A Small Victory, Low-tech Water and the Problem with Kit Kats

We can all celebrate a small victory this week: the government is willing to talk "coolly" to opposition leaders about the nuclear liability bill.  According to The Hindu:

The government was forced to defer the introduction of the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday after firm opposition from the Left Parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and environmental organisations.  

It is certain the government will try again, probably in a few weeks, so it's terribly important to keep the heat on this one.  Certainly, Greenpeace deserves some credit here--they've got 55,000 signatures on their petition.  If you haven't signed a petition on this bill, please sign these two:

On Line petition against the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill;

Greenpeace's petition against the Nuclear Bill

And if you need more information about why this is such a stupid, dangerous bill, you can start with what we wrote last week about it. 
Speaking of nuclear power: Coastal farmers battle nuclear plants. 

World Water Day is March 22. In honour of that, and the fact that we've been doing low-tech, greentech all week, here are some (mostly) low-tech water stories:

Modern rural ingenuity: Farmer invents and builds cheap check dams in Gujarat. Local water tables are rising. (Via Kabir at IYCN)

Anupam Mishra's TED Talk on the ancient ingenuity of water harvesting (via anon...)

In the don't believe everything you read category: this water pumping device looked too good to be true...as it turned out, it was.  (However, this pedal powered water pump looks like the real thing).

Still, water pumping isn't a solution by itself, since our water tables are falling: Vandana Shiva on Water Wisdom (via Kabir at IYCN)

Meanwhile, Delhi wastes half the water it gets!  And the migratory bird count is falling fast due to pollution in the Yamuna.

Finally, Greeenpeace tells us why we shouldn't eat Kit Kats.  That's not hard for me, since I never cared too much for Kit Kats, and I'm cutting down on my sugar lately anyway.  When I want a tasty snack, I like peanuts or popcorn, packed in recycled newspaper.