Rina Mukherji

Senior journalist specializing in development issues

India

2016 Panos Fellow on Migrant Labour & Winner of the first-ever Laadli Extraordinaire National Award for Gender Sensitivity 2012-13 for showing exemplary courage in relentlessly fighting gender injustice and the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity ( web category) for 2011-12 ( Eastern Region), and several media fellowships such as EJN-Internews, Robert Bosch Stiftung-2008 and 2012, Women Deliver (2010), Seaweb ( 2008), Dr Rina Mukherji is a well-known journalist who specializes in all aspects of sustainable development.
She has reported from nearly all the states of the Indian Union, and from many parts of the world.

She started her career in Mumbai in the mid-80s,and worked with UNI(85-88) and Indian Express in the early years of her career. Going on a 4 year sabbatical when awarded a University Grants Commission fellowship to complete a doctorate in African Studies, she moved to Kolkata in 1994, and soon after, joined Business Standard on their News Bureau. She later worked for The Statesman, exchange4media, among others.

Freelanced for nearly every major publication in India. Currently an independent journalist writing for Geography And You, ECO, The Hindu Business Line, The Millennium Post, D-Sector, Just Femme, The Hindu, Infochange, Planet Earth, Infochange, CIVIL SOCIETY and Energy Next. Until recently, she has also worked as a freelance consultant for the India Water Portal.

Written on Politics, Business, Science, the Performing and Fine Arts, Child Rights, Gender, Law,Films, Travel,Biodiversity, Climate Change; in short, everything under the sun.
Writes extensively in both English and Hindi. Fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali and Marathi. Can read and write Arabic and French. Knows a little Spanish and Italian.

Portfolio
The Hindu Business Line
11/17/2017
Pushing back with their little green fingers

How adolescent girls in West Bengal are keeping early marriage at bay In Tarakdaspur village, Nadia district of West Bengal, 17-year-old Mamuni Biswas has learnt to make compost from dung and dry leaves at the village ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) centre.

The Hindu Business Line
01/12/2018
They see, they learn and they discover

How Bengal is building a scientific temper in rural young Teenagers Dipti Pramanik and Putul Mondol always look forward to Saturdays. The weekends mean imbibing knowledge from the great outdoors. Both studying in school, it gives them the opportunity to learn about nature and biodiversity in the fields, mangroves and vegetable patches of their village Phoolbari in Sagar block of West Bengal's Sundarbans region.

Dailyo
Adityanath's crackdown on abattoirs puts UP in a dangerous place

Yogi Adityanath has made good on his election promise by clamping down on abattoirs in Uttar Pradesh. Although he has shut down 140 illegal abattoirs, his intention to shut all those dealing in buffalo meat has triggered alarm, and also encouraged attacks on meat shops in Hathras.

The Hindu Business Line
07/22/2016
Lost and found on TV

A Malayalam TV show has helped track down as many as 530 missing migrant workers in the Gulf. For the families of the missing, the show is a saviour A cousin's sudden suicide within days of taking up an engineer's job in Muscat saw Rafeek Ravuther wake up to the dark side of Gulf migration.

The Wire
06/22/2016
Despite Labour Laws, South Asian Workers Suffer in Jordan's Billion Dollar Industries

Amman: Unlike other countries in West Asia, Jordan lacks petrodollars. In 1996, an agreement with the US gave the country preferential duty-free and quota-free access to the American market. This was the first such agreement the US ever had with an Arab nation and saw the establishment of Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) - essentially, industrial zones created to service the export market.

http://www.thehoot.org/
rina mukherji

Articles by rina mukherji for The HOOT.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO CONCERN Go to Page Number - 1 2 India's medicinal plants IUCN also suggests preventing overgrazing by animals and imposing trade regulations. For instance, the Tropical Pitcher Plant is already included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO CONCERN Go to Page Number - 1 2 endangered & on a declineIndia's medicinal plants By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Plant biodiversity, especially that of medicinal plants, is today considered a national treasure for any country. But in the land of Ayurveda, medicinal herbs are under serious threat.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO CONCERN Go to Page Number - 1 2 endangered & on a declineIndia's medicinal plants By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Plant biodiversity, especially that of medicinal plants, is today considered a national treasure for any country. But in the land of Ayurveda, medicinal herbs are under serious threat.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

