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‘We need to put down oroblem animals for wildlife conservation’
A VETERINARIAN WHO COMES OUT FROM THE COLLEGE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO SHOOT. HOW IS HE GOING TO TRANQUILISE A TIGER? WE HAVE HAD WORKSHOPS TO TEACH PERSONNEL HOW TO HANDLE A WEAPON, EVEN HOW TO WALK IN THE FOREST. THIS IS TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CANNOT BE GLEANED FROM INTERNET OR FROM READING A BOOK
Organic reinforcement
Direct procurement and cold storages are key to promote organic farming of fruits, vegetables
A timely fix
India’s lone home-grown crop simulation model can now forecast climate impact on farm yield in real time
Accelerated breeding
Bisohenol A, a chemical used for softening plastics, shortens the mosquito life cycle and leads to population explosion
India patently way behind on 5G
Policy blocks and poor vision have held up 5G in India, while China’s breakthroughs are helping to set global standards
Evolutionary Thrust
HUMAN EVOLUTION
PANDEMIC CONTINUUM
Two livestock viruses have spread across India in an unprecedented manner this year—lumpy skin disease and African swine fever. With changing climate, new infectious diseases will emerge, while existing ones will Ne spread to new areas and sirike with greater severity, like these two have. Such outbreaks have harsh economic and food security implications, and can pose a major threat to human health. The world has not recovered from the previous virus that jumped from animals to humans. A report by SHAGUN from the worst-hit state of Rajasthan and SNIGDHA DAS in Delhi
Cultivated idea
The potential of urban agriculture in alleviating food insecurity in cities requires holistic policy support from governments
Collateral casualty
Rise in cardiac ailments in India hints at the role of COVID-19, but in absence of long-term studies there are no definitive trends
Chronic floods threaten Niger delta
THE COMMUNITIES living in the oil-rich Niger Delta have been devastated by recurring floods. The lack of effort to safeguard these communities or help them adapt to the changing weather conditions has left people vulnerable and helpless.
Africa's clarion call for climate justice
IT WAS highly symbolic that Gabon, which commits to remain carbon neutral up to and beyond 2050, hosted the Africa Climate Week, the last major talks before the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is held in Egypt this November to implement the Paris Agreement.
Strong start
With free tuition and access to sanitary pads, a non-profit in Prayagraj provides children in low-income areas a chance to complete their education
Crowdfunding - Fund At Your Own Risk
Crowdfunding has emerged as a popular option in India to help people avail expensive medical treatments. But in the absence of regulation, donors are vulnerable to fraudulent campaigns
Millet might
Odisha's mission to bring millets back to its fields and plates can succeed with greater marketing support and promotion beyond tribal areas
Invisibilisation of Dalit scholars
A PERSON READING CASTE AND PARTITION IN BENGAL: THE STORY OF DALIT REFUGEES, 1946-1961 WOULD THINK THAT DALITS HAVE NEVER DONE A CASTE ANALYSIS OF PARTITION, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE
OZONE ON FIRE
Frequent, widespread forest fires in a warming world are the new threats to the ozone layer
Moderna strikes with a new lawsuit
Moderna is trying to be gatekeeper for the mRNA platform for future drug development, raising monopolistic fears
PERILS IN A DEFINITION
The country's Supreme Court is tasked with deciding whether political parties should be restricted from promising freebies in election campaigns and manifestos. But the debate is not so simple
Planetary summer
Prolonged droughts and heat waves are wreaking havoc across continents. Europe may have reached the point of no return
Cost of credit
Information accessed by Down To Earth under the Right To Information Act belies the government's claim that banks give farm loans without any service charge or mortgaging farmer's land
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
The plastic problem needs to be reframed. The issue is not just how plastic waste is disposed of, but also how the material enters the supply chain and for whose benefit. India cannot end plastic pollution until it holds the petrochemical behemoths and the plastic industry accountable for manufacturing the menace
A Covid-19 Encore With Monkeypox
A familiar pattern is emerging in the battle against monkeypox with the US and Europe grabbing scarce vaccine supplies
Freedom fuel
Pune entrepreneur experiments with cooking devices powered by solar and biomass to beat rising LPG prices
All zeros and ones
The ability to capture, store and model data is fuelling the technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution, which many believe will lead to a future owned by corporations
A question of sales
Natural farming practices have drastically reduced input costs, but Himachal Pradesh's farmers still lack market access
Capital owners
PROPERTIES OF RENT IS ABOUT THE TENSION BETWEEN RAPIDLY CHANGING ECONOMIC REALITIES AND THE PARALLEL ATTEMPTS BY COMMUNITIES TO HOLD ON TO KINSHIP ASSOCIATIONS, AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL NOTIONS OF RESPECT AND HONOUR
RESTRICTED IN GIR
Despite ample scientific evidence and a Supreme Court order to translocate lions from Gir forest of Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, the shift to establish a second wild population has not happened
Churn under sea
SEAFLOOR SPREADING, CAUSED BY AN UPWELLING OF MAGMA, HAS LED TO EPISODES OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE GEOLOGIC PAST. THE SPREAD RATE HAS SLOWED DOWN IN LAST 19 MILLION YEARS, BUT COULD GATHER MOMENTUM
Model shift
Farmers in Zimbabwe are shifting from rain-fed to irrigation-based agriculture to beat erratic rains in a rapidly changing climate
Does Rajasthan's Wage Employment Scheme Tick All The Boxes?
Rajasthan's attempt to provide income security to urban poor shows challenges of designing a wage guarantee scheme for towns and cities