Solenis Invests In Direct Channel In India For Industrial Water Treatment.
Solenis, a leading global specialty chemicals company, is investing to build a direct sales channel to serve the industrial water treatment market in India.
Having served this region for more than 16 years through the joint venture, Solenis has a dedicated team of experienced professionals in place to manage the needs of the industrial water market in India.
“We are delighted to continue building strong business relationships with our customers in India and to help them manage their industrial water treatment challenges through our world-class specialty chemicals and technologies,” stated Sachin Kukade, director, Asia Pacific.
“We will continue investing in further capabilities to serve the India water treatment market.” “As India proceeds to develop its industrial infrastructure, improvements in wastewater remediation to protect the environment will be necessary, as well as the need to manage water scarcity issues for industrial operations,” said Nandkumar Dhekne, vice president, Asia Pacific.
“Solenis is well-positioned to help customers manage these challenges.” In 2015, Solenis established a direct channel to the fast-growing pulp and paper market in India and this action is another example of the company’s commitment to continuous investment in this region.
About Solenis Solenis is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals for water intensive industries, including the pulp, paper, oil and gas, chemical processing, mining, biorefining, power and municipal markets.
The company’s product portfolio includes a broad array of process, functional and water treatment chemistries as well as state-of-the-art monitoring and control systems.
For more information, visit www.solenis.com.
SOURCE: Solenis

Crawford College youngster wins water tank for school in Woolworths’ Thirsty For Action school competition.
Laura Silversten, who is in Grade 10 at Crawford College Lonehill has won a water tank for her school and a Woolworths gift card for herself in this year’s Thirsty for Action school competition.
With South Africans experiencing the worst drought in 23 years, there was a heightened awareness of the country’s water scarcity during the 2017 Woolworths Educational Programme’s Thirsty for Action competition.
A record number of more than 9 000 entries were received, double that of previous years.
The initiative is designed to help schools promote water-saving by observing National Water Week and the United Nation’s World Water Day earlier in the year.
Laura submitted a poster entry which impressed the judges.
She used her excellent drawing skills to design a well-thought-out, sobering poster which told a very clear story of the importance of water for our survival.
Schoolchildren were asked to highlight the potential reality that South Africa faces, in that they were challenged to imagine their world – home, school or community – without water and then write an essay, poem or draw a picture.
“We have also seen from previous winners of the Woolworths Educational Programme’s Thirsty for Action competition is that the presence of the water tank boosts the schools’ water saving awareness and efforts.” Is your school doing something to help the environment?
Tell us about it by emailing fourwaysr@caxton.co.za

Increasingly, scientists and activists are enabling citizen observers to collect data and upload it to the cloud with the aim of pushing all stakeholders — government agencies, corporations and citizens — toward change.
"These initiatives are very important for empowering citizens, making more data available — and this helps in strengthening accountability," says Binayak Das, program coordinator of the Water Integrity Network, an NGO in Germany.
So Sankarnarayan launched an app called Climatix to measure climate resilience by crowdsourcing.
And people supporting citizen data gathering say they have seen outside data lead to change.
"The measurements were used as evidence to advocate policy change," she says.
Sometimes, needed information goes beyond simple observations on water levels or color; it can require doing a quick lab test on the go.
The drinking water options in this part of India are limited.
But the local administration and police department of Nalgonda were responsive: The water authorities promised to monitor the filtration plant and close off contaminated wells.
"When data is collected in India, it is not only about water and sanitation but also demographics," says Das of Water Integrity Network.
Chhavi Sachdev is a freelance reporter in India.

Eco Foot Print programme launched at Saligao.
“Environment is a free asset we all need to protect” said Jayesh Salgaokar, minister for RDA & Housing, whilst launching the Eco Footprint project at the Goa State Remote Sensing Centre at Saligao on the occasion of World Environment Day.
He spoke of the various challenges faced by the country and Goa, related to land degradation, impacts of climate change and green house gases, water pollution and scarcity, poor sanitation conditions, sewage problems, unplanned urbanisation, forest degradation.
Salgaokar also stressed on the implementation of rain and roof water harvesting projects, beginning in Saligao Constituency and impressed upon the urgent need to replicate it across Goa, so as to recharge the ground water and mitigate water scarcity.
Joseph Rauto De Souza, the chief scientist of the Centre, while welcoming the gathering stated that over-population is a major stress and strain on natural resources.
Planting a tree is our pledge towards nurturing nature.
“Today’s digital world can largely assist in connecting people with nature, not only in Goa but across the globe through social media.
Further there is a need to augment technical skills and technical know-how to enforce various environmental legislations and laws in protecting the environment,” he said.
Fr Bolmax Pereira, research scholar, in his speech implied that India has often been described as a rich land with poor people.
“Environment degradation has adversely affected the poor who largely depend upon the resources of their immediate surroundings for their sustainability,” he said, further stressing upon need to rationalise the use of groundwater and control of water draining into the sea.