There are several such step-wells in and around north Gujarat and Rajasthan, as also in Delhi. Of course, the needs of the region determined the size of the step-wells. Delhis Agrasen ki baori and the bawdis of Neemrana and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan are massive structures that give us an idea of what rainwater harvesting must have meant for our ancestors living in semi-arid climes.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

STATE DIARY Go to Page Number - 1 2 to learn how India saved its water in times pastStep inside the Well By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Ahmedabad At a time when a heat wave sweeping across India has taken a toll of over 2,500 lives and predictions of a delayed and weak monsoon have crashed all hopes of accche din, why not revisit the water conservation methods used by our ancestors in the arid and semi-arid regions of the country in times past.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

STATE DIARY Go to Page Number - 1 2 to learn how India saved its water in times pastStep inside the Well By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Ahmedabad At a time when a heat wave sweeping across India has taken a toll of over 2,500 lives and predictions of a delayed and weak monsoon have crashed all hopes of accche din, why not revisit the water conservation methods used by our ancestors in the arid and semi-arid regions of the country in times past.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

Since the presence of plants is integrated with our HVAC ((heating, ventilating, and air conditioning; the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort), which involves pre-treatment of the ambient air before it is circulated in the building, through effective air cleaning and treatment practices including particle filters, wet scrubbers, Ultra Violet sanitation and activated carbon air filters in place, ideal air change rates and air distribution and continual air quality...

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 IndoorsBREATHING EASY By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Buildings account for over 40 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in India. The energy consumption of office buildings is especially high due to air-conditioning and lighting.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 IndoorsBREATHING EASY By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Buildings account for over 40 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in India. The energy consumption of office buildings is especially high due to air-conditioning and lighting.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 IndoorsBREATHING EASY By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Buildings account for over 40 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in India. The energy consumption of office buildings is especially high due to air-conditioning and lighting.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

Since the presence of plants is integrated with our HVAC ((heating, ventilating, and air conditioning; the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort), which involves pre-treatment of the ambient air before it is circulated in the building, through effective air cleaning and treatment practices including particle filters, wet scrubbers, Ultra Violet sanitation and activated carbon air filters in place, ideal air change rates and air distribution and continual air quality...

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 IndoorsBREATHING EASY By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Buildings account for over 40 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in India. The energy consumption of office buildings is especially high due to air-conditioning and lighting.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 IndoorsBREATHING EASY By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Buildings account for over 40 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in India. The energy consumption of office buildings is especially high due to air-conditioning and lighting.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 3 4 Portals of rapid growth @ the cost of ecologyPORTability? By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata What does a port portend? Progress or disruption? When it comes to ecological questions about mega port projects, it seems that the government is pressing ahead with the latter in the name of the first.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO GURU Go to Page Number - 1 2 & its upcoming portUnderstanding Pulicat By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Is it important to study the impact of mega infrastructure projects on the ecosystems they are set to disturb?

Geographyandyou
Interview

Geography and You|Climate Change In India|Climate Change|NGO|Urban|Climate Change India|NGO India|India.Lights,Teachers Capacity Building,Environment In India, India,poverty in India,Climate Change,Magazine In Inida, Development,Agricultutre ,urban ,rural,Extreme Event,Events India,Extreme Event India.

The Hindu Business Line
12/17/2009
Breaking a water siege

The Bushmen refused to leave... Until then, few had heard of a human right to water. Rina Mukherji In 2002, the government of Botswana cut off water to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in a bid to force the last of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen out, and build a modern country in the truest sense.

Civilsocietyonline
Civil Society Online - Full News

Noamundi is a laidback town in Jharkhand with a sparse population, a single railhead, a sleepy wayside station and very little habitation. Its main claim to fame is as a mining town. Life here revolves around the mining of iron ore, its transportation and processing. Mining, whether manual or mechanised, destroys the environment.

