Open Forum

Senior environmental activists Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, Gujarat, in a letter to the secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), have insisted that concerned authorities should not renew the Consolidated Consent and Authorization (CC&A) dated January 6, 2015 to the Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’s (VECL), and implement the closure order dated December 13, 2018 of the Gujarat Pollution control Board (GPCB) under section 33 A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Text: *** The Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’s (VECL) has continued non-compliance of GPCB’s prescribed norms, terms and conditions of its Consolidated Consent and Authorization (CC&A) dated January 6, 2015 since its inception. It clearly demands that their Consolidated Consent and Authorization (CC&A) needs to be cancelled. A copy of the same is attached herewith . CC&A of VECL clearly mentions: “…VECL have

By Moin Qazi* The poor themselves can create a poverty-free world all we have to do is to free them from the chains that we have put around them. – Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus I have spent most of my entire professional career providing loans to poor women, and have constantly been amazed at their grit and tenacity in climbing their way out of poverty. When I first initiated livelihood finance projects for women, more than three decades back, I encountered stiff resistance from the local elders who couldn’t believe that their women could meet me without a male chaperone. There were some who felt that since I was a male; I had no customary sanction to interact with women. I convinced the village elders that if their women remained ignorant, their children would also have the same fate. I came up against many challenges, the first being: How do we convince a woman to take a loan and invest it in a business and then make financial choices to enhance her income? But we all know the great