Water Scarcity is a Real Threat Essay Example for Free

Water Scarcity is a Real Threat Essay The next war ripping across continents may well be triggered by water scarcity. Already a third of the world is suffering from water shortages. Ironically, rainfall has been adequate. The water is there. But what has gone awry is its management. Water scarcity in Asia and Australia alone affects a fourth of the world’s population and is triggered by over-usage whereas in Africa, it is lack of adequate infrastructure that wreaks havoc. Water scarcity around the world has come about primarily due to quintessentially wasteful practices that have seeped into present-day agriculture which sadly mops up 80% of fresh water. Over the past 100 years, water usage has gone up by six times globally, and is threatening to double again by the year 2050, driven mainly by demands of irrigation and increased agricultural activities. Current methods of irrigation will have to be urgently revisited and more efficient means reinvented. Problems of water scarcity can best be addressed by better efficiency in its utilisation, recycling, pricing of water (and the electricity used for lifting and conveying the water) where not already in vogue, transportation without losses, leaks and pilferage, and through education of the perils of the dangers to all humanity that is presently straining at the tethers due to the current reckless abandon with which it has been mismanaged. Interestingly rich nations like Australia are not immune to water scarcity. An urban Australian on the average trashes 300 litres of water daily and the European notches 200 litres, while the sub-Saharan African makes do with less than 20 litres a day. On the other side, one never ceases to marvel at Israel, which has truly mastered the art and science of water and its sustainable utilisation, conservation and augmentation. For a country that receives a best average rainfall of about 700 mm annually (in the Zefat region in the northern mountainous terrain), its agricultural productivity puts to shame any other agricultural economy. Here, efficiency of farm production is calibrated against water used for irrigation and a deterrent placed on its wastage. With agriculture being the main culprit for abysmal water scarcity, one should look up to advances in genetic engineering that has notched a few successes in ameliorating this acute paucity of water by suitably altering the plantâ€⠄¢s architecture, reduced need for water through modifications of internal anatomy and adjustments of crop physiology, besides enabling plants to survive and succeed in saline, salty and harsh environments. Improving the efficiency of agricultural production and water use are fundamental to any blueprint for a sustainable and equitable growth. The Murray-Darling that runs through Australian agricultural heartland has been steadily receding, triggered in part by an unprecedented string of droughts and exasperated by incessant siphoning for irrigation purposes. The Mekong, running through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam is another startling example of how a once life-sustaining force could threaten the very communities that it once helped found and nurture. Nearer at home the muffled rumblings that one hears from time to time in some high-fluted national seminar where the wind bags wax eloquently of the virtues of linking rivers to ward off a cataclysmic disaster in the making is all hog wash. The idea of ‘linking rivers’ is a dated notion, tracing its origins to Sir Arthur Cotton in the 19th century. Akin to Captain Dastur’s ‘Garland Canal’, Dr K L R ao’s proposal of a Ganga-Cauvery Link was another idea that was just as handsomely popular as it was ridiculously impractical! Rao’s plan envisaged the link to take off near Patna, pass through the basins of the Sone, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari, Krishna and Pennar rivers before joining the Cauvery upstream of the Grand Anicut. Traversing 2,640 km, 60,000 cusecs of water were to be drawn from the flood flows of the Ganges for 150 days in the year. A substantial part of that water was to be lifted over 450 metres. The scheme was abandoned for its huge financial costs and large energy requirements, besides the colossal misery that it would have wreaked on hapless hamlets and populations of people in the millions along the trail of this grandiose link. Techno-economic viability apart, diversion of waters from the Ganges would have unfailingly embroiled India in an international dispute with neighbouring Bangladesh for such a flagrant violation. Based on environmental impact assessments, multi-criteria cost/benefit analyses, qualitative assessments of non-quantifiable considerations and rigorous investment appraisals, the National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development Plan summarily rejected all but one of the river-linking proposals with the conclusion that the â€Å"the assessed needs of the basins could be met from full development and efficient utilisation of intra-basin resources except in the case of Cauvery and Vaigai basins†. A PIL filed in the Supreme Court in 2002 elicited a direction to accelerate the ‘linking of rivers’ by the learned judiciary. Debatable as the propriety of judicial directions on such a subject might be, the process brought to the fore a staggering revelation of cost of the order of Rs. 5,60,000 crore, according to one estimate! As a country, we simply don’t enjoy that kind of a luxury. Instead of frittering away our limited resources on such grandiose s chemes, we’d do well to channel our energies on micro-projects that collectively aim at conservation of water and promote its sustainable use through judicious management. The success of rain-water harvesting schemes in some of our states and the resultant improvement of ground water is a case in point. Likewise, the de-silting and strengthening of temple tanks and community water bodies ought to be practiced beyond symbolic gestures of photo-ops for the politically inclined. Polluting users of water sources need to be provided alternate, technology-driven solutions and continued intransigence must attract severe penalties under the law. Populist measures of providing free use of electricity and water for agriculture must be weaned down and agricultural productivity must reflect efficient use of energy and water inputs. Water shortage hinders total sanitation project Though 50% of village panchayats have achieved 100% total sanitation and got the Nirmal Puraskar tag, defecation in the open still continues and is more evident in the plains areas of the district. According to total sanitation project officer Taranath, 65 village panchayats out of 226 have received this award from the Union government and panchayats with a population of 5,000 and above got Rs 5 lakh and panchayats below 5,000 got Rs 2 lakh cash awards with citations. He said 35 panchayats are ready to get this award as they have fulfilled all the required parameters. When TOI visited some village panchayats in the plains, the toilets constructed were being used for some other purpose and families still prefer defecating in the open. In many houses, toilets have been converted into small godowns to store agricultural seeds, manure or other materials. When asked why they werent being used for the original purpose, they attributed this to water scarcity. Many said they arent getting enough drinking water for domestic use itself. In Malnad region, this programme has gathered momentum and some villages have been achieved 100% total sanitation. Sringeri and Narasimharajapura taluk in this area have been declared total sanitation taluks. Koppa taluk is just short of three panchayats to get this prestigious tag. The project was started in 2005 and so far 1,44,808 families have shown interest in constructing their own toilets in the backyard but 1,33,362 families are yet to get converted to this idea. For BPL families, the government gives Rs.3,500 as subsidy to construct toilets but even these families are not ready to have their own toilets. Water scarcity affects business of 60% Indian companies: An overwhelming majority of Indian companies consider water scarcity an increasing business risk, prompting them to conserve the commodity, a survey has revealed. As many as 83% respondents identified inadequate availability of water as a major risk to their business, in a survey of 27 major industrial sectors conducted by the US-based Columbia Water Center in association with industry lobby FICCI. While 60% respondents said inadequate availability of water was already impacting their business, 87% said the scarcity would impact their business 10 years down the line.