Civilsocietyonline
Civil Society Online - Full News

Noamundi is a laidback town in Jharkhand with a sparse population, a single railhead, a sleepy wayside station and very little habitation. Its main claim to fame is as a mining town. Life here revolves around the mining of iron ore, its transportation and processing. Mining, whether manual or mechanised, destroys the environment.

Justfemme
A Safer World For Mothers

The WHO estimates a shortage of over 3 lakh midwives in countries with high maternal mortality rates. With only five more years left for the deadline for Millennium Development Goals, the focus is on improving maternal health. UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid spoke to Rina Mukherji in Washington on the organisation's plans in this direction.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

GAME CHANGER Go to Page Number - 1 2 A Cheaper Biomass for Paddy CultivationAzolla Magic By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Ever visited Dal Lake in Srinagar in recent years? A green mat floats in the waters and is perpetually being removed to little avail.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

GAME CHANGER Go to Page Number - 1 2 A Cheaper Biomass for Paddy CultivationAzolla Magic By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Ever visited Dal Lake in Srinagar in recent years? A green mat floats in the waters and is perpetually being removed to little avail.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO WATCH Go to Page Number - 1 2 Battling the curse of the sea But soil salinity and low soil fertility limit cultivable land here, which is just 39 per cent of the total available for habitation. There is also the problem of drainage, since land is generally below sea level.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO WATCH Go to Page Number - 1 2 Land contouring to get the best out of saline landsBattling the curse of the sea By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata The Indian coastal ecosystem comprises 10.78 million hectares situated along a 8,129 km long coastline. Of this, 3.1 million hectare is salt-affected.

Civilsocietyonline
Civil Society Online - Full News

Noamundi is a laidback town in Jharkhand with a sparse population, a single railhead, a sleepy wayside station and very little habitation. Its main claim to fame is as a mining town. Life here revolves around the mining of iron ore, its transportation and processing. Mining, whether manual or mechanised, destroys the environment.

Geographyandyou
Geography And You

Geography and You|Climate Change In India|Climate Change|NGO|Urban|Climate Change India|NGO India|India.Lights,Teachers Capacity Building,Environment In India, India,poverty in India,Climate Change,Magazine In Inida, Development,Agricultutre ,urban ,rural,Extreme Event,Events India,Extreme Event India.

Womensweb
11/28/2014
When A Movie Stands Up For Girl Children : Kajarya

Kajarya, a film that is winning accolades all around the world, explores the social settings of a village in Haryana, and how they contribute to female infanticide. A feature film deliberately made like a documentary, Madhureeta Anand's Kajarya is a critical take on the social mores that prompt female infanticide.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

BEST PRACTICES Shows the wayGreen Terminal By: Dr Rina Mukherji, New Delhi As the capital of a developing country, New Delhi takes pride in all its state-of-the-art infrastructure. Its new airport terminal, the famous T3 is one such case in point. Especially as it earns worldwide appreciation for its clean and green ways.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

GAME CHANGER & a Gene SaviourOf a new type of mango By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata In today's globalising times when commercial considerations are proving the bane of agricultural biodiversity, an innovative farmer in a remote Indian village, is expressing his love for fruits and veggies by protecting rare varieties and inventing new ones.

Womensweb
11/28/2014
When A Movie Stands Up For Girl Children : Kajarya

Kajarya, a film that is winning accolades all around the world, explores the social settings of a village in Haryana, and how they contribute to female infanticide. A feature film deliberately made like a documentary, Madhureeta Anand's Kajarya is a critical take on the social mores that prompt female infanticide.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

The IGBC too, after disclosing the names of buildings that did not meet the criteria for the ratings earned, withdrew them from its website after the CSE had analysed the situation. Yet, the CSE gives all credit to IGBC for trying to reduce the lack of transparency in this sector by making public the performance data of buildings.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO WATCH Go to Page Number - 1 2 The greenwash of green buildings exposedHow Green? By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Going by the old adage what gets measured, gets managed, several green buildings rating systems claim to quantify aspects such as energy consumption, waste generation, renewable energy adoption, etc.

