A Wish-List for 2024
Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, A Day in 2071 and Man over Machine.
Bharat Dogra
2024 Will be Very Important, But Can the New Year Also Bring New Hope?
With several significant elections (India, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico etc.) being topped toward the end of the year by the US Presidential election, 2024 will be a very important year for…
A Strong Case for Shifting Resources from Mega Water Projects to Small Water Conservation Projects in Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand region in Central India comprising 14 districts (7 in Uttar Pradesh and 7 in Madhya Pradesh) has been frequently in news due to water scarcity. While there is widespread…
World’s Priorities Must Shift Rapidly from Dominance to Protection
All too often the discussion in world is dominated by who will dominate the world. Not just a lot of talk but also a lot of action moves around this.…
USA’s ‘long coup’ in Brazil used anti-corruption movement to oust left government and imprison its leaders
Left and democratic as well as working class forces in world suffered a big setback with the impeachment of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, the imprisonment of frontline Presidential…
Why Apple To Wine Project In Himachal Pradesh Is Bad News
New capacity created by World Bank funded unit in Himachal Pradesh for obtaining 100,000 litres of wine from apples per year is bad news for nutrition, health and ecology One…
An Important Book on Hindi Journalism that Deserves Wide Attention
A recent book on Hindi journalism edited by Atal Tewari and published by Setu Prakshan is a very welcome addition to the rather limited literature on Hindi journalism relative to…
In the New Year South Asia Must Seek Hope in Agenda of Peace and Justice
Three of the largest South Asian countries share a remarkable similarity in the coming year 2024—all of them will be holding general elections in the first half of this year.…
Beating Swords into Ploughshares, or What A No-war Future May Involve
At a time when existing and potential wars dominate the attention of world leadership to such an extent, it may appear very unrealistic to discuss a future for humanity in…
Real Action Based on Comprehensive Plan to Resolve Survival Crisis Should be Top Priority
There is increasing concern among some of the most well-informed people and institutions of the world that the most important problems which together constitute a survival crisis are worsening. Of…
Piecemeal Efforts will Not Protect the Planet or Its People
With increasing realization that the earth’s basic life-nurturing conditions are threatened by man-made factors, the world has responded in a number of ways ranging from climate change commitments to treaties…
Assassination Plots Which Killed Some of The World’s Most Promising Leaders, and Threatened Others
Which world leader faced the most attempts on his life or other attempts to injure and harm him? The answer to this question is very clear—Fidel Castro, President of Cuba.…
Unequal and Unsustainable Life Patterns A Very Important Yet Neglected Cause of Environment Ruin and Climate Change
Economic and social inequalities have historically been a very important aspect of injustice, but in addition these have also resulted in some other important distortions which are not so well…
Europe started two world wars, it must prevent the third one
Europe started the first two world wars and played a key role in them, even though the extensive distress caused by them spilled over, directly and indirectly, to the greater…
Plan and Pray for a Significant Peace Initiative around Christmas and New Year
Can a year which experienced such terrible although entirely avoidable violence and conflict still end on a note of peace and hope? Yes, it can if the remaining few days…
Anaura’s Water Conservation Success Followed by Many-sided Benefits
Water conservation can be the key to many-sided rural development, and the recent experiences of Anaura village in Birdha block of Lalitpur district provide a very promising example of this.…
Two Decades of A Journey Based on Community Welfare
It was nearly 20 years back that a young social activist Basudev made the rather difficult decision to move from a bigger voluntary organization in Chitrakut to a very remote…
Villagers Delighted with Tap Water in Their Homes, but Concerns Regarding Depleting Water Sources Remain
People of Manjra Makara village in Niwari block and district (Madhya Pradesh) are very happy that they now have tap water in their homes. They say that their daily life…
Rejuvenation of Rivers Brings Greenery for Now and Hope for Future
Due to a number of factors like encroachments, pollution, silting and sand-mining, many small rivers and rivulets have been degraded so much and their flow during lean season has been…
Sona’s Journey from Exploited Migrant Worker to Sustainable Organic Farming
Sona is sitting with some of her family members near her farm. The lush greenery of crops, fruit trees and vegetable plants serves as a symbol of the improving prospects…
Sirkunwar Overcomes Big Adversities to Bring Hope to Many Villages
Extreme personal distress and adversities can sometimes push people into despair and loneliness, but some also respond with a strong determination to overcome extremely difficult situations. Sirkunwar is one of…
