AID Delhi newsletter July 2008

8/14/2019 AID Delhi newsletter July 2008

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Editorial

Hello friends,

Lots of important things happened in July of 2008 A lot of very important things, that should have happened, did not happen

The UPA government went to the IAEA with its India specific safeguards agreement, amid lots of controversy. In fact, the trust vote and the cash for vote/ abstain scam puts our democracy to shame.

Expulsion of a statesman politician from CPI(M) did not speak a lot of good about the Left parties either The very fact that there was almost no discussion on the Nuclear Deal during the trust vote in itself shows that the opposition also failed in playing its role in influencing to remove the alleged flaws in the present agreement.

But why am I talking about it all The reason is that while all this was happening, inflation spiraled to

11.98%. A food crisis has gripped the whole world. Bhopal Gas survivors and their families are still keeping put at Jantar Mantar in hope of getting clean drinking water for themselves. A new kind of

terrorism seems to be spreading its wings over India. Surprising changes have happened in the way

Summers come and go in Delhi. But our politicians were busy horse trading

It is in this context that all of us can play a role. How? By exercising restraint. This is a season of discounts Very lucrative ones at that 50%+60% * (* 60% on the cost after 50% discount So, you

get the thing at 20% the regular sale price). But before reaching your hand to the wallet think if you

really need to purchase stuff and if yes, then in what quantity. These are interesting ways of increasing consumption one ends up purchasing stuff even when it is not needed. This results in increased

demand and prices rise

Another very doable thing is to cook only as much as you need. There are hundreds of millions of

people across the world who are hungry. Many of these get to eat mud cakes to satiate hunger and that too, only once a day. To help reduce the food crisis, we can decide to abstain from frozen and

preserved foods. This will make the seasonal fruits and vegetables more available and hence prices will

fall. Try to fast for half aday every week. It is not only good for your health, it would also help reduce

demand of food by about 10% (2 lesser meals from 21 in a week). Reduce the number of non vegeterian

servings (every non vegetarian serving is equivalent to about 10 vegetarian servings remember the food pyramid of biology class). Every one reduced serving can lead to 9 additional people have another

vegetarian serving


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With these thoughts, we move on to share with you some information about our partner organization Kalpvriksh. Kalpvriksh is working with the San Diego chapter of AID US to bring about an Urban Greens

movement in Delhi. They have given a good impetus to urban greens in Pune through a similar project.

They create awareness of the importance of greens in the urban populace. They also lobby with the government organizations so that their actions dont impact the green lungs of the city in a detrimental manner.

Since Kalpvriksh takes your attention to environment, we extend our ken of knowledge further by

sharing with you information about the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs) and the way we can

utilize Kyoto protocol and strict environmental norms for sustainable development in India.

Aashaayen confirmed our belief that while volunteers are the force behind a project, a regular

teacher who can teach on an almost daily basis is the lifeline of education based projects. Unnati school in Gurgaon is also going on well.

We are also starting to collaborate with Pratham to fine tune the Eureka reading kits that we

translated to Hindi. Nikunj is planning to introduce the better kits to the students soon We also started

another section of Eureka classes at Prayas.

Lifesize Snakes & Ladders games were conducted at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Gurgaon. They

were well received and helped create more awareness about air pollution and how we as individuals can

play our role in reducing it.

I personally invite you to visit our projects and if possible to volunteer. Also, dont forget to contribute

your Meal a Month.

Keep the faith.

Anuj Grover


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Project Updates

Tara

1. Children are regularly going to school.2. Parents of the small kids are moving to a nearby area as construction work in Jamia will be

completed in few months, so we are trying to follow up the children getting shifted.3. Bottles, Tiffin and Pencil Box are gifted to children's, which were donated by AID Volunteer

Sasmita from ST Microelectronics.

-Sanjeev

Prayas

I am conducting 1 section of Eureka read/write kit with Meghna Charu in Prayas (Noida) from 6 pm to8.30 pm. Children have attained word level of proficiency. We have also included drawing activities in ourclasses. This month we started another class in Prayas by name eureka-2. We have 6 children in Eureka-2 section. Children are becoming more regular. The classes are held every day from Monday to Saturday.I am planning to prepare some charts, which will be put up in Prayas after renovation. So presently fourvolunteers are taking class along with me. I will be introducing new materials in classes soon. I havecontacted volunteers of aid for preparing materials, which will be required when increasing activites inPrayas.

