Good Health [& Health Care] is Wealth

 The popular saying goes "Health is Wealth," but in today's world we can say that Good Health and Well-Being makes for personal wealth while Good Health Care Builds National Wealth and  is the basis for Sustainable Development. 

Source: Art from 2011 Sunshine Millennium Brochure showing a solar powered model village with access to affordable health care , clean water &  energy 

(SDG 3; SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation; SDG 7 Access to Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11 Sustainable Community) 

Hence the third sustainable development goal (SDG 3) Good Health and Well-Being is a major development indicator and driver of development especially sustainable development. Infant and maternal mortality rates have long been key development indicators but post-pandemic access to affordable and quality health care, overall population morbidity and mortality, mental health services and access to counseling, metabolic and lifestyle diseases, especially diabetes, bone and joint health, eye health, stroke risk, cardiac and renal (heart and kidney) health and infectious diseases have been put front and center in health management. 

A news article from Times of India from yesterday (September 28, 2026) indicated that more working age men (16-64 years) from across India (~60.6%) but especially in Tamil Nadu (~86%) are dying than ever before. The cause includes poor lifestyles, undiagnosed metabolic conditions such as cardiac and kidney disease as well as road accidents, substance abuse, etc. 

Meanwhile Indian women survive "working age" but overall Indians women's life expectancy (73-4-73.9 years) and quality of life and health is not ideal. Women neglect their health because they know there's no one to care for them and their family if they are admitted for treatment. They suffer through and ignore their symptoms till collapse, always busy with the invisible load of family caregiving. No surprise then that blood pressure and heart attack are deemed "silent killers" in women across board and patients from poorer sections of society without access to health care - the conditions go undiagnosed till they kill!

Well-Being

Our health is always imperiled in a world where food adulteration abounds; where we breathe polluted air, drink water made potable through reverse osmosis that removes vital minerals and nutrients along with pollutants and toxicity; where one health emergency and hospitalization can impoverish patients and their families when there is access to health care or without access to health care lead to death and disability. Health insurance exists in many forms in India - rural and urban - but overall medical emergencies in India mean huge out of pocket expenses that break household budgets 

But all is not bleak. Many "Health Innovations" abound that enable affordable and quality "Last Mile Health" including a great international NGO with the same name enabling health care in remote, rural and impoverished areas across the globe. 

Health influencers on social media, health counsellors as well as virtual mental health counselling services, medical and lifestyle management apps, tele-medicine (e.g., Telemedicine Society of India) and Artificial Intelligence - Machine Learning (AI-ML) Clinics are also proliferating enabling remote access to quality health care. 

There are many success stories from  Pinky Promise, "India's first AI-enable digital and physical women's clinic" including one shared by my friend on LinkedIn. In a world where, even when women eventually go for a health consultation their condition is diagnosed as either stress, perimenopause, PCOS or weight related (the modern equivalent to the all-encompassing hysteria diagnosis of the Victorian Age), doctors and AI-ML clinics that listen and map women's symptoms and cure them is a true marvel and miracle worth appreciating and applauding. 

How a Medical Emergency Impoverishes

Paying out of pocket during medical emergencies keeps the less well-to-do and uninsured parts of the population trapped in cycles of poverty. A recent NITI Aayog blog post outlines how a medical emergency in a poor family - a child's health care - keeps a vast majority of Indians trapped in poverty: 

• High OOPE (Out of Pocket Expenses)
• Loss of Household Income
• Hardship Selling or Borrowing Using Assets 
• Debt Trap
• Medical Disability, Job Loss & Loss of Income 
• High Costs of Medicines Taken Daily 

Talking Medical Tourism 

All said and done in urban India medical services and access to quality and affordable health care is better than in many developed countries. This demographic and medical advantage has inadvertently led to a proliferation of Medical Tourists to India. With World Tourism Day falling on September 27th annually and it make sense to mention the prevalence of Medical Tourism especially in India. This Firstpost report explains the Indian medical advantage clearly. 

Rise of Health Influencers

In a world of misinformation and busy doctors and health workers with endless patients and paperwork the new voice of authority is the social media health influencer. 