Civilsocietyonline
Civil Society Online - Full News

Thomas Kocherry, 74, a priest and a staunch activist for the rights of fish workers, passed away on 3 rd May after suffering a massive heart attack. Kocherry's death is a big loss to the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) that he helped found and the National Alliance for People's Movement (NAPM) with whom his forum was affiliated and where he worked as convener for a while.

Womensweb
10/16/2014
Why Don't The Vrindavan Widows Stay At Home?

Do the widows of Vrindavan live there out of choice or because they have no choices? Parliamentarian Hema Malini's comments on widows reveal a shocking lack of compassion as well as knowledge. Celebrity film personality and Member of Parliament Hema Malini recently took it upon herself to focus on the widows of Vrindavan.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

Amla has found favour due to its commercial value in hair oils and is being widely cultivated in many parts of the country. The same is true of ber and gulab jamun (rose apple), says Dr Paul. But several minor fruit varieties, such as gaab (Indian persimmon), have nearly vanished.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO WATCH Go to Page Number - 1 2 3 Fruits sans Care Minor fruit comprise two varieties, points out agroscientist and Assistant Director of Agriculture (West Bengal) Dr Anupam Paul, who has been working on various aspects of food security and indigenous crops and fruit.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO WATCH Go to Page Number - 1 2 3 Of Minor Fruits & DevelopmentFruits sans Care By: Dr Rina Mukherji, KolkataAparna India is counted among the worlds 17 mega-diverse nations. And this mega-diversity is as manifest among its minor produce as it is among its wild flora and fauna.

Theweekendleader
Making of Valmikis

On International Women's Day 2007, dancer Alokananda Roy visited a jail for the first time. Invited as a guest by the Inspector General of Prisons, B D Sharma, to the Presidency Jail in Kolkata, the visit changed her perception about a prison itself. In fact, she was reminded of an ashram.

Theweekendleader
Slow and steady

Trring triing, trundle, trundle. goes the familiar sound of the conductor's bell as the tramcar rolls on the timeless flagstones of Kolkata, evoking images of an era gone by. It was in the mid -90s that I first boarded a Kolkata tram.

Theweekendleader
Art for folks

Stepping into Amitava Bhattacharya's office in a quiet south Kolkata suburb is a revelation. Folk artefacts, brochures of programmes on lost forms of music and dance greet you from all corners.

Theweekendleader
A clean man

Growing up in an urban slum, Subhas Datta, whose family migrated from East Pakistan in 1950, felt that "every one of us had a right to a decent home, and clean surroundings." Even after getting those necessities through sheer grit and hard work that saw him as a qualified chartered accountant, the childhood resolve still remains in his heart.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO GURU Go to Page Number - 1 2 Are we doing enough to Harness the sun ECO: The last few years have seen a spurt in growth of solar power all over India. One would tend to attribute it to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase 2 and the problem of power deficit and outages.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO GURU Go to Page Number - 1 2 Are we doing enough to Harness the sun By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata If Indias progress in the field of solar power can be attributed to one person, it would be Dr Santi Pada Gon Chaudhuri.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO FOCUS Go to Page Number - 1 2 Light Up a Million LivesA social enterprise to By: Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Rural India, suffering from lack of connectivity to the nations power grid, can sort out its power needs by harnessing the sun. All it needs is innovative ways to trap and deliver this raw energy.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

BEST PRACTICES Go to Page Number - 1 2 Towards a Sanitary Solution By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Sanitary pads are usually non-biodegradable and a waste management nightmare, thanks to their sheer numbers. An affordable, biodegradable sanitary pad being produced by womens groups using recycled agri-waste could just be the answer.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

STATE DIARY Go to Page Number - 1 2 3 Kolkata set to be Indias first No-Vat cityImage make-over By: Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Kolkata had earned the sobriquet of a decaying city, not just for its crumbling British era buildings, but also for the total lack of effective waste management.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO INITIATIVE and not just to run on top!A Tyre for the road By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata High altitudes and difficult terrain are the bane of tyres. Black tops roads dont usually last here. But if you use discarded tyres to build roads, you may make the life the tyre of your car rather easy.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