Urban Poor Finding It Increasingly Difficult to Meet Basic Needs
Recently this writer visited some working class settlements as well as gathering places of daily wage workers in Delhi. Conversations with people here revealed serious, persistent and increasing difficulties in…
Silkyara Tunnel collapse should also draw attention to the wider worrying conditions of migrant construction workers in Himalayan region
Now that the rescue of the workers trapped in the tunnel collapse accident in Silkyara has been successfully completed, it is time to look at the wider issue of the…
Reducing road accidents to half will save 650,000 human lives a day, prevent 1750,000 injuries
Road accidents kill 1.3 million people in a year in the world. While this is a shockingly big loss in itself, the overall burden for society is much higher at…
Urgency of According Much Higher Priority to Safety of Workers
Recent reports of the International Labor Organization have confirmed the urgency of according higher priority of issues relating to safety of workers. These statistics tell us that nearly 3 million…
10 similarities between 10/7 and 9/11 which may be worth noting
The 9/11 attack and 10/7 attack are of course very different historical events separated by 22 years and a vast distance. Nevertheless there are some important similarities which may be…
A Social Movement of People Striving to Find their Most Relevant Role and Living in Accordance with It
Social movements sincerely trying to create a better world, whether in big or in modest ways, have always been important. Their importance has increased much more in present times characterized…
Truth of Recent Events of Historical Importance Should be Well-Established
Historians go to great lengths-as they should-to find out the truth of what took place hundreds of years ago, even thousands of years ago. So isn’t it ironic-and deeply troubling-that…
Only One Product in the World about which it is said—the more it kills, the better it is
There are so many products which are promoted on the basis of their utility—food products may be promoted for their nutrition or taste, garments may be promoted for their beauty…
COP 28 Should Herald New Approach to Climate Change
It is unlikely that COP 28 will ignore the stark and bitter reality of the failure to achieve adequate reduction in GHG emissions. The facts in this context are all…
Workers’ Rescue A Himalayan Achievement; Next Step is to Prevent Such Mishaps
The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a…
Sustained, Extensive Campaign Needed to Prevent Deportation of A Million Afghan Refugees from Pakistan in December and January
The deportation of several hundred thousand Afghan refugees from Pakistan at a very short notice in harsh winter conditions has been condemned internationally by several leading humanitarian and human rights…
Urban Program Needed for Providing Shelter and Facilities at Gathering Points of Daily Wage Workers
A large number of daily-wage workers gather every day in Haiderpur (Delhi) on a side of a busy road. They wait here till a contractor or other employer comes to…
Workers Struggle Hard to Keep Away Hunger in Times of Dwindling Employment
It is around 10 in the morning and the number of workers at the Sigalpur labor chowk in Shalimar Bagh area of Delhi is increasing. As a worker Munna says—“The…
Meeting Basic Needs of All While Avoiding Ecological Destruction
Keeping in view the perpetuation of large-scale poverty and the colossal ecological ruin wrought by the existing economic system, the creation of an alternative economic system has become one…
Policies for just, sustainable rural livelihoods and healthy food are compatible with climate goals
One of the most remarkable aspects of the challenge of climate change is that often what is in any case needed in the interests of justice and sustainability is also…
Implications of Extreme Inequalities in Global Emissions
A report prepared by Oxfam GB with the help of Stockholm Environment Institute released recently on November 20 2023 has stated that carbon emissions of the richest 1 per cent…
Important Linkages of Social Relationships and Values to Climate Change and Environment
A very important but neglected dimension of the efforts to resolve climate change and related serious environmental problems concerns the social values and relationships among people. To bring out the…
Distress of Mustard Farmers Points to the Coming Wider Crisis for Farmers of all Traditional Oilseeds
Recent reports indicate a sharp downward trend in the price of mustard, an important oilseed crop of India. The price in recent days at INR 5200 a quintal compared to…
Politics of Climate Change
When it is scientifically realized that a very serious threat to the planet is being caused by the excessive exploitation and use of some materials, then the obvious response should…
Eleven Ways Forward to Tackle Climate Change and Bring More Happiness
Climate change mitigation and adaptation are two of the most important challenges before humanity. These as well as a number of other serious environmental problems taken together now threaten to…
COP 28—Can We Still Find Hope in the Middle of Increasing Failure?
