Two important programs

Dear friends,

Here is the invitation to two important programs being organised in the city on May 13 and May 15. Do come.

PROGRAM ONE:     MAY 13, Thursday

This is the tenth year of Sharmila Irom’s hunger strike. Various progressive groups all over the country are organizing programs to support her epic struggle.  In one such program, a group of activists from Kerala, led by the well-known Malayalee writer Sara Joseph and the renowned theatre activist and director Civic Chandran have organized a HIND SWARAJ PEACE MARCH from Kerala to Imphal. The Peace March will be passing through many cities in various parts of the country. The Yatra will be reaching Pune on May 13. Various progressive groups in Pune, including Lokayat, have extended their support to this PEACE MARCH and are organizing the following program as an expression of their solidarity. We invite all peace and justice loving citizens of Pune to participate in this program in large numbers.

Date: Thursday, May 13, 2010

Venue: S.M. Joshi Foundation, Navi Peth

Program:

5 pm: Dialogue with the participants of the Yatra

6-8 pm: Monologue: Le Mashalein…

Film: Tales from the Margins

For more information, contact:

Subhash Ware     9822020773                Alka Joshi                 94223 19129

Suniti S. R.            94235 71784              Suresh Deshmukh    94223 02164

PROGRAM TWO: May 15, Saturday

Panel Discussion:

After the Copenhagen Disaster:

Climate-Responsible Development for India and the World

Climate-responsible development is both necessary and possible. The panellists, Praful Bidwai, Girish Sant and Anant Sardeshmukh chaired by Dr Madhav Gadgil will analyse the National Action Plan on Climate Change and update on the discussions of the recently set up Low-Carbon Development Pathways group of the Planning Commission. They will present the case for going beyond market-based approaches to more robust and equitable approaches that should not only inform national policy but also be reflected in city- and state-level policies and programmes.

Venue

Moolgaokar Auditorium

Ground Floor, A Wing, International Convention Centre, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune

Schedule

4.30 pm          Tea and registration
5.00 pm          Panel Discussion

Chair               Dr Madhav Gadgil

Speakers         Dr Praful Bidwai

Shri Girish Sant

Shri Anant Sardeshmukh

6.45 pm          Comments and views from audience and discussion
7.15 pm          Concluding remarks

7.30 pm          Refreshments

Chair

Dr Madhav Gadgil

Padmabhushan, Padmashri Dr Madhav Gadgil is an ecologist and conservation biologist, and the founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Education. He has also taught at Stanford and University of California, Berkeley. A recent assignment is as Chair of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel which is highly contextual given that it is estimated that the Western Ghats neutralize 4 million tons of carbon annually

Lead Speaker

Praful Bidwai

An independent columnist, social science researcher, environmental activist, Praful Bidwai is the author of the recently published book: ‘An India That Can Say Yes: A Climate-Responsible Development Agenda for Copenhagen and Beyond’

Discussants

Girish Sant

Girish Sant coordinates Prayas Energy Group, a research oriented group working on policy analysis and advocacy, especially in the power sector. He is a member of the recently set up Low-Carbon Development Pathways group by the Planning Commission.

Anant Sardeshmukh

Anant Sardeshmukh is CEO of MCCIA and has over 25 years experience in Corporate Finance, Project Finance, Non Banking Finance.  He is a member of the Governing Councils of Auto Cluster Development & Research Institute Ltd., Pune, the National Agriculture & Food Analysis & Research Institute (NAFARI) and the State Level Committee on Standardization of Quality Systems of Govt of Maharashtra

Organized by:

Centre for Environment Education,

Prayas Energy Group (PEG)

Parisar

Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA)

The Story of Cap & Trade

The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the “devils in the details” in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from whats really required to tackle the climate crisis. If youve heard about Cap & Trade, but arent sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you.

Betraying The Planet

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Krugman

So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.

But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases.

And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a form of treason – treason against the planet.

To fully appreciate the irresponsibility and immorality of climate-change denial, you need to know about the grim turn taken by the latest climate research.

The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe – a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable – can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.

Thus researchers at M.I.T., who were previously predicting a temperature rise of a little more than 4 degrees by the end of this century, are now predicting a rise of more than 9 degrees. Why? Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than expected; some mitigating factors, like absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans, are turning out to be weaker than hoped; and there’s growing evidence that climate change is self-reinforcing – that, for example, rising temperatures will cause some arctic tundra to defrost, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Read the full article here: Betraying The Planet By Paul Krugman