About Specific Processing of Mind at the Period of Revaluation :: Marxism Soviet Union Essays

About Specific Processing of Mind at the Period of Revaluation ABSTRACT: A new situation is always a discovery. It allows us to see old problems in a new light. The philosopher’s main task is to find new situations. The consciousness of the millions of people living in the countries of the former Soviet Union can be considered new in all senses, except one. Nevertheless the exception gives rise to serious difficulties. Essentially, a situation is always new since none of Aristotle’s kinds of identity can be used for it. At the same time, this same situation can never be new since anything similar must have taken in human history. It is up to the philosopher to see the situation from a new point of view. Now we can observe the changes and its effects. The collapse of the old ideology did not create the changing of mass consciousness per se, because the latter had already taken a skeptical attitude toward it. The real change of mass consciousness began with the change of real human practice. When former engineers, teachers, scientist s, and industrial workers clashed with the necessity to support themselves and their families, it was always as an alternative to starting all over again — the option of relying only on themselves or continuing to rely on the state system to do their usual work in the hopes of receiving an illusory reward in the future. A new situation is always a discovery; it gives a possibility to see old problems in a new light. The philosopher’s main task is to find a new situation. The situation with consciousness of the millions of people living in the countries of the former Soviet Union can be considered new in all senses, except one. Nevertheless the exception gives rise the serious difficulties. Their essence can be expressed simply: a situation is always new, because none of four Aristotle’s kinds of identity can be used for it. The same situation can never be new, because anything similar must have taken in the human history. It’s up to the philosopher’s eye to see something in with a new point of view. How unique is the situation with mass consciousness in Eastern Europe? Now we can observe for ourself the change of the mass consciousness. The collapse of the old ideology did not create the changing of the mass consciousness per se, because the latter had already taken the skeptical attitude towards it.

Financial Statement Analysis for Tootsie Roll and Hershey Essay

The Hershey Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various types of chocolate and confectionery, refreshment and snack products, and food and beverage enhancers in the United States and internationally. The Hershey Company sells its products through sales representatives and food brokers, primarily to wholesale distributors, chain grocery stores, mass merchandisers, chain drug stores, vending companies, wholesale clubs, convenience stores, dollar stores, concessionaires, department stores, and natural food stores. The company was founded in 1894 and is based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Hershey Company went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1922 (http://finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=HSY). Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. , through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products. The company sells its products under the registered trademarks. It distributes its products through candy and grocery brokers to wholesale distributors of candy and groceries, supermarkets, variety stores, dollar stores, chain grocers, drug chains, discount chains, cooperative grocery associations, warehouse and membership club stores, vending machine operators, the U. S. military, and fund-raising charitable organizations. Tootsie Roll Industries operates in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company was founded in 1896 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. went public on the NYSE in 1927 (http://finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=TR). The Hershey Company and the Tootsie Roll Company both are companies in confection industry; they specialize in a wide variety of chocolate candy products. I compared both companies for the years 2002, 2003, and 2004 against each other and against the industry averages in order to make a decision about which company investors would choose to invest in. The comparisons I used to make this decision were ratios for liquidity, solvency, and profitability. As a result of my analyses, I have chosen the Hershey Company.

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