COP 28 will be held at a time of increasing, perhaps overwhelming evidence that the targets set earlier to restrict global warming to 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels and…
How the Concept of Humanity’s Progress is Increasingly Surrounded by Too Many Troubling Questions
In narrow terms of the development of technology and the means of material comfort and luxury, recent decades have witnessed the pinnacle of human achievement. This is often taken to…
Amnesty International Calls for Immediate Halt of Forced Deportation of Afghan Refugees from Pakistan
The many-sided serious problems and risks being faced by nearly 1.7 million Afghan refugees who are without the documents considered essential by the Pakistan government have been the subject of…
A Short History of the Century 1924-2023
Around the year 1924 some of the world’s biggest powers were busy recovering from the disastrous impacts of the First World War. The situation was the most difficult for Germany…
Israel’s Attack on Hospitals is a Shocking Low for Humanitarian Concerns, But Where Do We Go From Here?
As the presence of hostile militants in hospitals has been cited as a justification for attacks on some hospitals in Gaza by Israel’s forces, let this be stated loud and…
Workers Denied Employment by Construction Ban Must Get Compensatory Help
Festival season is fast approaching. Woolens for the winter must be purchased now. This is when construction workers of Delhi would like to get as much work as possible to…
The Missing Dimension in the Debates on Pollution in Delhi and Other Indian Cities
High pollution levels in Delhi have been causing very serious health concerns almost every winter in recent times, and it is the same situation this year too. Now the pollution…
Festival of Dipawali Should be a Symbol of Taking Prosperity to the Huts of the Poorest
Dipawali is a festival when lamps and candles are lighted in the homes of even the poorest with the hope of economic prosperity. This is a time of light and…
Resolving Complex Disputes on the Basis of Justice and Peace—Case-Study of Palestine-Israel Region
Whenever serious confrontations and disputes emerge in international contexts, there is a frequent tendency among those committed to peace to try to reach some hasty solutions so that at least…
Four High Risk Years for Humanity, and Fears for the Fifth
The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption…
Serious climate change risks in Israel and Palestine cannot be resolved without ending violence
Israel and Palestine constitute a region which is a climate hot spot with its people being highly vulnerable to various adverse impacts of climate change and the wider environmental crisis.…
Don’t Forget Ukraine and Other Conflicts even if the Biggest Need for Peace Just Now is in Gaza
We have not heard much from Ukraine or on Ukraine lately, and this is understandable because the biggest need just now is for ceasefire and peace in Gaza, to be…
Why Pakistan Should Immediately Stop the Forced Deportation of Afghan Refugees
A humanitarian catastrophe is in the making as Pakistan has started preparing for the forced deportation of nearly 1.5 million Afghan refugees. According to official Pakistani estimates there are nearly…
It is important to protect India’s democratic strengths regarding Right to Information
People of this country have a right to know every public act, everything done in a public way, by their public functionary. They are entitled to know the particulars…
Can the World Still Imagine Israel-Palestine Relations Based on Peace, Justice and Dignity for All
Is our world still capable of resolving the Israel-Palestine issues in a way that can bring peace with justice and dignity to all sides and all people? If this world,…
Think before you leap on the slippery palm oil path
The Indian government first made a big mistake by getting highly dependent on imported palm oil to meet its edible oil needs, despite having a rich and diverse heritage of…
How Palestinian Livelihoods Have Been Disrupted
While the attention of the world is focused on the huge tragedy resulting from the conflict in Gaza, on October 27 GRAIN, an organization dedicated to support of agriculture and…
21 Considerations for People’s Movements in the 21st Century
Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, Earth without Borders and A Day in 2071.
Homeless in the Himalayan Cold
Starting from Delhi on a hot afternoon, I could feel the first chill of cold weather on reaching the lower hills of Himachal Pradesh in the evening. Winter has arrived…
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