In Search Of Biohappiness: Biodiversity And Food, Health And Livelihood Security (Second Edition)

In Search Of Biohappiness: Biodiversity And Food, Health And Livelihood Security (Second Edition)
Author: M S Swaminathan
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2015-04-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 981465695X

In Search of Biohappiness deals with methods of converting agro-biodiversity hotspots into happy spots. This involves concurrent attention to conservation, and sustainable and equitable use. Bioresources constitute the feedstock for the biotechnology industry. The aim of the book is to promote an era of biohappiness based on the conversion of bioresources into jobs and income in an environmentally sustainable manner.The scope of Biohappiness extends to include all aspects of conservation such as in situ, ex situ and community conservation, and also covers conservation issues relating to mangroves and other coastal bioresources, whose importance has grown with the emerging possibility of significant sea-level increase from global warming. Concrete examples of how local tribal families have taken to the establishment of gene, seed, grain and water banks in villages — thus linking conservation, cultivation, consumption and commerce in a mutually-reinforcing manner — are provided in this book.Since the first edition, biohappiness is now universally considered to be the major objective of research and development in the field of biodiversity. This edition brings the position up-to-date, and furthers the cause of biohappiness through the inclusion of a new section on its latest developments.

Reviews of Accelerator Science and Technology

Reviews of Accelerator Science and Technology
Author: Alexander W. Chao
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2011-01-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9814340383

Over the last half century we have witnessed tremendous progress in the production of high-quality photons by electrons in accelerators. This dramatic evolution has seen four generations of accelerators as photon sources. The 1st generation used the electron storage rings built primarily for high-energy physics experiments, and the synchrotron radiation from the bending magnets was used parasitically. The 2nd generation involved rings dedicated to synchrotron radiation applications, with the radiation again from the bending magnets. The 3rd generation, currently the workhorse of these photon sources, is dedicated advanced storage rings that employ not only bending magnets but also insertion devices (wigglers and undulators) as the source of the radiation. The 4th generation, which is now entering operation, is photon sources based on the free electron laser (FEL), an invention made in the early 1970s. Each generation yielded growths in brightness and time resolution that were unimaginable just a few years earlier. In particular, the progression from the 3rd to 4th generation is a true revolution; the peak brilliance of coherent soft and hard x-rays has increased by 7-10 orders of magnitude, and the image resolution has reached the angstrom (1  = 10-10 meters) and femto-second (1 fs = 10-15 second) scales. These impressive capabilities have fostered fundamental scientific advances and led to an explosion of numerous possibilities in many important research areas including material science, chemistry, molecular biology and the life sciences. Even more remarkably, this field of photon source invention and development shows no signs of slowing down. Studies have already been started on the next generation of x-ray sources, which would have a time resolution in the atto-second (1 as = 10-18 second) regime, comparable to the time of electron motion inside atoms. It can be fully expected that these photon sources will stand out among the most powerful future science research tools. The physics community as well as the entire scientific community will hear of many pioneering and groundbreaking research results using these sources in the coming years. This volume contains fifteen articles, all written by leading scientists in their respective fields. It is aimed at the designers, builders and users of accelerator-based photon sources as well as general audience who are interested in this topic.

The Search for Environmental Justice

The Search for Environmental Justice
Author: Paul Martin
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2015-07-31
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1784719420

This thoughtful book provides an overview of the major developments in the theory and practice of Ôenvironmental justiceÕ. It illustrates the direction of the evolution of rights of nature and exposes the diverse meanings and practical uses of the conc

Cultivating Integral Development

Cultivating Integral Development
Author: Ananta Kumar Giri
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2023-12-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1003814999

This book cultivates visions and practices of integral development of the self, society, and the world. It builds upon deconstructions of development discourse and practice and strives to reconstruct and reconstitutes it as integral development. It addresses entrenched dualisms in development studies and practices such as between the self and the other, the providers of development and its recipients, materialism, and spirituality, and cultivates pathways of integral development. The book explores the many challenges facing development studies and practice such as poverty, creativity, political economy, moral economy, leadership, sustainable development, and evolutionary flourishing. It also opens the discourse and practice of development to cross-cultural dialogues by undertaking discussions between Euro-centric approaches to development and other visions and practices of development such as Purusartha, Swadhyaya, Sarvodaya, integral yoga, and Lokasasamgraha from Indic traditions. Drawing on multiple cultural and philosophical resources and traditions, Cultivating Integral Development is a pioneering work and will be of great interest to scholars, researchers, and actors of development studies, political science, and philosophy as well as concerned human beings around the world.

Revisiting Social Theory

Revisiting Social Theory
Author: D.V. Kumar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2024-04-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1040017207

This book revisits social theory with a view to highlighting certain essential features of ‘good’ social theory: its ability to raise certain questions, its explanatory power, its critical and reflexive interrogation of concepts, its search for objectivity, its concern to make sense of empirical data and its aim of projecting some degree of generality and abstraction. With particular attention to issues of nationalism, democracy, civil society, state, feminism, neoliberalism, minority rights, environment and North-East Indian society, it considers whether new and more relevant theoretical questions need to be asked. It will therefore appeal to scholars of social theory and political sociology with interests in new approaches to social theory and the development of local or ‘indigenous’ social thought.

