OPINIONS

Earth Overshoot Day is the day that marks excessive resource consumption beyond what Earth can sustainably renew in an entire year. This year on the day (August 1), humans will have already used up resources allotted for this entire year, and for the rest of the year, and would be running in debt of...

In an earlier column, Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group, shared the need to shape urban spaces sustainably. As a follow up, here he elaborates on how cities across the world are pushing the agenda of being sustainable. Reliable utility services such as electricity, water, handling waste and providing transport services are an essential...

Think of a Premier League game, any premier league game from last season. When the players are walking into the stadium, there’s one accessory ― in the case of many, it will resonate with almost any of us; it’s their headphones. This isn’t isolated to footballers only. Rather, it’s a ritual that is embedded...

India is one of the only countries in the world to regulate Corporate Social Responsbility (CSR) under the Companies Act, 2013. The law provides a framework to address various developmental challenges. Specifically, 11 areas are listed as eligible developmental activities where a company can spend its CSR money. Companies with a net worth of...

India has close to 31 lakh Non-Governmental Organizations, commonly referred to as NGOs, who are working intensively towards some of the fundamental challenges in the society like health care, educational, environmental, human rights, women empowerment, public policy, social and community development, and other areas. The goal of every NGO varies depending on the objective and...

Globally, the advent of digitally enabled Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has already been termed as the fastest period of innovation ever. Rapid advancements in technology, disruption of conventional markets and reconstruction of business-as-usual models are transforming and realigning the ways economies and societies operate. India, with an estimated growth rate of 7.4% in FY19, expected...

Imagine an Indian city of the future. Do you see sufficient space for residents, clean, well-aligned streets, pedestrians in designated walking areas, disciplined traffic, planned housing for all economic classes, adequate high quality facilities for education, entertainment and culture, abundant sources of livelihood, medical facilities for all and people having the opportunity to give...

The business of unintended consequence is pernicious. The use of fossil fuels is a case in point. Who would have imagined that the invention of the internal combustion engine and the thermal power plant would lead to terrible environmental problems in the future? As we combat climate change we must be careful about problems...

In 2018, India emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the World. With support from the aggressive service sector, which roughly accounts for 60% of the GDP, India is now the 6th largest economy in the World as per nominal GDP. A tick in all the right boxes from an economic standpoint, but...

Over the past four years, India Inc. has progressively adopted the national CSR directive having spent more than INR 30,000 Crores, with over INR 9,000 Crores invested in FY 2017-18 alone. This expenditure surpassed expectations and brought to fore the need for enhanced governance and accountability measures, strengthened with quantifiable social impact. Given that...

The fashion industry gets a bad rap for promoting capitalism and a culture of excess. Fashion designers like Gaurang, Krishna Mehta, Samant Chauhan and Shruti Sancheti are supporting families of traditional weavers and reviving textiles at the same time. They are proving that fashion does have a heart. One such clothing line is Being...

The mellifluous notes of the NCC Song “Hum Sab Bharatiya Hain, Sartaj Himalaya Hain, Desh Ki Raksha Ki Khatir,Hum Shamshir Utha Lenge...” reverberates in the air around the school wherein the NCC cadets’ Parade is being held. These words speak volumes of the goals of the cadets-the grit to defend the country’s frontiers with...