Doctors have less than five minutes face time with most out-patients (those not admitted, who come for a consultation). The gap in care and hand holding which used to be filled by  fitbits, "googling symptoms" and "Asking Alexa" is now dominated by social media's medical influencers, lifestyle influences, traditional medicine influencers as well as nutrition influencers and generally health influencers - qualified and unqualified - who communicate well as capture an audience worried about symptoms a busy medical practitioner ignores in person!

Care Workers 

India's demographic dividend is apparent in the booming numbers of health care workers much in demand across urban India and around the world. With the world population aging rapidly as well as climate change and uncertain local economies making migration from rural to urban and India to the world inevitable, health care workers and senior care workers are growing fields of employment in labor rich India with millions living below the poverty line looking for a way out. 

With many Indians working and settled abroad with aging parents still in India, there is a huge boom in assisted living facilities for  senior citizens. Instead of training just nurses who require college degrees and registrations, These institutions also recruit and train health care workers in masses. Many Corporate Social Responsibility projects and Church charities are training  high school graduates in rural India as nursing aids, rural health care workers, senior care assistants, health care worker as well as nurses. Demand for them is enormous and for now this is a booming field of vocational training with employment guarantee. India has long exported trained and efficient nurses all over the world - more than the many Indian doctors who emigrate. Now the next labor export are all kinds of health care workers. 

Putting a Price to Happiness

 After reading a LinkedIn Post about the "Price of Happiness" I began thinking this through.

What is happiness? 

According to the Merriam Webster's Dictionary:

Happiness is an emotional and mental state of well-being, characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. 

More analytically happiness has its foundation in emotional state, life satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Thus intrinsically tied to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3 - Good Health and Well Being. 

The post about the Remitly report "Global Cost of Happiness" and a 2018 Purdue University study point to a price point per country for well-being. I had strong recall of the poignant and en point Mastercard commercials of the late 1900s ;) I feel no one before AI and social media algorithms could assess the pulse of the masses (read consumers) like ad agencies. 

There were many resonances in other indices. 

Hierarchy of Needs

Source: Bite-sized Learning

I fell down the rabbit hole of looking up the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as well as looking into the well-known World Happiness Report 2026 by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and its echoes and resonances in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2026 of Transparency International (TI) as well as the progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs Report 2026 - SDG Indicators). 

But I kept coming back to the succinct summaries of the Mastercard Ads. 

Mastercard Ad "Priceless" - Parents (India)

Happiness Echoes in Other Indices 

The UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 and more TI's Corruption Perceptions Index echo a lot of what is deduced from Remitly's Global Cost of Happiness and the World Happiness Report. 

The resonances become clearer in the Visual Capitalist rendering of where happy people live (Global Happiness by Population, visualization of the World Happiness Report) and mapping of the world's most and least corrupt countries (visualization of the Corruption Perceptions Index).

Emergencies notwithstanding having "FU Money" reserves gives people options, time an power. In a way the financial cushion paved the way for happiness not desperation. The power to walk away is very empowering to the human psyche. Money flows within the community instead of austerity and outflows also improve quality of life  and livelihoods thus making people happy.

Mastercard Ad. 1997 - Baseball (USA)

Friendship, Community, Social Safety Nets 

Research over the years has lined happiness to not just the self but also the community.

 Friendships and family, community - the village it took to raise a child - is now needed to counter the creeping loneliness epidemic.

 This has been clinically researched and chronicled in the 2023 paper by Korean researchers "The relative importance of friendship to happiness increases with age." 

Female friendships have repeatedly shown to improve the state of mind and health of girls and women of all ages. In a world where suppressed feminine rage results in increased instances of autoimmune conditions in women and girls friendships are life saving beyond and because of the joy they give. 

Benjamin Radcliff a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame way back in 2013 in his book The Political Economy of Human Happiness emphasized the importance of the social safety net in the pursuit of happiness.

 The third space as well as a vibrant community free of austerity and money outflows make for happy people and places. IMF and World Bank mandated austerity make for poorer and unhappy communities concentrating wealth in the wrong places where it doesn't empower people, places and communities. The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg, a seminal book from 1999 centering "cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons and other hangouts at the heart of the community" emphasize the connection between well-being and the third space. The 2009 blog piece "Happy Places, Third Places" from Psychology Today, emphasizes and summarizes the takeaways from the book. 