STATE DIARY Go to Page Number - 1 2 3 As wealthOf Forests By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Birbhum, West Bengal If dry land and destroyed forests equal migration, joblessness and poverty, can forestation mean sustainability? The case of the once barren Dwaranda in the remote Birbhum district of West Bengal, would definitely prove so.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

SUSTAINABILITY Go to Page Number - 1 2 3 Decentralising water treatment to save aquifiersSustainable Sanitation By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Bangalore Indian cities generate an estimated 38,354 million litre per day (MLD) of wastewater. However, only 8.5 per cent of it is treated.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

The advantages in its recovery pattern, the IUCN Species Survival Commission feels, could easily be lost if current trends in the illicit trade in rhino horn continue. Change of land use patterns, shrinking of the flood plains of many northeastern rivers because of the construction of dams are considered by experts to be the prime reason.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

ECO SPHERE Go to Page Number - 1 2 Can the Asian rhinos be saved ? By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Guwahati Just as India was taking pride in its improved rhino population, there has been a deluge of poaching incidents all over the northeast. ECO explores the implications.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

Based on information collected from 10 different sites in the Sundarbans, Prof Chowdhurys study looked at the pros and cons on the economic and environmental front and concluded that although the power plant would probably guarantee better employment prospects and economic development due to availability of electricity, it would result in greenhouse emissions that would adversely affect rainfall patterns, water pollution and destruction of groundwater sources due to seepage of industrial...

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

GREEN GLOBE Go to Page Number - 1 2 A South-South recipe for disaster By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Dhaka, Bangladesh The first instance of two South Asian governments collaborating on a major power project through a joint venture to trade in power has come up against a lot of resistance.

Ecoearthcare
ECO - Earth Care Optimised

URBAN JUNGLE Go to Page Number - 1 2 Cycle Satyagraha By: Dr Rina Mukherji, Kolkata Even as the world turns more and more towards environment- friendly transportation, Kolkata recently banned the greenest of all vehicles, the ubiquitous bicycle, from many of its roads. Sparking obvious protests.

Hindu
The Hindu : Magazine / Environment : Coral gardens

Ecowatch Coral gardens RINA MUKHERJI Two projects, one in Israel and another in Japan, look at ways of cultivating corals in laboratories and transplanting them to degraded reefs to rejuvenate the marine ecosystem. A thriving colony: A coral reef before (left) and after transplantation at Eilat; A year-and-a-half old cultured Aprocora corals at Okinawa (below).

Hindu
The Hindu : Magazine / Focus : At home in an alien land

Magazine At home in an alien land RINA MUKHERJI An NGO in Pattaya, Thailand, takes a few initial steps in understanding the emotional and psychological needs of men who live in an alien land and culture and providing a support system. The first few males who trooped in did so out of curiosity.

Thehindubusinessline
07/12/2007
Discovery of Mughal India

Beyond the Three Seas Travellers' tales of Mughal India Edited by Michael Fisher Publishers: Random House India Price: Rs 350 Rina Mukherji Covering a golden period of Indian medieval history, this volume of excerpts from the writings of famous European travellers to India tellingly illustrates what made India great when Europe still reeled under the effects of bigotry and parochialism.

Thehindu
07/28/2007
New possibilities

Effeminate boys who revel in their transgender mannerisms end up in a nowhere space of sexual abuse and bleak future. An NGO in West Bengal is giving them hope by training them in alternative means of livelihood. RINA MUKHERJI Accolades earned as a kid playing Vishnupriya did not prevent Ramesh Das getting abused as he grew older.

Theweekendleader
Slow and steady

Trring triing, trundle, trundle. goes the familiar sound of the conductor's bell as the tramcar rolls on the timeless flagstones of Kolkata, evoking images of an era gone by. It was in the mid -90s that I first boarded a Kolkata tram.

Metromela
Cotton Sarees - The Magical Weaves of India

India is arguably the world's oldest producer of cotton, with traces of cotton cultivation having been found among the artifacts of the Indus Valley civilization in parts of India and present-day Pakistan. Although cotton came to be cultivated in Mexico, Egypt and China, the sheer variety and quality of Indian weaves came to be cherished all over the world, and continues to this day.