Science
Down To Earth
Risky overlap
Fisher communities in Kollam, Kerala, protest India’s plan to commence offshore sand mining
4 min |
August 01, 2025
Down To Earth
HOW INDIA MOVES GRIDLOCKED
India moves is brutally simple: it does not. Urban India is gridlocked and congested, and the problem is not limited to big cities. An analysis by SUNITA NARAIN, ANUMITA ROYCHOWDHURY, SHUBHAM SRIVASTAVA AND SAYAN ROY
10+ min |
July 16, 2025
Down To Earth
China backs open-source AI to circumvent US checks
CHINA IS challenging global artificial intelligence (AI) dynamics by releasing powerful, open-source models developed by its tech giants, including Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and the startup DeepSeek. This strategic move aims to circumvent US export restrictions on advanced chips and to foster rapid innovation within its AI sector.
1 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
Yet another washout
UN Ocean Conference sees limited progress, as SDG 14 remains the least funded global goal despite pledges and finance talks
6 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
WHAT IS THE DEBT AND CLIMATE LINK?
Over half of the low- and middle-income nations with high climate vulnerability are either already in debt distress or at high risk of it
5 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
India rolls out guidelines for expired medicine
ON MAY 26, India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation issued guidelines for the safe disposal of expired and unused medicines to drug controllers in all states and Union Territories.
1 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
TAME THE TRADE
Strengthen wildlife protection laws to combat illegal hunting and trade of exotic and threatened species in India
4 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
13 nations battle hunger emergencies
THE WORLD stands on the brink of yet another humanitarian disaster with at least 13 countries facing escalating hunger emergencies-five of which are on the verge of famine.
1 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
HOW LARGE IS SOVEREIGN DEBT?
Its burden on developing countries is growing twice as fast as on developed countries
4 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
A grove revived
It took 15 years for residents of Rajasthan's Sirawas village to bring to life a severely degraded sacred grove, an initiative that has triggered replicative efforts across the region
4 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
WHY SOVEREIGN DEBT RISING IN DEVELOPING WORLD?
Biased sovereign credit ratings and steep interest rates are at work
4 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
WHAT ARE THE SPILLOVER IMPACTS OF EXTERNAL DEBT?
Development priorities put on back burner
2 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
DEBT'S CLIMATE LINK
The world faces an unprecedented debt crisis, which is exacerbating climate emergency in developing countries. As an unfit global financial architecture makes accessing finance more difficult for countries in the developing world, governments are left with the option of either servicing the debt or serving the people.
3 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
WHO GAINS FROM BALLOONING DEBT?
Rising interest and falling exchange rates are driving capital back to developed nations—and closing doors to credit for developing countries
2 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
Read the signs
Tribal communities believe that nature provides signs of the oncoming season, but climate change has made traditional weather forecast methods unreliable
3 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
A line of caution
TO KNOW how many Indians are poor is a desperate pursuit.
2 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
The national character of Indian science
India has not come up with any cutting-edge technology but takes pride in its rising patent numbers as proof of scientific prowess
4 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
Deadly trail
Increased instances of humans being killed, and in many instances eaten, by tigers highlights a shift in the wild cats' behaviour due to ecological changes
6 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
FIX DEBT TO FUND CLIMATE FUTURE
Reforming global debt architecture is key to unlocking climate finance, enabling vulnerable nations to invest in resilience and development
4 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
Cultivating hope
Strapped for agricultural land in diamond-mined areas of Panna, women grow mushrooms at home for sustenance and livelihood
2 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
CLOSE CALL
A Central Pollution Control Board report confirms Illegal mining on the Ganga river in Haridwar
3 min |
July 01, 2025
Down To Earth
Reluctant to share
Even three decades after panchayats received constitutional status, states across India seem unwilling to share power with them
3 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
GET THE BALANCE RIGHT
India currently relies on three major food crops—rice, maize and sugarcane—for ethanol production. Ethanol-blended petrol supports the country’s goals of carbon neutrality and energy sovereignty. But the transition to clean energy must not jeopardise food security.
6 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Brazil outbreak triggers poultry export bans
A TOTAL of 24 governments, including India, China, South Africa and the EU, announced a complete ban on poultry products from Brazil by the end of May, after the Latin American country confirmed an outbreak of avian influenza.
1 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
TRICKY TRAJECTORY
Indirect emissions from land-use changes, overexploitation of water resources must not be ignored in the pursuit of biofuel
6 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
MIND THE TRADE-OFF
In times of climate change, a careful roadmap must be drawn to plan how much of food crops can be diverted to fuel production
4 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
May mayhem
The 2025 monsoon arrived a week early and raced across India in May, breaking records with its speed and intensity
5 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
LOST IN MAIZE
Ethanol-blending programme and its spiralling impacts on food inflation, nutrition availability
3 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
World at risk of losing ice sheet, glaciars
THE ANTARCTIC ice sheet, which has the biggest potential for sea-level rise upon melting, may be at or very close to a tipping point, says a study published in Communications Earth and Environment on May 30.
1 min |
June 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Artwork by nature
Once close to disappearance, Banda's shajar stone handicraft industry is on a revival path
4 min |