Green spaces, blue spaces - a connection with nature help to make people happier and healthier. 

Places of faith and community festivals add to happiness as much as they add to invisible labor but remain deeply connected to a sense of community and well-being. 

What do you think makes you happy?

What do you think will make your community happier?

What will it take to make your country happier?

Food for thought on this the day of the God who is the remover of obstacles (Maha Sankathara Chaturthi - celebrating the Hindu elephant headed god of knowledge, beginnings and solutions),  As we think about the road to happiness here's hoping he and our guardian angels remove the hurdles on this path!

Earth Overshoot Day 2026

 

30 July 2026 is Earth Overshoot Day for this year. As mentioned in the post during the COVID19 pandemic when earth overshoot day was pushed to 22 August 2020 due to the restrictions of lockdown: 

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has exhausted nature's budget for the year. For the rest of the year, we are maintaining our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

The result of overconsumption, extractive policies, overexploitation of resources, use-and-throw lifestyles, linear instead of circular economies and of course unsustainable development.

Perhaps there is a message that Earth Overshoot has been falling in July, a month observed as "Plastic Free July" centering a RE-Plastic (REplacing, REducing, REcycling & REusing Plastic) Lifestyle. Eschewing the throwaway (single-use/disposable/wasteful) culture will go a long way in extending natural resources longer into the year - thus delaying our dependence on resources of future years and generations. 

Illustration Credit: Global Footprint Network 2026, www.overshootday.org and www.footprintnetwork.org

With wars in multiple parts of the world literally burning through resources explosively, it seems counterintuitive that earth overshoot day is nearly a week later this year. While we would tend to pat ourselves in the back that last year's earth overshoot day fell on July 24th 2025 and in the Fire Horse Year 2026 it has been pushed back almost a week to July 30th 2026, it must be noted this is just an accounting correction due to "upward data revision in the Ocean Carbon Absorption" rather than significantly improved resource conservation and ecological restoration (see image below for AI summary of why this stretch happened):

See more at: https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

If the whole world lived like Indians , we won't overshoot the earth's budget of annual ecological resources, see this DWTV's coverage of Earth Overshoot Day 2025: 

• Data Revisions: Upward adjustments to ocean carbon-absorption metrics and minor account updates shifted the baseline calculation 8 days later.
• Real-World Change: Actual rising human consumption widened the ecological deficit, pushing the date 2 days earlier.
• Net Effect: Combining the +8 day data correction and -2 day consumption acceleration resulted in the net 6-day calendar delay.
• True Trajectory: Despite the later calendar date, resource consumption pressure worsened, making 2026 the highest state of ecological overshoot to date.

As mentioned in the DWTV report, less waste, more recycling, reducing food waste, overconsumption and shifting to green energy all will help push back Earth Overshoot Day. 

Thus centering a Circular Economy model, slow fashion, zero-waste, Net-Zero eco-conscious lifestyles - Sustainable Development - will make us live within our planetary resource budget. This way of life itself is Climate Action - SDG 13 as the ecological footprint and carbon footprint of our lives shrink. This is much needed in a world bearing the brunt of climate change. 

It's easier said than done as there are entrenched systems that pushback on changes in consumption patterns. This video by creator AliMcForever "Burning Carbon" explains it succinctly:

Here's to hoping that we can shift to a more ecologically conscious and environmentally freindly way of life thus living within our planetary resource budgets!

Supporting Women Farmers for Sustainable Development

 A sustained effort is needed to support women farmers to enable sustainable development beyond the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF2026), Women's Day (IWD) and the scope of their conferences. It is a low hanging fruit and a potential windfall: supporting women farmers to boost the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in rural communities across the globe in general and in India in particularly to achieve objectives in greater numbers.

 Source: Empowering Women Farmers in Agriculture, Press Information Bureau of India (PIB), 23 March 2026

Beyond IYWF2026 & IWD 

A lot of  effort has been put in to empower women in the agri-food system, but it happens in pockets and silos, with limited reach and barriers to scaling-up whether they are government programs, PPP (public-private partnership) initiatives, CSR or ESG programs. Despite many award-winning efforts by women farmers and food and agricultural entrepreneurs the impact has been very local. With the feminization of agriculture more mainstream efforts, publicity and hand-holding is needed to improve the plight of women farmers and as a corollary the lives and livelihoods of rural communities.