Knowledge Systems of Societies for Adaptation and Mitigation of Impacts of Climate Change

Knowledge Systems of Societies for Adaptation and Mitigation of Impacts of Climate Change
Author: Sunil Nautiyal
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 719
Release: 2013-07-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642361439

Climate change is broadly recognized as a key environmental issue affecting social and ecological systems worldwide. At the Cancun summit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 16th Conference, the parties jointly agreed that the vulnerable groups particularly in developing countries and whose livelihood is based on land use practices are the most common victims as in most cases their activities are shaped by the climate. Therefore, solving the climate dilemma through mitigation processes and scientific research is an ethical concern. Thus combining the knowledge systems of the societies and scientific evidences can greatly assist in the creation of coping mechanisms for sustainable development in a situation of changing climate. International Humboldt Kolleg focusing on “knowledge systems of societies and Climate Change” was organized at ISEC. This event was of unique importance, as the year 2011-12 was celebrated as the 60th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between India and Germany with the motto "Germany and India - Infinite Opportunities." This volume is the outcome of the papers presented during the IHK 2011 at ISEC, India.

M.s. Swaminathan: Legend In Science And Beyond

M.s. Swaminathan: Legend In Science And Beyond
Author: P C Kesavan
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2017-04-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9813200111

This unique volume is not just an in-depth analysis of Professor Swaminathan's brilliant contributions to basic cytogenetics, radiation biology, mutagenesis and genomic affinities of cultivated potato and its wild derivatives, but also the application of the new knowledge gained to improve the productivity of agricultural crops, as also to enhance their resistance to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. No other earlier biographies of Professor Swaminathan bring out these salient dimensions of his scientific achievements made at the Wageningen University, The Netherlands, Cambridge University, UK, and Wisconsin University, USA as well as Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. This biography is also unique for its revelation that Professor Swaminathan's contributions par excellence have been in contemporary areas of crop improvement for productivity and resistance to pests and diseases.This volume is also unique in bringing out that Professor Swaminathan, Father of India's Green Revolution, wanted to use this chemically intensified system only to gain 'breathing space' and went on to propose a 'systems approach' — based evergreen revolution in order to 'achieve productivity in perpetuity' through various pathways of ecoagriculture, and also integrated it with avenues for on-farm and non-farm livelihoods. Towards this goal, he made innovative uses of ecotechnologies in a 'biovillage' paradigm and modern information and communication technology (ICT) in Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) to provide skill and knowledge empowerment respectively of the resource-poor rural women and men towards sustainable management of the natural resources for creating income-generating on-farm and non-farm livelihoods. This volume also brings out how Professor Swaminathan elegantly combined intellect and labour (hard work), and professional zeal with compassion for the poor. He is always open to new ideas, and new technologies without of course, compromising the values of traditional knowledge and ecological prudence of the rural and tribal people. This volume nicely captures how Professor Swaminathan with a deep and comprehensive understanding of the threats to the ecological foundations of agriculture and sustainable rural development, environmental degradation, social inequities and the climate change risks, has also harnessed science and technology to convert challenges into opportunities. This volume is written in a manner to serve also as a text book, going beyond the scope of just a biography. That should benefit generations of students on one hand, and sustain an interest in the book for many years on the other.

Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering
Author: Rupam Kataki
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 538
Release: 2020-07-08
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0444643109

Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering: Sustainable Bioresources for the Emerging Bioeconomy outlines recent advances in bioenergy, biorefinery and the bioeconomy, an essential element for a 21st century bio-based society. The book provides information on biomass and various conversion technologies with different parameters that affect the conversion process. Sections cover different bioproducts, biorefinery systems, energy and greenhouse gas emission balances of bioenergy and biorefinery, and environmental and economic footprints of bioeconomy. Finally, different strategies adopted by developed and developing countries for the promotion and implementation of a bioeconomy concept for a bio-based society are systematically covered. The book provides comprehensive information starting from early progress to the latest trends on bioenergy, biorefinery and bioeconomy with special reference to the developed and the developing countries and the linkage between bioeconomy and climate change mitigation in simple scientific language to appeal to a wider audience. - Includes the fundamentals and concepts of biomass and bioenergy - Outlines recent technology development for biomass conversion - Provides concept for different bioproducts - Covers global strategies and policies on the development of bioeconomies

The Calling of Global Responsibility

The Calling of Global Responsibility
Author: Ananta Kumar Giri
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2023-03-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000843874

This book rethinks and transforms the current discourse on globalization and global justice. It expands the idea of globalization from an economic or corporate context to mean humanization and planetary realizations — moving beyond the boundaries of nation-states and other human-made demarcations. The author challenges the notion of human primacy and makes a fervent call to reconfigure the paradigm of anthropocentrism. Through a careful study of movements for justice and inter-faith dialogue from across the world, the book makes a unique contribution to the emerging study of global responsibility. It also helps us overcome our current civilizational crises and cultivate a new civilization of planetary care and co-responsibility. As part of the Ethics, Human Rights and Global Political Thought series, the volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of law and society, especially social movements, political theory, and philosophy.

Diversifying Food and Diets

Diversifying Food and Diets
Author: Jessica Fanzo
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2013-06-26
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1136461450

Currently 868 million people are undernourished and 195 million children under five years of age are stunted. At the same time, over 1 billion people are overweight and obese in both the developed and developing world. Diseases previously associated with affluence, such as cancer, diabetes and cardio-vascular disease, are on the rise. Food system-based approaches to addressing these problems that could enhance food availability and diet quality through local production and agricultural biodiversity often fall outside the traditional scope of nutrition, and have been under-researched. As a consequence, there remains insufficient evidence to support well-defined, scalable agricultural biodiversity interventions that can be linked to improvements in nutrition outcomes. Agricultural biodiversity is important for food and nutritional security, as a safeguard against hunger, a source of nutrients for improved dietary diversity and quality, and strengthening local food systems and environmental sustainability. This book explores the current state of knowledge on the role of agricultural biodiversity in improving diets, nutrition and food security. Using examples and case studies from around the globe, the book explores current strategies for improving nutrition and diets and identifies key research and implementation gaps that need to be addressed to successfully promote the better use of agricultural biodiversity for rural and urban populations and societies in transition.