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The study of watershed structures and associated natural processes is necessary for understanding how human activities can degrade or improve the condition of a watershed. Such a condition is typically evident through the water quality, its fish and wildlife, its forests and other vegetation, as well as the quality of community life for people who live there. In a country such as ours, where the majority of the citizens live in the rural hinterlands, the availability of water of appropriate quality is crucial to a sustainable livelihood. Unfortunately, over the recent past, traditional, community-based practices of watershed management and water harvesting have waned due to neglect, which have led to increased hardships to the rural population. The lead article of this issue of UPDATE unravels the current status of watershed management in our country and shows why the management of water resources programs on a watershed basis makes good sense – environmentally, financially, and socially.

The development path that our country has followed, especially over the last century, has had an unfortunate fallout: the alienation of our traditional crafts and technologies from the process of modernization. A most appropriate case is that of bamboo-based craft, which is a source of livelihood for nearly 13.5 lakhs of the country’s artisans today. But thanks to the painstaking efforts of Industrial Design Centre of IIT Bombay, a fairly successful program of reviving the craft with the help of modern techniques is on. The trade of traditional bamboo products is also being reorganized through stronger marketing mechanisms. We chronicle this unfolding movement as well in this issue.

A spate of recent studies by an international group, of which IIT Bombay is a member, have revealed the presence of high levels of aerosols, especially black carbon, in the upper atmospheric layers over the Arabian Sea and tropical Indian Ocean. It appears that the one of the main causes behind the phenomenon is the use of biomass as fuel, which is dominant in our region of the world. The article on "Climate Forcing" reviews some of the findings of the ongoing studies at this institute and cautions on the impact that aerosols can have on the local climate, especially on monsoon patterns.

In the wake of recent major international business failures, the question of ethics in governance and business enterprises is receiving a renewed attention, both from the viewpoints of legislation and creation of self-regulating business processes. We present in this issue an analysis of the practical logic that can drive the adoption of ethical systems. In another article on the issue of building networks between the academia and the industry we explore the modus that may aid the process – which virtually has become a sine qua non for mutual survival in today’s world. Lastly, we recapture the successes of Techfest 2003, IIT Bombay’s annual technology extravaganza.

 

Sandip Roy
Editor,
UPDATE

 

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