During The Last Four Years, The Indian Economy Has Been Undergoing Phenomenal Changes. Licensing And Controls Are Being Dismantled. Nationali¬Sation Is Giving Place To Privatisation. Import Of Capital And Technology Is Being Liberalised. Terms And Conditions For The Import Of Capital And Technology Are Being Eased. Attractive Terms Are Being Offered To Multinationals To Induce Them To Set Up Production Units In India. Fast Progress Is Being Made In The Direction Of Making The Rupee Completely Convertible. Imports Have Been Liberalised; Import Duties Have Been Drastically Reduced; More And More Items Have Been Added To The Ogl List. Bank Interest Rates Have Been Freed.In Order To Make A Critical Analysis Of The Changes That Are Taking Place In Various Fields Of The Indian Economy, We Have Planned To Bring Out Five Volumes Covering Different Fields And Including Different Shades Of Opinions. The Present Is The First Volume Of The Planned Five Volumes. The Contributors Of This Volume Are Leading Experts In Their Respective Fields.It Is Hoped That The Book Would Be Found Useful By The Researchers And Students Of Economics, Businessmen, Government Executives Concerned With The Formulation And Execution Of Economic Policies, Parliamentarians And Legislators, And The General Readers Interested In Knowing The Changes That Are Taking Place In Our Economy.

India has abundant water resources including rivers, canals, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, upland lakes, and floodplain wetlands covering over 5. [Author]8 percent of the country. [Author] These environments harbour a rich fish fauna of 1 035 species that constitutes the basis for the inland fisheries sector, which annually produces 2 144 452 tonnes of fish – if enhanced and culture-based fisheries are included – corresponding to 21 percent of total fish production. [Author] Rivers like the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Barak, alongside floodplain wetlands, play crucial roles, especially in the east and northeast. [Author] Lakes are abundant in upland areas. [Author] Reservoirs cover over 1 percent of India's land and hold untapped potential for fisheries development. [Author] Traditionally, fishing in inland water bodies has been a small-scale or subsistence activity. [Author] Fishing practices, crafts and gear used in inland fisheries are still traditional. [Author] Cooperative societies are present in reservoirs and wetlands giving fishers better bargaining power with traders and better prices for the fish. [Author] Inland fisheries are imperative for poverty alleviation, food security, gender empowerment, cultural services, ecosystem function, and biodiversity, and are important for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. [Author] Important threats to inland fisheries include water scarcity, habitat loss, pollution, climate change and invasive species. [Author] However, several major river conservation programmes have been initiated. [Author] The collection of inland fishery catch statistics remains weak and production appears to be significantly under-reported in many states. [Author] A simplified method for defining water bodies and estimating catch is proposed and all States have been advised to follow the same definition for water bodies. [Author]