Idling under the Neem Tree

                                                Urban Vet Care infra. By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation My blog today is about a subject that stares at us all. Vet Care in India:   Or the lack of it. Government run veterinary clinics and hospitals dot the rural landscape. These clinics are indeed helpful for livestock, livestock breeders and veterinary medicine. But look at the urban landscape – where pets rule our lives. Indeed in my house, the dogs and cats are the masters of our house in Bangalore, our lives, we the pet parents are their slaves, obsessed with them, love them senseless, pet them till they reject my love and keep me at paw’s length. I am at a loss to find a home visiting veterinarian. Despite Whatsapp savvy keen English speaking young veterinarians, they find it difficult to drop by to treat a pet nee...

                                               SDGs in governance Toilets have to be mainstreamed - based on gender, and physical ability have to be designed...like in this public toilet constructed after the Asian Tsunami in Car Nicobar, Nicobar district, Andaman Nicobar Islands.  I Malini Shankar shot this picture in March 2014 in Carnic. By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation All the ills of modern society that manifest as urban sores, find salvation in Sustainable Development Goals . Be it elimination of poverty and hunger, Climate Change Adaptation, water energy, food and livelihood security, inclusivity for the differently abled, and so on… there are 17 SDGs that will make the difference between satisfaction and aspiration like day and night.    The 17 SDGs include: 1.        Pove...

  Incentivising waste segregation should work By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Given Indians’ abysmal record for conscientious public spiritedness and a clear absence of civic duty, perhaps a financial incentive will make it viable for effective solid waste management. It also addresses the need of some incentive driven fiscal formula for rag pickers – the original waste segregators. But it also helps – nay, is necessary, - for effective waste management. Just imagine if civic authorities / Pourakarmikas can pick up segregated wastes… and deliver peat or composted wastes to the public gardens and parks where the greenery serves as lung spaces for present and future generations. Just decomposed leaf litter has a high calorific value – for example. However it remains inalienable that waste material have to be segregated. Equally of critical significance is a waste management legislation and enforceable guidelines. Legislation should be backed up with infrastr...

  Documenting impact of corruption on society… “What is wrong in letting sewage into the storm water drain?”  Illegal A-C connections damage electrical installations in the entire neighbourhood. By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Today I will share with you how others bribing officials have impacted me, others in society. My neighbours are owners of a huge piece of ancestral property measuring some 25000 square feet in the heart of Bangalore with more than 100 fruit and flowering trees. Most of their grandchildren or next generation live abroad and the elders could neither pay tax nor maintain the huge property themselves. They divided their property amongst siblings, sold off portions that belonged to deceased siblings, leased some more land for long term, but they were still left with 25000 sq ft. There were three sprawling bungalows in the ancestral property. Some of the bungalows were rented out but they could not raise enough income to maintain their ...