-Nikunj

Eureka

We made good progress on Eureka Reading kits this month. I spoke to friends at AID Chennai regardingthe eureka kits a lot. We also received Eurekas complete model from Chennai. I talked to a lot of peoplewho had worked on eureka kits in Tamil Nadu. With reference of Chennai people, we started interactionwith Pratham.

In Tamil Nadu they are working along with AID on many projects one of which is eureka. PRATHAM wasstarted in 1994 with vision that every children should have basic skill of reading , writing of language .So Ivisited Delhi office of Pratham . From there I got to know that they are working very actively all over India.There campaign for education is really very big. They also have many projects in NCR. I interacted withMr. Shailender. He briefed me about the Pratham kit. I collected one kit from them. I think thatvolunteering with them will help us speed up our Eureka kits development also. We can evaluate ifPratham and AID can work together in NCR also, as they have worked in Tamil Nadu. I am using


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Prathams kit in eureka classes too. We will try to mix the good points of both - the eureka and Prathamkits - and come up with a unified version of both.

-Nikunj

Aashaayen

The updates for the month of July are:

1. After the picnic last month the kids were really upbeat about the classes that their mam was totake from this month, so.. the classes with mam were started from 21st of July with three batchesconsiting of students from different classes.

2. The volunteers who were active during this month are: Nikhil, Devesh, Shyam, Kavita, Kirti,Swastik, Neeru, Nitin, Kavita aunty

3. The volunteers met on 27 th July to discuss the progress of the project.4. The classes of children with the teacher started once again from the 21st of July. The children are

attending the classes in two shifts after their school hourse and they have been divided accordingto their standards. On saturdays and sundays children are asked about the progress of theclasses and those who are not going are encouraged to start attending the classes. Anattendance sheet of the classes is being maintained by the teacher.

-Neeru

AID Gurgaon

AID Gurgaon was busy with a lot of activities through the month:

1. Volunteers made regular visits to Unnati on saturdays and the Basti on sundays.

2. 3 new children were identified to join Unnati. We also identified 2 students(Ajay/Vijay) who movedfrom MP and already have had schooling till 5th & 6th. They could not be admitted to govt schoolbecause the admissions were closed.

3. We are also currently working on the logistics to enable the nutrition programme.4. We also came across a basti very close to Unnati from where many students already come to

school but there are lot who do not. We talked to their parents and motivated them to send theirchildren to school.

Activities planned for August include:

1. Admission of Ajay/Vijay into some Private school. Finding sponsors for their education.2. Kick-off of weekly Nutrition programme on trial basis.3. Independence Day function @ Unnati.

-Puneet


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Friends Of AID

Kalpvriksh

AID US has been associated with Kalpavriksh for many years now. AID and Kalpavrikshworked together on projects across India including those on Campaign for saving the SnowLeapord (in Ladakh) and Urban Greens project in Pune and Delhi. AID Delhi is now involved inthe Delhi leg of the Urban Greens project. Here we bring to you some facts about Kalpvriksh andwe are sure that association with them will help them and also us.

History

Kalpavriksh is a non profit organisation working on environmental and social issues. The groupbegan in 1979 with a campaign led by students to save Delhi's Ridge Forest. We work on local,national and global levels, are registered under the Societies Registration Act and are based inDelhi and Pune.

Focus Areas

Kalpavriksh focuses on a wide range of issues. These include those related to Biodiversity,Conservation and Community, Environment and Development and Environment Education,Urban Environments and Ecosensitive Alternatives.

Some of their long-running and high impact campaigns are as below:

Environmental Impact Assessment Campaign

The EIA notification, 2006 specifies four stages for the environment clearance of developmentand industrial projects listed as Category A (central level clearance) and Category B (state levelclearance) in the Schedule of the EIA notification. These are: Screening, Scoping, PublicConsultation and Appraisal. This checklist gives some guiding points on what people can dobefore, during and after a public consultation process.

