Kasmin Fernandes

The wood products sector operates under more intense public scrutiny than other extraction-based industries because wood comes from forests and forests are commonly seen by the public as natural places that should be relatively untouched by humans. Forest certification and eco-labelling are two important concepts to ensure that wood is sourced from sustainably managed...

Corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy are emerging as major supporters for resolving the cancer epidemic. CSR is fighting cancer tooth and nail. CSR is fighting cancer Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata believes that the Tata Trusts in association with the Government would be able to set a pattern to reduce the deaths caused by cancer...

Noting that over INR 15,500 crore was disbursed to states for projects under District Mineral Foundation (DMF), a parliamentary panel has asked the government to review mandatory provision of spending 80% of CSR funds by companies in mining areas to avoid overlapping. DMF has been set up in states under a mining Act to implement...

How does the giving of sanitary napkins make a difference when there are no functional toilets in schools or where functional toilets have no water? There is a potential loss of about US $100 billion in GDP to India as a result of girls dropping out of school due to menstrual health issues and thus...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs in short) emphasize both increasing food security and reducing stress on natural resources. Reducing food loss and food wastage can make a critical contribution to these broad goals. SDG 12 focuses specifically on sustainable consumption and production patterns; SDG target 12.3 calls for halving global food wastage at the retail and...

According to Census 2011 undertaken by the Government of India, 6% of the nation’s population resides in slums, amounting to more than 7 crore people, which is a significant number. People living in slum areas face multiple challenges, ranging from insufficient living area to lack of access to drinking water, and require assistance through...

Food waste is a global problem from every point of view, as it involves every step of the food supply chain and leaves nearly one billion people hungry and, in many cases, deprived of their land. Food waste has reached frightening proportions: one third of all food produced in the world is wasted. In the...

Like every year, air quality in the city has started dipping with the advent of winter. The ambient level of air pollution is oscillating, at times exceeding the safety limits for key air pollutants that pose health risks to people. The problem has aggravated due to lack of breeze allowing pollutants to remain static, emissions...

In a country where a life is lost every four minutes in a road accident, inculcating sensible road behaviour in school children is necessary to make them responsible citizens. To address the issue of road safety of children at the formative ages, workshops were initiated by the employees of ICICI Lombard who were engaged as...

2019 will be a promising year of impact. Reporting, branding and market feedback are all aligning to support a higher level of CSR activity than ever before. Pay attention to how companies are gearing up to ride these waves and engage with thoughtful CSR campaigns. Of course, aligning strategy with the SDGs is one major...

The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture has recommended that under CSR, major corporates may be ‘compelled’ to adopt heritage sites for their upkeep. It said that if proper values regarding the indigenous people and environment are followed and road and rail network is put in place, the industry may grow in a...

Children can’t study after dark, women have to depend on traditional cooking methods that increase their drudgery etc… Without energy, sectors like agriculture, health, education and even women empowerment are likely to get hampered. Clean energy interventions in CSR, by being more productive and cost-effective solve most of these problems. The key is to ensure...