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The Global Oneness Project is a living library of short films and interviews, exploring our greater human potential from a perspective of interconnectedness and interdependence. We are traveling the world interviewing people and highlighting organizations and projects that show creative possibilities of living "oneness" in our daily lives. To date we have interviewed 80 people in New Zealand, Australia, South America, India, Europe and the US, representing human rights and social justice, ecology and agriculture, spirituality and religion, indigenous wisdom and culture, economics, science and art. These short films and interviews are available online as a free resource to inspire dialogue about new ways of living and working at this time of global transformation.

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Consumption of Resources Outstripping Planet's Ability to Cope

Humans currently consume 20 percent more natural resources than the Earth can produce.

"We are spending nature's capital faster than it can regenerate," said WWF chief Claude Martin, releasing the 40-page study. "We are running up an ecological debt which we won't be able to pay off unless governments restore the balance between our consumption of natural resources and the Earth's ability to renew them." ...

Use of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil increased by almost 700 percent between 1961 and 2001, the study said.

Burning fossil fuels - in power plants and automobiles, for example - releases carbon dioxide, which experts say contributes to global warming. The planet is unable to keep pace and absorb the emissions, WWF said.

Populations of land, freshwater and marine species fell on average by 40 percent between 1970 and 2000. The report cited urbanization, forest clearance, pollution, overfishing and the introduction by humans of nonnative animals, such as cats and rats, which often drive out indigenous species.

"The question is how the world's entire population can live with the resources of one planet," said Jonathan Loh, one of the report's authors.

The study, WWF's fifth since 1998, examined the "ecological footprint" of the planet's entire population. ...

The world's 6.1 billion people leave a collective footprint of 33.36 billion acres, 5.44 acres per person. To allow the Earth to regenerate, the average should be no more than 4.45 acres, said WWF.

The impact of an average North American is double that of a European, but seven times that of the average Asian or African.

Residents of the United Arab Emirates, who use air conditioning extensively, leave a 24.46-acre footprint, two-thirds caused by fossil fuel use. The average U.S. resident leaves a 23.47-acre footprint, also largely from fuel. ...

Loh said governments, businesses and consumers should switch to energy-efficient technology, such as solar power.

"We can consume energy in a way that's harmful or in a way that's sustainable," he said. "The technologies are available to enable the world's population to live within the capacity of one planet."

High oil prices may help focus their minds.

"But it's not a question of how much oil is left," he said. "The question we should be asking is how much fossil fuel consumption the Earth can sustain. The Earth has a limited capacity."

The status of women in India- By Navjot

The status of women in ancient India, according to our scriptures, was higher than that of men. She was regarded as the embodiment of “shakti”. She was equated with goddess in our religious patheon of deities, and worshiped as the symbol of fertility. In the beginning of twentieth century, particularly during india’s national struggle for independence, the position of women took a turn for the better.

In the present times, there are a large number of women who have attained a pinnacle of glory in their respective fields. Mrs. Indira Gandhi , our late prime minister, was held in high esteem the world over. In public opinion poll conducted in France she came out to be the most popular woman in the world. There is no doubt that in the last two dacades, women have really come into their own.

Increasingly more and more women, specially in urban areas, are looking for self-fulfilment outside hearth and home.no wonder we find women in every field. No doubt, there are particular cases of women who have achieved eminence in different fields. The acts passed by the government and measures taken by it have made some differences. But condition and measures taken by it have made some differences. But the condition of a large majority of women in india remains deplorable.

The exploitation of women goes on. Women are considered weaker sex. even today, leave aside country side, in urban area too women are unable to raise their voice against the crimes committed against them. They are not even aware of their rights and privileges. They simply take all suffering humiliation and torture inflicted to them in spirit of resignation as a result of their past karma. Hence they carry on with daily chores with stoic silence.

Ground water near abandoned Carbide plant contaminated

Three organisations make this disturbing revelation

`This water is being used by over 25,000 people'

`MP Pollution Control Board had been suppressing information'

BHOPAL: Three organisations working for the victims of the 1984 UnionCarbide gas disaster here came up with a disturbing revelation onMonday. They said quarterly monitoring reports on ground water qualityfrom October 1996 to July 2007 show that the Madhya Pradesh PollutionControl Board had been suppressing information about the presence ofhighly toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the ground water near theabandoned Carbide plant. This water was being used by over 25,000people. The revelation was made at a press conference by RachnaDhingra and Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information andAction, Rashida Bi of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery KarmachariSangh and Syed M. Irfan of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush SangharshMorcha.They told media persons that reports obtained by the organisationsthrough the Right to Information Act show the ground water near theCarbide factory to be contaminated with such chemicals as Trichlorobenzene, Lindane, Benzene Hexachloride, Heptachlor and heavymetals, including Mercury, Nickel and Cadmium. These are known to damage the liver, kidney, brain, reproductive, immune and othersystems as well as cause cancers and birth defects.
The organisations said not only had the Pollution Control Boardsuppressed this vital information for as long as five years, it haddeliberately stopped testing samples for certain chemicals once theproblem had been identified. Thus after Trichlorobenzene was found tobe in eight times higher concentration than the limits prescribed bythe World Health Organisation in November 2005, none of the samplescollected in the eight quarters in 2006 and 2007 was tested for thischemical. The three organisations accused the Pollution Control Boardof scientific dishonesty and cast doubts on the veracity of its testresults. They said several chemicals such as Lindane, Dieldrin, BHCandSevin which were identified in the ground water samples in 2006 wereall found to be "not detectable" in 2007. "Such deliberate suppressionis also evident in the fact that ground water sampling points wheresamples tested positive in 2006 were not included in the 2007 qualitymonitoring," they added.