Trinity Saioo of Meghalaya won the Padma Shri in 2020 for her efforts to train women and boost the production of the GI tagged Lakadong Turmeric. The efforts of this rural teacher single-handedly boosted multiple SDGs and developmental indicators and enabled sustainable development through empowering women to elevate local produce. 

They say one person can’t change an entire system. In Meghalaya, one teacher quietly proved otherwise.

A former school teacher from Mulieh village, Trinity Saioo turned to farming not just to support her family, but to transform an entire community. What began as a small step… pic.twitter.com/Ypmkya2asE

— The Better India (@thebetterindia) April 27, 2026

Krishi Sakhis, SHGs & Women Farmer Collectives

The Government of India is promoting Krishi Sakhis (literally: Farming Women Friends) trained women farmers who can help and train other women farmers to access government initiatives and funds to farm better. Women Farmer Collectives and Self-Help Groups are also doing great work locally in the community-level to empower women farmers and hand-hold them in accessing government, private and CSR programs, training and funding. 

 

 Tamil Nadu ranks number 13 in organic farming in India. Efforts such as EPIC-SS (Eco Park and Information Centre - Sustainable Solutions, Padur, Chennai) of former IAS officer Santha Sheela Nair and Kalpavriksha Farms - a food forest set up by Kalpana Manivannan, a Chennai high school biology teacher turned homesteader who won the Karamveer Chakra are doing a lot in promoting natural farming, organic farming and permaculture in the state. Education and hands-on training with access to best practices in action does more than elaborate policy documents and frameworks with little on-the-ground grassroots uptake. 

Think Tanks, Conferences and Research: Sharing Best Practices

The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Chennai and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research's Central Institute for Women in Agriculture (ICAR-CIWA), Bhubaneswar have produced some great research on farming in general and methods to support women farmers in particular. 

 

 The MSSRF webinar on Pathways to Gender Justice as part of IWD2026 highlighted gaps and solutions to gender just transition in climate resilient agriculture in India. 

The March 2026 Global Conference on Women in Agri-Food Systems (GCWAS 2026) in New Delhi inaugurated by the President of India Droupadi Murmu in the presence of the Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmer Welfare and  Rural Livelihoods Shivraj Chauhan shone a spotlight on women farmers in India to international audiences while also becoming a repository of best practices and policy support for women farmers. 

Amplifying the voices and the efforts to support women farmers so that those who seek to improve their lives in the agri-food system is essential to ensure food security, human security, climate action and ecological action. Empowered women farmers will be the engines of change in our path to Viksit Bharat and Sustainable Development - locally, nationally and internationally. 

Sustainable Development and the Circular Economy: Hopes for 2022

 It's a new year, and as Lord Alfred Tennyson put it "Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier'." Even as the Omicron variant of the pandemic that has plagued us from the beginning of this decade brings the world to its knees, hope persists that this year will be better for people and the planet and equally importantly for the planet's flora and fauna (biodiversity). Sustainable development and a circular economy approach is vital to revive the global economy battered by Covid and the Climate Crises in a sustainable manner. 

The path to sustainable development is through adopting the circular economy model and closing the wasteful Take-Make-Waste production model. In a Circular Economy, systems are regenerative and integrative. The waste of one product becomes the raw material for another to close the loop. To adopt it and make the current requires systems thinking change as well as a change the operating system of the global economy and make it less wasteful.

To allow climate action and if we are to achieve the net-zero ambitions anytime, let alone by 2050, SDG12 - responsible production and consumption - must be top priority. This allows for processes to cut their carbon emission and reduce the ecological footprint of products and industries to avoid Earth Overshoot and keep within the planetary boundaries.

You can get a fuller explanation of Circular Economy from this Systems Innovation video: 

There is an urgent need to stay within planetary boundaries of resources to avoid extinction level events and biodiversity  loss. Beyond personal carbon footprint to community, industry, regional and national footprints as building blocks to keep within planetary boundaries. Already new estimates and studies indicate that we have already passed the safe limit for chemical pollution and plastics production, consumption and waste after single use are major culprits.