Campaign for Environmental Justice - India

CEJI is a network of voluntary organizations, movements, project affected communities, NGOs,research organizations and individuals working to address diverse environmental and social

justice threats and challenges in India. Kalpavriksh has been one of the active members of CEJIand has been involved in several of its initiatives.

Open letters to the Ministry of Environment


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A series of five letters were drafted on issues such as the systematic undermining of theenvironment by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, concerns of conservation in criticalwildlife habitats, the draft National Environmental Policy, problematic environmental clearancemechanisms and its proposed re-engineering, and skewed representation of experts on clearancepanels. These were widely circulated so that like minded individuals and organisations could

endorse the letters. The letters were then sent to the MOEF and also simultaneously released tothe press in several cities of the country. Some of the issues received wide publicity in the media.However, there has been no official response from the MOEF.

Campaign on community control over biodiversity

On the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, over 200 village panchayats,along with peoples movements and NGOs from across India, urged the Central Government tofully recognise the role of communities in the management and conservation of biodiversity.This citizens campaign demands that Government facilitate greater powers for communitycontrol over biodiversity, by making appropriate changes in the Biological Diversity Act and

Rules. It also reiterates the commitment of these panchayats and organisations in doing all theycan, to conserve biodiversity and protect traditional knowledge relating to biodiversity.

Urban Greens campaign

Kalpavriksh initiated an effort to save Delhis green which is badly effect by construction driveall over the Delhi. To save Delhi green from massive on going construction for beautificationand transportation Kalpavriksh played major role to form a group of NGOs to address issueeffectively. Newly formed group recognized as Trees for Delhi. Under the banner of Trees forDelhi many activities have been done so far over all motives of all activities to make citizenaware about adverse ecological effect of current model of transportation and other development

work.Kalpvriksh.org


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What Can I do?

Food CrisisWe are starting a new series from this month. We will take up an issue/ problem that our society is

faced with and we will try to find a few actionable items that we as individual responsible citizens can

take to help in solving that problem. If you want to suggest topics for this series, please feel free to write

directly to Anuj at [email protected] or to the Publications' Coordinator at

[email protected]. This Month's Question:

Food Crisis : What Can I Do?

While no

one

can

take

away

the

knowledge

that

you

will

gain

when

you

delve

deeper

into

understanding the reasons of hunger that millions of people across the world are facing today, I am simply sharing with you my ideas on what we, as individuals, can do to reduce it.

1. Don't waste food eat even if it does not taste perfect.

2. Fast once a week Be careful that it doesn't turn into a feast.

3. Reduce animal based foods in your diet 4. Don't eat non seasonal and frozen foods and vegetables

5. Diversify your food bouquet to include millets (like ragi, jowar, bajra etc.) that can grow in arid lands also.

6. Prefer raw fruits to juices (fresh (or preserved) juice has lower nutrition and is less filling than raw

fruits) 7. Go Organic with as much of your food as possible 8. Save Money don't get carried away even by the most lucrative discounts if you don't need something

9. Have well ventilated homes with large windows to let natural light in.

10. Reduce Energy consumption so that it is more easily available for agriculture.

Puzzled how some of these points can avert food crisis write to me at [email protected] and I will

share with you my take on how these all link up to reduce world hunger.


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Issue Explained

The Clean Development Mechanism

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialisedcountries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment (called Annex 1 countries) to invest in projects that reduceemissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries. Acrucial feature of an approved CDM carbon project is that it has established that the planned reductions would notoccur without the additional incentive provided by emission reductions credits, a concept known as "additionality".

The CDM allows net global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced at a much lower global cost by financingemissions reduction projects in developing countries where costs are lower than in industrialized countries.However, in recent years, criticism against the mechanism has increased. Critics claim many approved projects arenot actually additional.

What is the Kyoto Protocol ?

The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding agreement that arose out of the UNFCCC to tackle climate change through areduction of green house gas emissions. Countries (those listed in Annex I) are legally bound to reduce man-madegreen house gases emissions by approximately 5.2%. Individual countries have their own reduction targets outlinedin Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol. The text of the protocol was adopted at the third conference of the parties to theUNFCCC in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997.

