priced natural resource in Delhi. The approximately 78 sq. km area of the Delhi Ridge is thus seen by many as prospective real estate and several legal and illegal structures can be found inside the Delhi Ridge. The present research contribution is an attempt to carry out sustainability appraisal of the Delhi Ridge by using the principles of environmental economics and participatory research. We focus on the North Delhi Ridge (NDR) and have carried out an economic valuation of NDR using survey based methods. A participatory-GIS approach has been followed to highlight the physical boundary of NDR along with the areas of encroachment. We find that economic value of NDR is much greater than the benefits that may be drawn by modifying its land use land cover to concrete. We also find that in the absence of existing notification on the extent of the NDR, there is rampant encroachment on its eastern and southern side.

Water is a critical component for life and is an indispensable natural resource containing minerals required for human nutrition. However anthropogenic activities related to rapid industrialization, effluent discharges, overpopulation, atmospheric pollution etc. have stretched water reserves to alarming levels wherein the situation has come to a breaking point. Water quality parameters including pH, turbidity, hardness, presence of calcium, chloride, sulphate, ammonia, total dissolved solids (TDS) and magnesium are evaluated in the present study to elucidate apprehensions about potability of water being consumed in day-to-day life. Eleven water samples from areas in Delhi were investigated for the aforementioned physicochemical parameters to identify water potability issues. A few samples exhibited ultra-high values of TDS (~ 15,000+ mg/L) while standard value is prescribed at 2,000 mg/L by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Water samples with high TDS values are reported to be potential harbingers of bacterial contamination. In eight of the eleven samples the hardness coefficient was found to be higher than WHO baseline value of 100 mg/L. Three samples from Faridabad, Govindpuri and Pushp Vihar had either more or values approaching BIS standard of 300 mg/L, thereby indicating that the so called potable water was unfit for human consumption. High hardness values can be conjectured to be arising from rusted water supply pipes and/ or mixing of effluents from industries running from homes.

The Companies Act, 2013 encourages the corporate sector to devote a fraction of their profits to enable education efforts in India. This is based on the premise that not only is education beneficial in itself, but it facilitates access to economic opportunities, which helps in poverty alleviation. This paper aims to understand the challenges faced by the corporate sector in implementing CSR programmes, through a case study approach of two organisations in the diversified infrastructure and chemicals sectors. The key findings are that stakeholder management viz. community, government and schools, is critical to success for educational CSR to succeed. The corporate sector has to look towards a holistic approach for education development in the pursuit of key learning outcomes. The key implications for practitioners from this study are to develop new and innovative solutions to deal with multiple complexities during implementation. They need to be sensitive towards the social and cultural context of their CSR programmes. For academicians, one of the suppositions is that they help generate consciousness and appreciation of difficulties faced at the ground level by the underprivileged among students, as well as, values rooted in creating a better world for the greater common good.

The purpose of the study is to examine the psychological barriers to environmental conservation and the dynamics of climate change denial among educated adults through focus group discussion. The participants were four young adults (18-21 years of age) and four middle aged adults (35-50 years). Through a semi-structured interview, the psychological aspects of pro-environmental behaviour and related emotions were analyzed. The various aspects explored were the preference people give to the issue of climate change as compared to other social issues, how people perceive their individual role in climate change, to what extent people are ready to bring changes in their lifestyle to address climate change, why do people do little for environment and consider it a petty issue despite widespread awareness. The data collected was transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis. This study provides critical information with respect to climate change denial and subsequently insights for encouraging pro-environmental behaviour in the Indian context.

Buckwheat is a multifarious pseudocereal with high nutritional benefits including absence of gluten, richness in water soluble fibres, presence of high quality proteins, unsaturated fatty acids and appreciable mineral and vitamin content. Buckwheat has excellent amino acid composition that is complementary to cereal grains. It is very high in lysine, having nearly twice the amount found in wheat and rice. Buckwheat seeds contain various phenols, bioflavonoids including rutin and sugar cyclitols, flavonoids which act as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, provide protect against cardiovascular disease and treat Diabetes mellitus. Buckwheat can thus prove to be a promising grain and an important introduction in the future food basket in context of its high nutritional value.

The present research work focuses around the know-how and attitudinal perceptions of people in the society towards areas such as disaster management, gender sensitization and library management, especially in the fast-growing world of computers and mobiles. The research methodology selected Government school students since it is believed that students in the Government schools in India are underprivileged and are often not able to perceive education in the right manner. The research also wanted to begin with young minds, to read them, understand them and possibly mould them in a beneficial manner.

The development and growth of the Indian economy, along with the need and desire to work, are factors which are facilitating women to enter the workforce in large numbers. Women start working in formal workplaces anywhere between the age bracket of 21 and 26 years. The primary objective of most women in the next few years is to establish themselves in their respective fields. This very often leads to late marriages and delayed pregnancies. The latter are sometimes seen as hindrance to career advancement and are postponed until the third decade of a working woman’s life. This paper attempts to bring out the impacts of late pregnancy on the health of women and the fate of their children. The paper highlights the various pregnancy related risks to which women expose themselves by delaying pregnancy beyond 35 years. The need for raising awareness among young women about this issue and adopting women-friendly policies by workplaces has been found to be the need of the hour.

Flood related risks have compounded across the globe in the last few years. This is largely due to increasing vulnerability caused by changing climate and rapid urbanisation. This has resulted in making the poor and marginalized sections of society, especially those inhabiting hazardous topographies, more vulnerable to disasters. Although there have been efforts to shift from a response centric approach to a more proactive approach towards disaster risk reduction, institutions continue to face hurdles in implementing disaster related initiatives. To identify these challenges faced by institutions while responding to disasters, the present research collected primary data through field visits, personal interviews and focus group discussions with officials engaged in managing disasters from national to local level in India The affected community was also surveyed. It is suggested that policy makers must consider factors like institutional arrangements, human resources, policy and plans, financial, technical, leadership, perception and awareness programs for enhancing the current state of readiness of institutions to respond to flood disasters.