This is big and bleak news. The planetary boundary for chemical pollution (aka 'novel entities') has been quantified for the first time - and it's now clear that humanity is massively transgressing levels that are safe for life on Earth. Plastics! Read on. https://t.co/OEHWdSOX23 pic.twitter.com/lAwgRG0y3G

— Kate Raworth (@KateRaworth) January 18, 2022

You can read the full Twitter thread on the planetary boundary for chemical pollution (and the plastic effect) here. Food waste co-existing with millions of hungry people is another symptom of our wasteful economic system and it has to be addressed urgently to end world hunger (SDG 2), food-related lifestyle diseases, and provide the necessary nutrition for good health and well-being (SDG 3). Ensuring SDG12 and circular economy in the agricultural-agribusiness-food sector also ensures that this major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation is put in check ensuring climate action now (SDG 13). The catchy and information filled Food Waste Song from Australian Tik-Toker and comedian Benny Davis shows the way.

There is wastefulness everywhere and the current system churns out emissions and pollution at every stage. Even as individuals and concerned consumers and citizens take action to reduce their personal carbon footprint, we hear of the sheer wastefulness from certain sectors and the super-rich and the powers-that-be. Take for example: Fast fashion trash is piling up in Chile's Atacama Desert where it is disposed and luxury brands are burning and shredding product rather then sell it cheap. They all continue to manufacture products unchecked but control supply and create artificial scarcity by wasteful methods to increase prices and the desire for the perceived "exclusive" products among their super-rich and wanna-be [rich] customers. Another example is news of airlines flying empty flights (ghost flights), emitting tons of emission without benefitting any traveler just to maintain their airport slots during the pandemic caused international flight bans. The sheer carelessness of the sector when the climate conscious are cutting down their use of flights (flygskam - flight shaming) and even giving up flying as a mode of travel. When you hear such news about ghost flights, world leaders and business leaders summit hopping in private jets, and billionaire space races, one feels flygskam aimed at the average citizen is a bit of a scam. 

This is the time of the year for the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, where the movers and shakers of the world rub shoulder and maintain the status quo by setting and shaping the world to suit their agenda. This year, for the second time consecutively because of the pandemic WEF is being held virtually thus cutting the event's carbon footprint. This crisp review of the book Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World also spreads the blame to the millions of consumers who fund the billionaire lifestyles. We are trapped and manipulated by convenience and brain-washing into choosing to make them richer exceeding our personal budgets and planetary boundaries for resources. 

Yet there is power is personal choice and collective action. Consumer and citizen power collective action all about personal choices can offset billionaire effect so act to reduce your personal carbon footprint and get others to do the same. Let us not allow what happens in Don't Look Up to become our permanent reality vis-à-vis the climate crisis. Give the Global Goals a chance to bolster the future outlook. Truly build back better. An opportunity to survive and thrive amid the existential pandemic threat. that is pressurizing us now. 

Tracking and cutting your personal carbon footprint and getting others to do it too and adopt a sustainable lifestyle can make a huge difference.

In this the second year of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) buffeted by COVID and Climate Catastrophe, there is an urgent need to Invest in our Planet. Perhaps it is apt that this [Invest in Our Planet] is the theme for Earth Day 2022 (April 22).  The need for an Earthshot (named after another world-changing project - the Apollo Moon landings, nicknamed Moonshot. They helped advance mankind's technological achievements and ... help improve life for everyone).

Sustainable habits, citizen action to make communities sustainable (SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities), grassroots approach to ensure sustainable development and circular economy is the path to climate action and economic recovery (SDG 8) in our current reality (COVID-19 + Climate Change).

Composting, homesteading, buying local and direct from farms and gardens, promoting regenerative systems and agriculture, choosing energy independence through renewable energy sources, rain water harvesting and grey-water recycling for water security at family, community and city levels, building community gardens and food forests, saving the soil and seeds thus building a community of active citizens who work to bring forth climate-friendly and eco-friendly policies and politicians is a great continuum for planet- and people-friendly change. Using personal consumer, citizen and community power to invest in the planet is my hope for 2022 and beyond. It is an expressway to the global goals and achievement of sustainable development through creation of circular economies. 

