Science
Down To Earth
US Trading On Thin Ice
As Trump escalates the trade war with China, the key question is what constitutes theft of intellectual property
2 min |
October 1, 2018
Down To Earth
More Out Than In
Central government's maternity benefit scheme excludes more women than it covers
5 min |
October 1, 2018
Down To Earth
Sealed With Trouble
Faulty policies have allowed industries to use multilayered plastic packages without the responsibility of retrieving them
3 min |
October 1, 2018
Down To Earth
Loo And Behold, But Beware
The countdown to meet the target of an open defecation free India has begun. Though it seemed like we were once again going to miss another development goal, we will achieve the target within the next 25 weeks, much before the deadline of October 2019. India's first-ever experience when all of us will have a toilet of our own is worth a grand applause. However, we have just crossed the first hurdlethe easiest milestone of constructing toilets. SUSMITA SENGUPTA and RASHMI VERMA take a hard look at the challenges that need to be addressed
10+ min |
October 1, 2018
Down To Earth
A Dig At The Poor
District Mineral Foundations were set up to improve the lives of people affected by mining. But maladministration is defeating its raison d'etre.
2 min |
August 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Of Funds And Fallacy
Poor implementation of the District Mineral Foundation has excluded some of the worst mining-affected people, whom it was supposed to benefit.
6 min |
August 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Will Africa Meet Its Sanitation Target?
More than 600 million Africans still lack access to safe sanitation. This will ultimately determine the well-being of the continent.
3 min |
August 16, 2018
Down To Earth
The Next Ten To Go Dry
Bengaluru, Beijing, Mexico City and Istanbul are some of the cities that are headed towards Day Zero.
9 min |
March 15, 2018
Down To Earth
Urban Deserts
An estimated 400 million people currently live in cities with perennial water shortage. The number is slated to go up to 1 billion by 2050 due to rising urban population and the impact of climate change.
4 min |
March 15, 2018
Down To Earth
Pulse With Potential
As health connoisseurs turn to horse gram, CHANDRA PRAKASH KALA hopes that the lesser known crop can help transform Uttarakhand's farm sector, in a big way
4 min |
May 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Heavy-Duty Pressure
The government has stalled standards that could have made heavy-duty vehicles guzzle and pollute less. Is it hand-in-glove with the industry or under pressure from it?
4 min |
May 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Weathering A Poor Network
With extreme weather events becoming the new normal, forecasting has become more important than ever. It's time African nations invest in observation networks
3 min |
May 16, 2018
down to earth
claims we buy
for food manufacturers, misleading claims are a way of marketing in india. it's time the government made the regulations stringent and brought about necessary changes in its approach towards food labelling and claims
9 min |
january 16, 2017
down to earth
pale and yellow
shortage of vaccines has pushed many african countries to the brink of a yellow fever epidemic
4 min |
january 16, 2017
down to earth
honey, they shrunk our livelihoods!
honey collectors gamble with their lives to eke out a livelihood in the sundarbans, but are forced to sell it to the forest department for a pittance.
5 min |
december 16, 2016
Down To Earth
Revenge Of The Rich
Trump's election reflects the anger of the rich who did not get richer. This inequity is also at the core of the climate change challenge.
4 min |
December 01, 2016
Down To Earth
A Sniff To Save
It can detect a person buried under six metres of snow. PERVEZ CAMA, who travelled to the Swiss Alps, traces the history of St Bernard, a dog groomed to rescue travellers, and now part of popular culture.
4 min |
December 01, 2016
Down To Earth
Bonds To The Rescue?
Urban local bodies across India are floating bonds to raise money. This may render them unviable and make city living costly
4 min |
April 01, 2018
Down To Earth
Was The Met Office Napping?
Hailstorms have once again damaged crops in the drought-prone Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra as well as the credibility of the India Meteorological Department.
5 min |
April 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Era Begins Without Plan
NITI Aayog formally begins its business without a vision or an action plan.
4 min |
April 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Champaran Satyagraha Continues
A century ago, Mahatma Gandhi tested the idea of satyagraha for the first time to fight for indigo farmers in Champaran. While the crop is seeing a revival in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Champaran in Bihar is in the throes of another peasant struggle.
10+ min |
April 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Measles Is Back
With outbreaks reported from across the world, measles' eradication by 2020 seems difficult
4 min |
May 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Bitter Medicine
It is time to treat pharma waste more rigorously. The waste contains active ingredients used in antibiotics and may be contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance
6 min |
May 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Blind Spot in Namami Gange
Two flagship programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are working at cross-purposes. By 2019, when Swachh Bharat Mission comes to an end, some 30 million septic tanks and pits would have been dug along the Ganga. These tanks and pits would produce 180 million litres of faecal sludge every day, which will eventually find its way into the Ganga, defeating Namami Gange. It's time the Central, state and local sanitation programmes recognised faecal sludge management as a priority to ensure a clean Ganga
10+ min |
December 16, 2016
Down To Earth
Ganga Needs More Than Just Cleaning
Government reforms must include basin-scale hydrological and ecological conservation efforts Michelle Irengbam, Shivani Barthwal, Niladri Dasgupta, Ruchi Badola & Syed Ainul Hussain
4 min |
August 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Pills By Jugaad!
A new investigative book, bottle of lies, says that Indian cancer drugs are contaminated; cholesterol medication has shards of glass; and, blood pressure pills contain a live bug. In these excerpts, the author, Katherine Eban writes about jugaad, an indian model of aggressive shortcuts, the ability to dodge onerous rules to get the desired results
2 min |
August 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Vitamin B12 - Are You Deficient?
The prescription for a plant-based diet overlooks vitamin B12 deficiency that is primarily present in animal-based diets
3 min |
August 16, 2019
Down To Earth
5G And The Fear Of Radiation
Radiation fears mount as the world gets ready to embrace the networkintensive 5G
4 min |
April 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Here Come The Gene Hackers
Interventions to make heritable changes to the human genome are fraught with uncertainties. There are legitimate concerns about using a still imperfect technology that can rewrite the very blueprint of life. Also, the debate on whether it’s ethical to do so is far from being settled. However, would-be baby tinkerers around the world have failed to get the message
10 min |
August 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Mumbai Coastal Road Project - An Ecological Disaster
The US $1.7 billion mumbai coastal road to be built by reclaiming the inter-tidal Western Coast is an ecological and livelihood disaster in the making. Here’s why
3 min |