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Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was a civil engineer and statesman. He made contributions to several technical projects in his career in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra and Orissa. The Great KRS Dam was his excellent work instrumental in converting the barren lands into fertile grounds for farming. M.S. Swaminathan in the other hand is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls as “evergreen revolution.”  Following are the contributions of Sir M. Visvesvaraya in the fields of water engineering:  • He is best remembered for the instrumental role he played in the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam in 1924. This dam not only became the main source of water for irrigation for the nearby areas, but was also the main source of drinking water for several cities. • He had designed and patented a system of automatic weir wa...

Farmers’ organisations refer to group of farmers who are organised to protect their own interests related to issues like minimum support price, subsidies, welfare schemes for farmers, etc.  Ex: Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, Sehkari Sangatan, Karnataka Raitha Sangha, etc..  Farmer’s organisations, being a pressure group, follows different types of protests to influence policy-makers:  (a) Lobbying: here they influence policy-makers by providing information about their demands and grievances. For example: Due to protests by Dairy Farmers, KMF increased the rate of milk by Rs. 2 per litre.  (b) Protests and rallies: here they mobilise huge number of farmers and conduct rallies on a large scale to let the people understand their demands.  For example: protests by farmers in Maharashtra last year to increase MSP rates, pension schemes for farmers, implementation of Swaminathan committee recommendations, etc.  (c) Satyagrahas and fast unto death protests: farmers norm...

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) represents an enormous opportunity to introduce significant and lasting positive change across the developing world. The rapid penetration of mobile access in particular has resulted in considerable improvements in the lives of the poor in both rural and urban contexts.  The effectiveness of such ICT projects suffer from the following vital factors:  Digital Divide : rural and urban, rich and poor, men and women  Digital illiteracy: about 90% of Indian population is digitally illiterate  Slow roll-out of Wi-Fi hotspots and the slow speed, in comparison to other developed nations.  Most small and medium scale industry is struggling to adapt to modern technology.  Entry level smartphones have limited capabilities for smooth internet access, and the outreach of the smartphones is limited.  There is an absence of enough skilled manpower in digital technology. Lack of user education and limited facilities to t...

Creating an efficient transport infrastructure in the country is one of the chief factors responsible for the takeoff of accelerated growth in the country. On account of poor quality of transport infrastructure, progress made in efficient and affordable urban mass transport would have a key role on taking India to double digit growth.  Need of efficient and affordable urban mass transport  • Nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas contributing to 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011) and with increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute to 75% of India’s GDP by 2030.  • India’s urban growth is largely concentrated in large cities which increased from 35% in 2001 to 53% in 2011, accounting for 43% of India’s urban population, and is expected to be 87% by 2030.  Efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India  • Efficient urban mass transport system...

Mountains are an important source of water, energy and biological diversity. Furthermore, they are a source of key resources such as minerals, forest products and agricultural products and of recreation. As a major ecosystem representing the complex and interrelated ecology of our planet, mountain environments are essential to the survival of the global ecosystem. Mountain ecosystems are, however, rapidly changing.  Developmental initiatives and Tourism in Mountains Adverse Impact:  • Dams and Roads: Dams and roads can be hazardous, if they are not properly constructed and managed. Disasters in mountains, and the forces that trigger them, affect larger areas, sometimes entire watersheds or river systems.  • Mining: The forces that shaped the world’s mountains also made them rich in minerals and metals, including gold, copper, iron, silver and zinc. Owing to increasing demand, mines are now being opened even in remote mountain areas, particularly in developing countries....