However the protocol suffered many years of delay. The United States and Australia two major green house gasemitters did not ratify the treaty.

The Protocol entered into force on February 15 2005 when Russia ratified the treaty.

What is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)?

Clean Development Mechanism allows Annex I (industrialised) countries to meet their emission reduction targets bypaying for green house gas emission reduction in non-Annex I (developing) countries.

Example (Figures are hypothetical):

A company in Brazil (a non Annex I country) switches from coal power to biomass. The CDM board certifies thatby doing this the company has reduced Carbon dioxide emissions by 100,000 tonnes per year. It is issued with100,000 CERs (Certified Emission Reductions). Under the Kyoto Protocol, the United Kingdom (an Annex Icountry) has to reduce its green house gas emissions by 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. If it purchasesthe 100,000 CERs from the Brazilian company, this target reduces from 1 million tonnes/year to 900,000 tonnes peryear making the goal easier to achieve.

What is a CER?


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CER's or Certified Emissions Reductions are a "certificate" just like a stock. A CER is given by the CDM ExecutiveBoard to projects in developing countries to certify they have reduced green house gas emissions by one tonne of carbon dioxide per year. For example, if a project generates energy using wind power instead of burning coal, it cansave 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. There it can claim 50 cers (as one cer is equivalent to one tonne of carbondioxide reduced).

Developed countries buy CER's from developing countries under the cdm process to help them achieve their Kyototarget.

What is Global Warming Potential?

Green house gases affect global warming with varying intensities. This intensity is measured by the "globalwarming potential" of the gas. The global warming potential (GWP) of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)-23 for exampleis 11,700. The GWP of carbon dioxide is one. One tonne of HFC-23 has 11,700 times more the green house effectthat Carbon dioxide does. CERs are awarded based on the global warming potential of the gas.

CERs awarded = Tonnes of green house gas reduced X Global Warming Potential of the Gas

How do Annex I countries benefit from CDM?

All Annex-I countries (Except Belarus and Turkey) have legally binding green house gas emission reductionrequirements under the Kyoto Protocol. The clean development mechanism is one of the "flexibility mechanisms" of the Protocol to help these countries meet these targets.

Instead of countries reducing emissions of their own companies, Annex I countries can "buy" emission reductions innon-Annex I countries. For example a CDM project such as a company switching fuels from coal to biomass resultsin a reduction of 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year in the atmosphere. If an Annex I country buys thesecredits, it can count them for its Kyoto reduction targets.

How do developing countries benefit from CDM?

The Kyoto Protocol (Article 12) states :

"The purpose of the clean development mechanism shall be to assist Parties not included in Annex I in achievingsustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of the Convention, and to assist Partiesincluded in Annex I in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments"

The idea was that developed countries get some flexibility in emission reductions in exchange for bring ininvestment in developing countries for projects and technologies that reduce green house gases.

What are the sustainable development criteria for CDM projects?


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Sustainable development is a legal requirement of a CDM project. "It is the host partys (e.g. Indias) prerogative toconfirm whether a cdm mechanism project activity assists it in achieving sustainable development".

Different countries have different sustainable development criteria. In India, clearance for sustainability is grantedby the National CDM Authority (NCDMA) and is spearheaded by the Union ministry of environment and forests(MOEF).

What is the CDM Executive Board?

The Executive Board supervises the operation of CDM. It meets four or five times a year. The Board has final sayon whether a project is approved or not and lays out procedures and guidlines for CDM. It is made of 10 membersfrom countries part of the Kyoto protocol. Two from Annex I, Two from non annex I countries, one from smallisland developing states, and 1 from each of the 5 UN groupings. Director Climate Change Union ministry of environment and forests is currently concurrently a member of the CDM Executive Board.

Sources: Wikipedia.com & cseindia.org


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Photgraphs For the Month

Prayas


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Tara


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Feedback Want to say something or have you got a suggestion or two for us or you need some doubt to be cleared for you.

Mail Us at : [email protected]

Pledge A Meal

The cost of a single meal may be different for everyone, but it holds the same value for all of us -rich or poor.

http://delhi.aidindia.org/bethechange/component/option,com_facileforms/Itemid,275/


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Documents

AID Delhi newsletter July 2008