UN Chief urges world leaders to invest in water security.
NEW YORK, June 7 (KUNA) — United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged late Tuesday world leaders to invest in water security, amid increasing demand and the burgeoning effects of climate change.
This was during Guterres’ participation in a Security Council meeting on preventive diplomacy and transboundary waters, which was chaired by Bolivian President Evo Morales, which holds the UNSC’s presidency for the month.
He stressed that the water serves as a catalyst for cooperation among nations, even those that are not on good terms.
He commended the UNSC meeting for highlighting how water is and should remain a reason for cooperation not conflict.
"With demand for fresh water projected to grow by more than 40 percent by the middle of the century, and with climate change having a growing impact, water scarcity is a growing concern," he said.
According to his speech, he told the Council that by 2050, at least one in four people will live in a country where the lack of fresh water is chronic or recurrent, although three-quarters of United Nations Member States share rivers or lake basins with their neighbors.
Speaking to the press prior to the meeting, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said that in order to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals, everyone on the planet needs access to clean water and sanitation, and in turn will involve resolving any transboundary water issues.
He strongly supported Guterre’s focus on prevention, preventative diplomacy, making sure that wherever there are disputes in relation to water that those are resolved before they spiral downwards into conflict.
(end) mao.hb

Population, water scarcity, malnutrition three major challenges.
ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers while participating in the budget debate Wednesday termed population growth rate, malnutrition and water scarcity as three major challenges Pakistan would be facing in future if not addressed right now.
He said that there was need to focuses on preventive health strategies rather than curative one.
He said that rising population was another challenge the country would be facing if not given proper attention at the current time.
Leghari said that the prudent policies by the government had put the economy on growth path as there has been 5.3 percent growth rate recorded during the outgoing fiscal year while the inflations has been contained at 4 percent.
He said that Pakistan Stock Exchange was also performing very well.
He suggested enhancing regional trade with neighboring countries to enhance exports, which have witnessed negative growth during the growth during the outgoing year.
He stressed the need for improving distribution network system to overcome power shortages and also advocated for providing net meters to consumers which would also help overcome energy crisis.
Taking part in discussion, Naseema Panazai claimed that discrimination was being meted out with the female lawmakers in allocation of funds and they were not given a signal penny to them during the last four years.
Taking part in the budget discussion, Iftikharuddin congratulated the government for presenting the federal budget for the fifth consecutive time.

The Relentless March of Drought – That ‘Horseman of the Apocalypse.
No wonder then that a major United Nations Convention calls drought ‘one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.’ See what the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) says in this regard.
“Drought, a complex and slowly encroaching natural hazard with significant and pervasive socio-economic and environmental impacts, is known to cause more deaths and displace more people than any other natural disaster.” Drought, Water Scarcity and Refugees On this, Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary, reminds that the world’s drought-prone and water scarce regions are often the main sources of refugees.
“Converging factors like political tension, weak institutions, economic marginalisation, lack of social safety nets or group rivalries create the conditions that make people unable to cope.
According to Convention, the geo-political and security challenges the world faces are complex, but a better implementing good land management practices can simultaneously help populations adapt to climate change and build resilience to drought; reduce the risk of forced migration and conflict over dwindling natural resources and secure sustainable agricultural and energy production.
Reversing the effects of land degradation and desertification through sustainable land management (SLM) is not only achievable; it is the logical, cost-effective next step for national and international development agendas…” UNCCD informs that 12 million hectares of productive land become barren every year due to desertification and drought alone, which is a lost opportunity to produce 20 million tons of grain.
“We cannot afford to keep degrading land when we are expected to increase food production by 70 per cent by 2050 to feed the entire world population.” “Sustainable intensification of food production, with fewer inputs, that avoids further deforestation and cropland expansion into vulnerable areas should be a priority for action for policy makers, investors and smallholder farmers.” Meantime, the Convention’s secretariat reports that the increase in droughts and flash floods that are stronger, more frequent and widespread is destroying the land – the Earth’s main fresh water store.
Over 1 billion people today have no access to water, and demand will increase by 30 per cent by 2030.” National Security, Migration With up to 40 per cent of all intrastate conflicts in the past 60 years are linked to the control and allocation of natural resources, the exposure of more and more poor people to water scarcity and hunger opens the door to the failure of fragile states and regional conflicts, according to UNCCD.
Losing productive land is driving people to make risky life choices, it adds and explains that in rural areas where people depend on scarce productive land resources, land degradation is a driver of forced migration.
“This in turn stabilises the income of the rural population and avoids unnecessary movement of people.” The UN Convention to Combat Desertification works with partners such as the International Organization for Migration to address the challenges arising from land degradation, large-scale population movements and their consequences, while aiming to demonstrate how the international community could leverage the skills and capacities of migrants along with the remittances, sent home by migrants, to build resilience.

