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Dr Rajendra Pachauri Becomes The Seventh Indian Nobel Laureate

“I am only a symbolic recipient but it is the organisation which has been awarded,” Dr Rajendra Pachauri reacted to the news of the Nobel Prize. But then, didn’t the earlier recipients, Tagore and Mother Teresa, get the award for the achievements of Shanti Niketan and Missionaries of Charity?

It has been nine years since Dr Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics and 94 years since Rabindranath Tagore collected it for literature. In between, three ‘pure’ scientists from India did the country proud – Sir CV Raman in 1930 for his work in physics, Dr Hargobind Khurana in 1968 for medicine and physiology and Dr Subramaniam Chandrasekar for physics in 1983. The sixth Indian was Mother Teresa in 1979. Although born Albanian, she is considered Indian because she had settled down at Kolkata, where her Missionaries of Charity has its headquarters.

Pachauri, who is also the recipient of the Padma Bhushan, has become the seventh Indian to claim the Nobel Prize in 2007, the second ever Nobel Peace Prize for India. UN Inter-governmental Panel on (IPCC), of which Pachauri is the Chief, is the co-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with former United States Vice-President Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr . World Meteorological Organisation and United Nation Environment Programme established IPCC in 1998.

Nobody can claim any of the distinguished persons who receive the Norwegian award, and the global recognition that is associated with it, get it for their individual, stand-alone contributions. They effectively lead hundreds or thousands of others to achieve, whether at Shanti Niketan or Missionaries of Charity. By the same token, the Nobel Peace Prize to IPCC can very well be taken as the Seventh Nobel Prize bagged by an Indian.

Moreover, Pachauri works out of New Delhi, even though he travels around the world to coordinate activities of thousands of scientists, to spread the awareness about the need to arrest drastic climatic change. In all humility, Pachauri reacted to the news of the Nobel Prize, “I am only a symbolic recipient but it is the organisation which has been awarded.” He was happy that with this award to IPCC, the issue of would come to the fore.

“It places a larger responsibility on me and I will ensure that more will be done,” he added.

Pachauri hails from Nainital district in Uttarakhand. He has served in a number of national and international organisations. He has worked as a Board Member of NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), Indian Oil and GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd) and is the Director General of The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), formerly known as Tata Energy Research Institute, since 2001. TERI is a premier institution devoted to sustainable development. IPCC elected him as Chairman in 2002.

Although Al Gore was reportedly unhappy with the choice of the Indian, who he feared would be a drag on the organisation because of his strident criticism of the United States, Pachauri won him over with his total dedication to the cause of ecology, which is dear to Gore as well.

It is true that the Nobel Peace Prize of 2007, like many others previously, including the one to Mother Teresa, has invited criticism. While several Americans consider that George Bush stole the Presidency from Gore through electoral manipulations in 2000, others consider Al Gore as a sore loser, who never won in 2000 but still made the country go through a 36-day election night.

Questions have also been raised on the ‘peace’ prize not going to persons who contributed in halting wars and preventing violence and instead being given to environmental activists working on climate change. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo answered the criticism: “It indeed is a question of war and peace. We’re already witnessing the first climate wars, in the Sahel belt of Africa. Nomads and herders are in conflict with farmers because the changing climate has brought drought and a shortage of fertile lands.”


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CNN global warming misinformation makes its way to <em>The Radio Factor</em>
On <em>The Radio Factor</em>, guest host Douglas Urbanski cited a December 18 segment from CNN's <em>Lou Dobbs Tonight</em> to support the assertion, which has been widely discredited, that "man-made climate change" is "one of the biggest lies of our time" and in doing so echoed several of the debunked claims and suggestions about global warming included in that CNN segment.
"Winter storm" causes Dobbs to ask: "What's that global warming deal?"
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Levin cited "global cooling" study to dismiss efforts to "control carbon dioxide" emissions, ignoring warning by study's co-author not to do so
On his radio show, Mark Levin cited a recent study predicting that an ice age will occur in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years as purported evidence that humans should not "try and control carbon dioxide" emissions that contribute to global climate change. But Levin did not mention that the study's co-author reportedly warned against using the study to argue that "we should stop fighting warming" and stated: "There's no excuse for saying 'we've got to keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.' "
Milwaukee radio host smeared "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]" who talk about global warming
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Hannity compared carbon offsets to "cheat[ing] on your wife," ignored Murdoch's efforts to make News Corp. carbon neutral
On <em>Hannity &amp; Colmes</em>, Sean Hannity criticized the purchase of credits to offset one's "carbon footprint," asserting, "Those offsets -- that is the biggest hoax in the world. ... You know what it's like? You go cheat on your wife, and then say, 'Honey, but don't worry. I bought an offset.' Good luck." Hannity has yet to address the pledge by News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch "to be carbon neutral, across all our businesses" -- which includes Fox News -- "by 2010."
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Hume claimed Gore's "energy use has surged more than 10 percent," ignored Gore's response that it's all "green power"
On <em>Special Report</em>, citing purported findings by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, Brit Hume claimed that Al Gore's "energy use has surged more than 10 percent" since environmentally friendly renovations were completed on his home. Hume offered no response from Gore. Responding to the charge, a Gore spokeswoman stated that "[w]hen [the Gores] do use power, it's green power." According to the Tennessee Valley Authority, green power "create[s] less waste and pollution" than standard electricity.
<em>Wash. Times</em>' Pruden falsely claimed that "the earth has been measurably cooling for the last decade"
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MSNBC hosted Breaux and Lott to defend oil and gas companies -- but failed to note they're lobbyists for them
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Beck revived falsehood that Bill Clinton said, "We've got to slow down our economy" to fight global warming
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Jonah Goldberg misrepresented Gore's comments about Hurricane Katrina
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Previewing McCain's environment speech, Reuters did not mention his voting record or include criticisms of his positions
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Fox's Baier misrepresented Gore's comments about Myanmar cyclone
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Fox's E.D. Hill falsely claimed that "U.N. meteorologists" say "the planet may actually cool off for the 10th year in a row"
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<em>NY Times</em> understated Inhofe's views on global warming
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