Articles by Divya Sharma

Populations worldwide are ageing. Young today is old tomorrow. Better living conditions, lower birth rates and medical science advancements have increased the life expectancy of humans. This would also mean increase in the population of the elderly. The coming years will see an increasing amount of aged couples and widows, many of whom may continue to feel the pressure of earning a livelihood due to lack of social security and insurance. At the same time, the process of aging will be accompanied by increased vulnerability to illness and death. All these features of aging imply that the problems of the…

The Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), a civic action group representing a number of residents' welfare associations in Bangalore, organised a one-day symposium as part of their on-going public dialogues with politicians on 30th August 2008 at Central College. They discussed ways to solve civic problems and debated on two of Bangalore's unsresolved issues: Sakrama and collection of property tax. The programme was structured as panel discussions. Mathew Thomas, general Secretary of CAF made an extensive presentation on ‘Kasturirangan Committee’ (aka Committee on Governance in the Bangalore Metropolitan Region and BBMP, headed by Dr Kasturirangan, ex-chairman of ISRO) for a review…

‘The role of organic agriculture, whether in farming, processing, distribution, or consumption, is to sustain and enhance the health of ecosystems and organisms from the smallest in the soil to human beings’-International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) Organic - the new mantra of today's well being. It is the name given to food that is grown without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers and emphasizes using renewable resources for conserving soil and water. In addition, organic food is not subjected to radiation treatment and artificial colours and it is not genetically-modified. It includes everything from staple crops such as rice…