Security Council 7959th Meeting (PM) Spotlighting the scarcity of Earth’s most precious resource, the United Nations Secretary-General today urged world leaders to invest in water security, amid increasing demand and the burgeoning effects of climate change.
Council members must commit to investing in water security to ensure durable peace and security for all communities and nations.
Government agreements must underscore the need to sustainability manage transboundary water resources.
Beyond recognizing the link between water, peace and security and the need to prevent related conflicts, the goal should be sharing experiences of cooperation and success stories.
Water management could also serve as a building block for sustainable development, peace and security.
Water should be a tool for cooperation, development and security.
While there was no standard approach to resolving water disputes, increasing the capacity of Member States would help them engage better in the transboundary management of the resource.
Meanwhile, the United Nations and international community must continue to respect national sovereignty.
Riparian States had negotiated the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement for almost 13 years, and it was now signed by six States and ratified by three others.
As conflicts were best resolved locally or regionally, river basin governance efforts should be supported.

Water is ‘catalyst’ for cooperation, not conflict, UN chief tells Security Council.
6 June 2017 – Stressing the importance of diplomacy to prevent and resolve trans-boundary disputes over water resources, Secretary-General António Guterres today told the United Nations Security Council that water serves as “a catalyst” for cooperation among nations, even those that are not on good terms.
“I commend this Security Council meeting for highlighting how water is and should remain a reason for cooperation not conflict,” Mr. Guterres added.
With climate change having a growing impact, water scarcity is a growing concern, he pointed out, noting that by 2050 at least one in four people will live in a country where the lack of fresh water is chronic or recurrent.
Three-quarters of UN Member States share rivers or lake basins with their neighbours.
“That is why it is essential that nations cooperate to ensure water is shared equitably and used sustainably,” he said.
In the second half of the 20th century alone, some 287 international water agreements were signed.
The 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan has survived three wars between the two countries.
The Albufeira Convention, agreed when Mr. Guterres was Prime Minister of Portugal, continues to promote good relations on water management between his country and Spain.
“Let us commit to investing in water security to ensure durable peace and security for all communities and nations,” he concluded.

Among the various regions affected most by drinking water scarcity in India, the name of Bundelkhand has been mentioned frequently.
A recent visit to several remote villages of three districts of this region at the peak of the scorching summer revealed that even though the officially declared drought ended several months back, there is a very serious water shortage in vast rural areas as well as in some urban areas.
In fact the water scarcity was so acute that villagers told me time and again that arranging the day’s water supply has become their biggest task.
In seven out of eight villages that I visited people said that several farm and dairy animals particularly cows and bullocks have perished largely due to water shortage related factors during the last three months as the temperature started shooting up rather early this year.
There is much that can be done at comparatively low budgets for protecting, repairing and renovating these traditional water works using local wisdom so that the ability of these structures to conserve rainwater is retained.
In addition when we visit villages affected by water scarcity, people talk about relatively low-cost , small-scale, decentralised solutions to their problems.
In some cases some remedial works have already been approved and in others some work has been taken up only to be left incomplete due to resource constraints or other problems.
People also give examples of possible remedial actions being messed up due to corruption.
At present the biggest such project being taken up for implementation is the Ken Betwa Link Project which involves the construction of one large dam, a 250 km.
This project has been promoted in the name of solving the water crisis of Bundelkhand but it involves transfer to upper reaches of Betwa river, upstream of Bundelkhand while the adverse impact on water recharge in the downstream areas of Ken river flowing into Bundelkhand have been neglected.