Role of Nature in Human Life The progress of man from the Stone Age to the computer age is astonishing. At times one may be misled and consider this as man’s victory over nature. But it is not true. Our forefathers modestly believed that, ‘Life is a glorious gift from God. Human being is the epitome of the infinite prowess of the divine creator. Nature plays a dominant role in the lives of all creations. Natural objects like rivers, mountains, forests etc. enjoyed a high position in the life of all societies. Rivers were considered as goddesses having not only purifying capacity but also self-purifying ability. Pollution of the water of a river was considered as sin and it attracted punishments of different kinds’.[1] Today these ancient scripts appear to be far more relevant.

Holdgate's 1979 book A Perspective of Environmental Pollution was an intensely important volume when it was first published, looking as it did to contextualise and extensively review the effects of pollution throughout the 1970s. As founding director of the Department of the Environment's Central Unit on Environmental Pollution, Dr Holdgate was eminently well qualified to provide this analysis. Holdgate takes an ecological view of pollutants, pathways and environmental change, whilst also looking at international pollution and the way in which patterns of pollution are monitored and costed. Whilst his primary analysis is scientific, he also writes confidently and convincingly on the legal, administrative and economic effects of industrial processes on the environment. This book will continue to be of use to anyone with an interest in the impact and assessment of environmental pollution.

EBES conferences have been intellectual hub for academic discussion in economics, finance, and business fields and provide network opportunities for participants to make long lasting academic cooperation. This is the 21st issue of the Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics (EBES’s official proceeding series) which includes selected papers from the 34rd EBES Conference – Athens. Due to the COVID-19, the conference presentation mode has been switched to "online/virtual presentation only”. In the conference, 148 papers by 296 colleagues from 40 countries were presented. Both theoretical and empirical papers in this volume cover diverse areas of business, economics, and finance from many different regions. Therefore, it provides a great opportunity to colleagues, professionals, and students to catch up with the most recent studies in different fields and empirical findings on many countries and regions.

Natural resources management has two principal dimensions : Science-illuminated (earth, space, hydrological, pedological, information, etc. sciences) management of local resources (waters, soils, bioresources, minerals, rocks, sediments, etc.) in an ecologically-sustainable manner, and Value-addition through processing of natural products, through the application of technology is most marked in the case of some mineral products. The wellness of a community is dependent upon the security of food, water, environment and energy. Such a security is best realised through science-illuminated (earth, space, hydrological, pedological, information) management of local resources (waters, soils, bioresources, minerals, rocks, sediments, etc.) in an ecologically-sustainable and people-participatory manner, plus value-addition through processing of natural products. Moreover, the addition of value may increase a community’s wealth by advanced technologies, trading, exchange of knowledge, etc. Moreover, activities, employment and many other things come along with the availability of natural resources, which will require and affect policy. This volume provides guidelines for the implementation of technological, economical and policy advances in dealing with various aspects of natural resources. It is intended for researchers, professionals and students in environmental and earth sciences, mining, geography, sociology, economics and for policy makers and investors searching for potential in the natural resources industry. Ideal for consultation in combination with the editor's related publications Green Energy: Technology, Economics and Policy, Energy Portfolios and Food and Water Security.

Water is an important natural resource which forms the core of the ecological system. Human use of water depends on ambient water quality and human alterations of the landuse have an extensive influence on water quality. Water is typically referred to as polluted when its quality is adversely affected by contaminants and undergoes a marked shift in its capability to support the biological communities. The book is written for research scholars, hydrologists and environmentalists and especially students.

The concept of sustainability is inherently multi-disciplinary because it concerns a complex system having economic, technological, ecological, political, and other perspectives. Consequently, any effort in the area of sustainability involves concepts, principles, and methods from engineering, the social sciences including economics and social psychology, the biological sciences including ecology, and the physical sciences. Sustainability: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives discusses multidisciplinary aspects of the salient concepts, principles, and methods relevant to sustainability in a coherent and comprehensive manner. Topics covered range from green engineering and sustainability metrics to infrastructure and environmental policy.

India is facing a river pollution crisis today. The origins of this crisis are commonly traced back to post-Independence economic development and urbanisation. This book, in contrast, shows that some important early roots of India’s river pollution problem, and in particular the pollution of the Ganges, lie with British colonial policies on wastewater disposal during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Analysing the two cornerstones of colonial river pollution history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries – the introduction of sewerage systems and the introduction of biological sewage treatment technologies in cities along the Ganges – the author examines different controversies around the proposed and actual discharge of untreated/treated sewage into the Ganges, which involved officials on different administrative levels as well as the Indian public. The analysis shows that the colonial state essentially ignored the problematic aspects of sewage disposal into rivers, which were clearly evident from European experience. Guided by colonial ideology and fiscal policy, colonial officials supported the introduction of the cheapest available sewerage technologies, which were technologies causing extensive pollution. Thus, policies on sewage disposal into the Ganges and other Indian rivers took on a definite shape around the turn of the 20th century, and acquired certain enduring features that were to exert great negative influence on the future development of river pollution in India. A well-researched study on colonial river pollution history, this book presents an innovative contribution to South Asian environmental history. It is of interest to scholars working on colonial, South Asian and environmental history, and the colonial history of public health, science and technology.