  

 

Solarized & Electrified! Aiming for Emission Free Transport

The actions and lifestyles of the richest one percent of the world’s population in particular and the consumption patterns of those living in the developed nations in general have a profoundly negative effect on our planet and its environment. As the planet transformed into a global village, the movement of people and goods around the planet increased exponentially. This mobility was powered by fossil fuels. Hence, in order to combat climate change and embrace sustainable development a key change needs to happen in the transportation sector. The gas guzzling, air pollution and carbon emissions producing flights, ships, and automobiles need to embrace zero-emission renewable energy or at least hybrid tech.

 Adopting and promoting solar-powered transport, hybrids, hydrogen-powered and electric vehicles are game-changing climate action. 

[A solar array that powers MV Panamana]
Source: Eco Marine Power

As of 2018, SHIPPING accounted for 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and if the sector is not cleaned up experts predict this figure could rise to a fifth of emissions by 2050.

Despite the growing flight-shaming movement flygskam emerging from Sweden and Europe inspired by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and the move towards rail travel - tågskry [train brag] - the aviation sector is growing exponentially:

"2019 is forecast to be another record-breaking year for air travel, with passengers expected to fly a total of 8.1tn km, up 5% from last year and more than 300% since 1990."

• The aviation sector currently accounts for about 2% of global emissions, and is one of the fastest-growing polluters.

In 2019, approximately 40 million flights are expected to depart from airports across the world, i.e., more than 100,000 trips per day. The image that follows maps a particularly busy day in May 2019, with 162,637 takeoffs recorded

Source: The Guardian & flightradar24.com

• According to data from 2017, the transportation sector contributes to about 14% of global carbon dioxide emissions

Global mobility fuels the economy and it runs on fossil fuels - directly or indirectly! Travel is aspirational. As the middle class grows and populations urbanize mobility increases. Yet the means of travel are all fossil fuels dependent. Meanwhile the world leaders, millionaires and billionaires crisscross the globe at the drop of a hat. As the Guardian article shows, just one short return flight produces more emissions that a whole year's activity of a person from 56 countries. 

Thus, seeing news about solar powered flights circumnavigating the planet (Solar Impulse), or preparations for a solo solar flight around the world is heartening. As is news of launches of electric buses, subsidies for purchase of electric vehicles (Norway), cab aggregators and electric car manufacturers coming together to create a Unicorn of a venture - Ola Electric in India, and commercial launches of solar yacht, catamarans and shipping carriers in the maritime sector, as well as solar boats in tourists attracting water bodies across India. 

#Russian explorer Fyodor Konyukhov ends 1st #solarpowered #flight in Crimea. Flying Laboratory is fitted with Russian produced flexible solar panels & energy accumulating systems. Wingspan 25m, weight only 900kg
Prepping for its solo #RoundTheWorld flight
https://t.co/jWQfsyGzDQ

— Raakhee Suryaprakash (@10sunshinegal) July 21, 2019

See the world's largest solar powered boat - SolarPlanet's MV Turanor:

On July 19, 2019, 20 electric buses were flagged off from Srinagar the capital of Jammu & Kashmir, India's northern most state by its governor Satya Paul Malik and Aravind Sawant the central minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise. This was made possible by the Government of India's scheme: FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India). 

In under two years Eco Marine Power, went from testing to launching its Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) solution system powering a solar commercial cargo ship - MV Panamana in 2019. 

Source: Eco Marine Power

A lot is happening but a lot more needs to be done. For example, unlike in Norway, in India the subsidies and tax breaks for electric vehicles purchase is only available for commercial vehicles not private vehicles. A missed bus if ever there was one!

Solarization and electrification and greening of the sectors that move the masses will have a massive impact in curbing emissions. Policy and practice to support all modes of travel going green must become the norm in climate action and the roadmap to sustainable development. This will cut greenhouse gas emissions from the sector and create opportunities and new jobs for green entrepreneurs, innovators and green industry pioneers. As we move, here's hoping our travels are planet-friendly! 

