Science
Down To Earth
Deadlock in Palk Bay
India-Sri Lanka fishing conflicts show no signs of abatement as efforts to phase out destructive trawling practices show little progress
4 min |
December 01, 2021
Down To Earth
Tantalising wait
As Himalayan farmers grow the country’s first asafoetida plants, changing weather threatens to play spoilsport
3 min |
December 01, 2021
Down To Earth
Take heart
A STATIN-FREE LIFE IS A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HEART HEALTH FROM A CARDIOLOGIST WHO HAS LONG ARGUED THAT THE CHOLESTEROL-FOCUSSED APPROACH TO PREVENTING AND TREATING HEART DISEASE IS FLAWED
3 min |
December 01, 2021
Down To Earth
Yes, says Prime Minister
After a year of farmers’ protests, the government will repeal the three farm laws
3 min |
December 01, 2021
Down To Earth
Global Crackdown On Greenwashing
AS COUNTRIES begin to step up their climate commitments to reduce the burden of global warming, industries are facing heat for years of greenwashing practices, or the act of passing off products or services as environmentally friendly without proof.
1 min |
November 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Long-distance lessons
An educational non-profit virtually connects rural children with teachers who can instruct in their native language ANIL ASHWANI SHARMA
2 min |
November 16, 2021
Down To Earth
A reluctant survivor
MORE THAN 28 FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL WORKERS DIE BY SUICIDE EVERY DAY IN THE COUNTRY. ONE DAY IN 2014, RAMRAO PANCHLENIWAR FROM MAHARASHTRA'S VIDARBHA REGION WAS SET TO BE ONE SUCH CASE; BUT HE MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED. IN RAMRAO: THE STORY OF INDIA'S FARM CRISIS, JOURNALIST JAIDEEP HARDIKAR TRACES THE LIFE OF THIS COTTON GROWER AND THROUGH IT, THE TRIBULATIONS OF INDIA'S AGRARIAN COMMUNITY. EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:
4 min |
November 16, 2021
Down To Earth
The new bare minimum
The newly agreed global minimum corporate tax to prevent ultinational firms from avoiding the legal cess regime is riddled ith clauses to ensure that profits stay with the rich nations
9 min |
November 16, 2021
Down To Earth
The bizarre demand for a Banarasi paan GI
Geographical Indication tag continues to be handed out without examining the scientific basis or the integrity of such claims
4 min |
November 16, 2021
Down To Earth
VALUE IN THE WEED
BATHUA IS IN DEMAND FOR ITS NUTRITION AND TASTE. IMPROVED VARIETIES OF THE WEED CAN MAKE IT POPULAR AMONG FARMERS
4 min |
November 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Agenda For COP26
THE 26TH session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is being held at a time when the impacts of global warming are more palpable than ever—both for the poor and the rich.
10+ min |
November 01, 2021
Down To Earth
The Numbers Behind Climate Change
The planet can barely afford any more carbon emissions. But we need to continue to emit for our survival and development. What is the carbon budget available to us? More importantly, who should be allowed to emit and how much? An analysis by Sunita Narain and Avantika Goswami
10+ min |
November 01, 2021
Down To Earth
INHERITANCE OF LOSS
The young are restless to conserve the world they know they will inherit
7 min |
November 01, 2021
Down To Earth
Borrowed time
The world is set to produce over twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C
3 min |
November 01, 2021
Down To Earth
‘America's original social distancer'
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND LOCKDOWNS MADE DAVID GESSNER, PROFESSOR OF CREATIVE WRITING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON, REVISIT HENRY DAVID THOREAU—THE 19 TH CENTURY AMERICAN NATURALIST, ESSAYIST, POET AND PHILOSOPHER WHO LIVED IN ISOLATION FOR TWO YEARS STARTING 1845. THOREAU SPENT HIS TIME GROWING HIS OWN FOOD, CONTEMPLATING AND WRITING. HIS STAY IN THE WOODS BY THE WALDEN POND IN CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, RESULTED IN HIS MOST-KNOWN WORK, WALDEN—A BOOK THAT DESCRIBES THE ACT OF LIVING DAY TO DAY AND IS CONSIDERED A CLASSIC ON NATURE WRITING AND INDIVIDUALISM. GESSNER COMPARES THOREAU’S SELF-IMPOSED ISOLATION TO HIS OWN FORCED SECLUSION DURING THE PANDEMIC IN HIS BOOK QUIET DESPERATION, SAVAGE DELIGHT TO CONCLUDE “JUST HOW INTENSELY RELEVANT THOREAU IS TO OUR TIMES”. EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:
3 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Toxic ignorance
In absence of robust framework and infrastructure, segregation of domestic hazardous waste remains a distant dream for most Indian cities
4 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Supply snags
States must contend with several production hurdles before they can roll out fortified rice as part of the Union government's plan to fight malnutrition
6 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
‘Reality is not as fixed as people like to think'
Humans pride themselves on the fact that they cannot just see and perceive what is around them but also analyse their observations and form definite conclusions. However, this ability to understand reality is not foolproof, say researchers from the University College of London, UK, in a recent preprint paper published in the online repository PsyArXiv. Through a series of experiments, the researchers have determined that people are often akin to mistaking their imagination for real-life perception. DAKSHIANI PALICHA speaks to lead author of the study NADINE DIJKSTRA about the potential implications of their findings. Excerpts:
4 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
The fading mirage of a TRIPS waiver
A year later, the proposal to lift WTO’s intellectual property blocks to making COVID vaccines has not inched forward
4 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Many hues of haldi
Turmeric plays a prominent role not just in our kitchens, but in many auspicious rites and rituals as well
4 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
HERO HERB
The pandemic years have witnessed a boom in the production and export of the humble underground stem called turmeric, along with a renewal of interest among the scientific community in the spice’s therapeutic qualities, especially against COVID-19. VIBHA VARSHNEY reports why inclusion of the household herb in our daily diet is a healthy idea
9 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
CHASING CORAL
With the world having lost 14 per cent of its coral reefs in just one decade, a marine devastation seems imminent. But there may be some hope yet
4 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Come September
The abnormally high rainfall in the final month of the rainy season has added to India's monsoon agony
3 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
BEYOND 100 DAYS
The national rural employment guarantee programme financially empowers village panchayats, thus making them an effective self-governing system
3 min |
October 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Dry as dust
has increased by 22 times the size of Delhi in the past 15 years. Rainfed farmlands and forests form a major chunk of this wasteland
3 min |
September 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Enigmatically dry
Drought haunts India as a normal monsoon season nears end
10 min |
September 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Stream of conflict
Krishna river dispute shows why there is an urgent need to rethink the way inter-state rivers are managed and governed
4 min |
September 16, 2021
Down To Earth
A STITCH IN TIME
The recovery of the ozone layer has helped the world fight climate change
3 min |
September 16, 2021
Down To Earth
In the blue
After spending decades controlling atmospheric emission of mercury, the world wakes up to the possibility that rivers are a major source of the toxic metal in the oceans
2 min |
September 16, 2021
Down To Earth
Devil's in the Detail
Seven years, four committees and two draft regulations later, India still does not have a clear labelling system to warn consumers about harmful levels of fat, salt and sugar hiding in processed foods. These ingredients are responsible for the growing burden of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. But a powerful industry and a hesitant food regulator are busy derailing all efforts.
10+ min |