Human Beings and Nature
(i) Modern schools of ecological thought.
(ii) Deep ecology (Gary Snyder, Earth First) vs. shallow ecology.
(iii) Stewardship of land (e.g. Wendell Berry).
(iv) Social ecology [Marxist environmentalism and socialist ecology (Barry Commoner)].
(v) Feminism.
(vi) Green politics (e.g. Germany and England ).
(vii) Sustainable development.
Population and Conservation of Ecology
(i) Population dynamics: factors causing population change (birth, death, immigration and emigration); relation between the factors; age structure and its significance; population pyramids; survivorship curves; three general shapes r and K strategies.
(ii) Human populations (Malthusian model and demographic transition).
(iii) Population regulation: growth without regulation (exponential); simple population regulation (logistic growth curve); factors regulating population size (space, food and water, territories, predators, weather and climate, parasite and diseases, disasters and self-regulation).
(iv) Human population control: family planning; education; economic growth; status of women.
(v) Threats to the ecosystem: habitat destruction; genetic erosion; loss of diversity; expanding agriculture; impound water; waste from human societies; increasing human consumption.
(vi) Conservation: importance; the critical state of forests; conflicts surrounding forested areas - populations and tribals and their rights - tourism - poaching - roads – development projects - dams; scientific forestry and its limitations; social forestry; the role of the forest department; NGOs; joint forestry management; wild life - sanctuaries, conservation and management in India; Project Tiger as a case study in conservation.
Monitoring Pollution
(i) Pollution monitoring.
(ii) Monitoring the atmosphere: techniques.
(iii) International and national air quality standards.
(iv) Water testing: indicators of water quality (including B.O.D. and C.O.D.); standards of water quality; laboratory work – determination of pH, B.O.D., C.O.D. and dissolved pollutants.
(v) Soil testing: indicators of soil type and quality and laboratory work.
Third World Development
(i) Urban-rural divide: urbanisation - push and pull factors; consequences on rural and urban
sectors; future trends and projections.
(ii) A critical appraisal of conventional paradigm of development from the viewpoints of
sustainability, environmental impact and equity.
(iii) A case study of Gandhian approach in terms of its aims and processes.
(iv) Urban environmental planning and management: problems of sanitation; water
management; transport; energy; air quality; housing; constraints (economic, political) in
tackling the problems; inapplicability of solutions that have worked in the First World
and the need for indigenous approach to urban environment.
Sustainable Agriculture
(i) Traditional agriculture in India : irrigation systems; crop varieties; techniques for maintaining soil fertility; impact of colonialism; Indian agriculture at independence - food scarcity - food import - need for increasing production - the need for land reform; green revolution - HYVs - fertilizers - pesticides - large irrigation projects (dams); critical appraisal of the green revolution from the view points of agro-bio diversity; soil health; ecological impact of pesticides; energy (petroleum and petrochemicals); ability to reach the poorer sections of the rural communities; sustainability - need for sustainable agriculture - characteristics for sustainable agriculture; techniques of water soil and pest management.
(ii) Food: the twin problems of production and access; food situation in the world; integrated and sustainable approach to food security for the Third World .
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
(i) Definition: resources; scarcity and growth; natural resource accounting.
(ii) GNP vs. other forms of measuring income.
(iii) Economic status and welfare (net economic welfare, nature capital, ecological capital, etc.)
(iv) Externalities: cost benefit analysis (social, ecological).
(v) Natural capital regeneration.
International Relations and the Environment
(i) Trans-national characteristics of environmental issues , trade in wild life and ozone depletion.
(ii) Impact of international politics, national sovereignty and interest.
(iii) International trade: a theoretical perspective; free trade vs. protectionism; import barriers; domestic industry vs. free trade; trans-national companies - a historical perspective (colonialism and its lasting impact today); trade between the first and the third world - characteristics - terms of trade; India 's international trade - characteristics - major imports and exports - foreign exchange crises - the export imperative and its impact on the environment; the case study of aquaculture ; diversion of scarce resource from
production of subsistence needs to commercial products; toxic waste trade - extent and impact; Globalisation – trade regimes (WTO, GATT, IPR, etc.) and their impact on third world.
(iv) International aid: agencies; advantages; limitations; need for re-orienting aid; aid vs. self-reliance
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