Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Reporting earthly matters




Rina Saeed Khan is an award-winning environmental journalist based in Lahore. She holds an MA in Environment and Development from the London School of Oriental and African Studies. Earlier she worked with The Friday Times, where she served as the Features Editor until 1998, when she published her first book 'Profiles', a collection of interviews with Pakistan's leading piolitical and social figures. From 1998 she worked as a consultant in communications with the UNDP in Pakistan and WWF-Pakistan, writing reports and documentary scripts. She received the Earth Journalism Award in Copenhagen in 2009 for her climate change reporting. Rina is currently writing a biweekly column on the environment  called ‘Earthly Matters’ for the Sunday edition of Dawn, a major daily in Pakistan,in addition to a weekly blogpost at Dawn.com, where the story of Karakoram anomaly first appeared .

Monday, August 5, 2013

Innovating in Bangalore




Jai Ganesh heads the Pervasive Computing Institute at Infosys and is involved in research, innovation, thought leadership, intellectual property creation, thought leadership and new product and service innovations. He leads research and innovation on business areas such as adaptive enterprises, social network analysis, innovations for the poor, social media, complex systems and technology areas such as big data, web accessibility & usability and augmented reality. 

Jai has extensive experience in patents, research papers, journal editorial boards, research grants and global academic collaborations. He conceptualised and led the development of the first patented product for web accessibility & usability assessment and remediation. He is a double patent holder with over dozen pending patents and he has published in several leading peer reviewed journals and conferences. He obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and also has an MBA. He is a recipient of the Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation Leadership Scholarship at the University of Oxford.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Making mountains safer



The Himalayas are often called water towers of the world that 
sustain lives and livelihoods. (Photo: International Rivers)

By An ICIMOD spokesperson

As a regional knowledge and learning centre serving the eight countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – ICIMOD is uniquely placed to address issues of a transboundary nature. ICIMOD is focused on improving our understanding of the complex hydrological processes of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region and promoting data and information sharing. It seeks to facilitate cooperation on policies, the timely sharing of information, and the proper management of the water resources.

ICIMOD is working for an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to improve the living standards of mountain people and sustain vital ecosystem services – now and for the future. ICIMOD has chosen to focus on hazards and disasters related to adverse weather and climate conditions, such as high intensity rainfall, glacial lake outburst floods, regional floods, and flash floods. In order to address the risks facing mountain communities and better understand the nature of hazards that might lead to disasters, ICIMOD has outlined a series of activities to be undertaken as part of ‘Disaster risk reduction and community resilience’ including the:

assessment of vulnerability of communities and building their resilience to multi-hazards; 
assessment of the impact of climate change on ecosystems, natural hazards, and human health; 
delivery of training in disaster risk reduction; and 
provision of a platform for sharing knowledge and experiences within disaster risk reduction.

ICIMOD, in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization and partner countries from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, is working to establish a regional flood information system. Twenty-four hydrometeorological stations have been installed to share real time data to strengthen flood forecasting in four countries. In Nepal, nine hydrometeorological stations have been installed in the Koshi basin and eight in the Kailash Sacred Landscape.
ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people in implementing improved disaster risk reduction at national and regional levels addressing upstream-downstream linkages for saving lives and livelihoods. This is achieved through the implementation of transboundary programmes in partnership with regional partner institutions, exploring the application of satellite-based technologies for disaster risk reduction, supporting networking, facilitating the exchange of experience, and serving as a regional knowledge hub, among other things. Institutional strengthening and capacity building of our partner institutions is also being undertaken to contribute to effective disaster risk reduction. 

ICIMOD is working for an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to improve the living standards of mountain people and sustain vital ecosystem services – now and for the future. ICIMOD has chosen to focus on hazards and disasters related to adverse weather and climate conditions, such as high intensity rainfall, glacial lake outburst floods, regional floods, and flash floods. In order to address the risks facing mountain communities and better understand the nature of hazards that might lead to disasters, ICIMOD has outlined a series of activities to be undertaken as part of ‘Disaster risk reduction and community resilience’ including the:
assessment of vulnerability of communities and building their resilience to multi-hazards; 
assessment of the impact of climate change on ecosystems, natural hazards, and human health; 
delivery of training in disaster risk reduction; and 
provision of a platform for sharing knowledge and experiences within disaster risk reduction.

ICIMOD, in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization and partner countries from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, is working to establish a regional flood information system. Twenty-four hydrometeorological stations have been installed to share real time data to strengthen flood forecasting in four countries. In Nepal, nine hydrometeorological stations have been installed in the Koshi basin and eight in the Kailash Sacred Landscape.
ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people in implementing improved disaster risk reduction at national and regional levels addressing upstream-downstream linkages for saving lives and livelihoods. This is achieved through the implementation of transboundary programmes in partnership with regional partner institutions, exploring the application of satellite-based technologies for disaster risk reduction, supporting networking, facilitating the exchange of experience, and serving as a regional knowledge hub, among other things. Institutional strengthening and capacity building of our partner institutions is also being undertaken to contribute to effective disaster risk reduction. 

Chasing the monsoon


Mandira Singh Shrestha

Programme Coordinator HYCOS Initiative, Senior Water Resources Specialist, ICIMOD

mshrestha@icimod.org

Dr Mandira Shrestha joined ICIMOD as Water Resources Specialist in August 2001. She has 20 years of experience in water resources management including transboundary flood risk management, hydraulic and hydrologic modelling and hydropower projects. Prior to joining ICIMOD, she worked for several organisations including from 1988 to 1993 in the USA as a water resources engineer for hydro-electric and water resources projects, and later for the Association for Research and Management, Norplan, Butwal Power Company, and Care Nepal. At ICIMOD she coordinates regional programmes on transboundary flood risk reduction in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region and application of satellite based rainfall estimates for flood prediction. She is the Executive Secretary of HKH-FRIEND, an IHP/UNESCO programme, coordinating all activities with international and regional collaborating institutions. Dr Shrestha holds a Doctorate in Engineering from Kyoto University, Japan, an MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and a Bachelor’s on Civil Engineering from the University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee). She is also an accredited professional engineer (PE) for Washington State. Dr Shrestha has an excellent professional network with donor agencies and partner organisations in the region. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Chasing storms




 
Unni Krishnan, while on an earlier assignment in Japan

A medical doctor with more than 20 years experience in the humanitarian field, Unni Krishnan has advanced training in humanitarian action and conflict management. Currently  he is Plan International’s head of Disaster Preparedness and Response based in London. He regularly blogs while on assignment. He filed this story while supporting Plan’s relief efforts in areas hit by Cyclone Mahasen in Bangladesh.

Founded over 75 years, ago, Plan International is a global child rights and humanitarian agency.

Unni is a co-editor of the India Disasters Report II: Redefining Disasters (OUP: forthcoming), a research publication of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Researching on IDP resettlement in Sri Lanka


 Enjoying a sunset in Kathiraveli, Sri Lanka

Danesh Jayatilaka is a final year PhD student from the Department of Economics of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and the School of Global Studies at Sussex University, UK. His thesis looks at the resettlement of IDPs in the east of Sri Lanka. He is a researcher and co-founder of the Centre for Migration Research and Development (CMRD) in Colombo.