Protecting the Indian National Animal - Beyond the Global Tiger Day Hype

World Tiger Day has been observed world over but especially in countries with Tiger populations on July 29th.

 It has been an event for the past seven years since the 2010 Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit with the aim to enable the ambition of doubling global tiger population by 2022 the next Year of the Tiger in the Asian calendar. The #Connect2Tigers hashtag from WWF is helping connect tigers with the smartphone generation! As tiger conservation faces the challenges of climate change, urbanization and increased man-animal conflict, the encroaching development projects and the ever-present problem of poaching – the need of the hour is innovative solutions to “Save the Tiger.”

Can millennials and the younger generations to the rescue of the Indian National Animal?

 The Royal Bengal Tiger is a sub-species that is surviving better than the other embattled tigers across the globe. But new challenges continue to emerge. Awareness is the first step to create Tiger champions and conservators. This cartoon from Green Humour is a great tool to reach younger audiences. 

 (c) Green Humour

The cartoonist himself, Rohan Chakravarty acknowledges a tryst with a tigress as life changing turning a dentist into a popular cartoonist promoting the green cause!

Building experiences and connections between the younger generations and the tigers that inspire future game-changers and conservationists who can develop innovative solutions to the tiger conservation challenge is a key step to enable conservation. 

I was blessed to have read Jim Corbett’s My India as part of my English curriculum in middle school. It fired my imagination and added to my fascination to all big cats. A quick trip past the Corbett National Park helped fuel the fascination. Catching the tigers at play in the Singapore Zoo and later in its Night Safari, a trip to the Tiger Temple in Kanchanapuri in Thailand, though controversial in today’s times with scandal of drugged tigers and smuggling of tiger parts, cemented my bond with the tigers. 

 

 At the Singapore Zoo - Tiger Trek and the one of the white tigers

 Tiger cubs at the Tiger Temple, Thailand during the cub feeding programme

Although wildlife fanatics claim that there’s nothing like coming across the Tiger in the wild – dominating its habitat – any interaction with this magnificent beast can kindle a bond if fostered. 
The Vandalur Zoo’s summer Zoo Ambassador programme is one such initiative that can help forge bonds between urban children and the natural world and its mesmerizing fauna.

India is home to 70% of the global tiger population so real impact can be made to tiger conservation goals if the Indian Tigers are protected and allowed to procreate and prosper in peace. Man-animal conflict reduced in the Sundarbans thanks to solar lighting and energy supply. Involving the local communities in tiger conservation is another crucial step and such projects that improve lives and supplement livelihoods help. India has lost 97 % of its tiger population in the past century (1918-2018). But in recent years any success stories have emerged recently. In 2006 there were only 1,411 tigers were left in India despite it being our national animal and the Project Tiger. It is expected that we have 3,000 tigers in the 2018 Tiger Survey extrapolating from 2014 estimates of 2,226 tigers. In 2017, it was estimated 115 tigers died down from 122 in 2016.

Losses in the floods in the northeast worsened by urbanization and climate change have yielded tiger deaths for along with the Rhino the forests of the northeast and the Sundarbans are tiger hotspots. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, for example, is a national park which in addition to being a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site in Assam, India is a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve. Known for birding as well. Open November to April and closed during the Monsoons and rainy season from May to October. It was in peril by the Bodoland separatists but has fought back. The presence of insurgents remains a problem in these dense forest reserve areas, as are news of proposals for thermal power projects for power to India and Bangladesh close to the biodiversity hotspot the other UNESCO Heritage site the Sundarbans.

 India is home to nearly 70% of the global tiger population. But India’s tigers also faces the threat from development projects:

 a report released on July 23 lists 399 road, irrigation and railway projects that could impact tiger habitats in eight States comprising the Central India-Eastern Ghats landscape. 

The Eastern Ghats have emerged as a region where the tiger population has revived and consolidated and such projects as well as the clearance for the ONGC project in bird sanctuaries and near the biodiversity hot spot the Gulf of Mannar is counter-intuitive and against the tenets of sustainable development. 

(c) The Hindu

If we are to double the world tiger population by the Year of the Tiger in 2022 we need to work fast and work smart. This can be a major chance for India to emerge as a country for Tiger Conservation best practices and leadership.