Science
Down To Earth
A Quarter Under Desertification
What does this mean for India where more than 60 per cent of the population depends on agriculture?
10+ min |
September 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Trouble For Tomato
Country's biggest tomato producing district surrenders to cheap Chinese pulp
4 min |
April 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Ask No Questions!
The amendment to the RTI Act will hit grassroots activism
3 min |
August 16, 2019
Down To Earth
Mortal Combat
Can life be extended indefinitely? There is a renewed vigour among scientists looking for ways and means to cheat death.
10+ min |
January 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Bid For Mahadayi
Should Karnataka divert the Mahadayi's water to end the water crisis in its three districts?
7 min |
September 1, 2016
Down To Earth
Unhealthy Climate
As the global negotiations increasingly talk about the impacts of climate change on health, the upcoming UN CoP meet in Morocco will debate one important aspect: how to fund health adaptation
7 min |
September 1, 2016
Down To Earth
Go Gokul Gone
For all the noise around cow protection, NDA's cow mission, the very first it announced on assuming power, has nearly died
5 min |
September 1, 2016
Down To Earth
Dry no more
Rajasthan has launched an ambitious programme to become drought-free in four years.
4 min |
March 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Genesis Of Water
Life on Earth is the result of several fascinating coincidences, of which the presence of water is considered the most important. But we are still not sure where this water came from.
6 min |
March 16, 2017
Down To Earth
At Death's Door
Around three million people are estimated to be severely food-insecure in north-eastern Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia. JONATHAN POUND looks at the reasons famine still plagues Africa.
4 min |
April 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Oh Deer!
Kashmir has barely 200 Hangul deer left, but it does not seem to be alarming enough for the state government, whose conservation initiatives are struggling to get off the ground.
4 min |
April 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Real Potent Life of Lead
The long-term impacts of lead exposure have finally been revealed: reduced IQ levels and lower socio-economic status. For India, the implications are grave.
4 min |
April 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Primitive Classification
The Gonds, like other indigenous communities, still do not have sovereign political rights.
2 min |
April 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Suffocating Tragedy
There is no scientific consensus on the cause of encephalitis that has been claiming lives every year in the Gorakhpur region since 1978. But an unprepared government along with medical mismanagement made matters worse this year.
8 min |
September 1, 2017
Down To Earth
Goa Undermined
As mining resumes in eco-sensitive Goa amid protests, a village tries to implement the cooperative model SHREESHAN VENKATESH panaji
4 min |
September 1, 2017
Down To Earth
Sowing Adaptation
Farmers in eastern Indian states are replacing paddy with alternative crops to prevent elephant attacks. Can this experiment be replicated? DEEPANWITA NIYOGI palamu, east Singhbhum SAMARJIT SAHU angul
4 min |
September 1, 2017
Down To Earth
Can Farmers' Income Be Doubled?
For that, farmers will have to make an investment of ₹463 billion in the next five years
3 min |
September 1, 2017
Down To Earth
Champaran Redux
Peasants in Champaran are relying on satyagraha once again to claim the land their ancestors once owned.
4 min |
April 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Hidden Wonders of India
Did you know that the Ganga and the Brahmaputra sequester nearly 20 per cent of the global carbon? Or that Bengaluru owes its unique climate to a tectonic event that took place 88 million years ago? For the first time, a book comprehensively collates all scientific streams about the natural history of the Indian subcontinent. Down To Earth speaks to PRANAY LAL, author of Indica, on the jaw-dropping facts about our natural history.
4 min |
April 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Plateful of Pain
Climate change will make the disease burden more complex. Breakthroughs may help the affluent, but the poor will not have access to even basic healthcare.
3 min |
May 1, 2017
Down To Earth
Target Zero
India's waste will double in the next 25 years. If we are to avoid drowning in garbage, adopting zero waste management is a must.
4 min |
May 1, 2017
Down To Earth
Sukhomajri Falls Apart
A model Haryana village, which had pulled itself out of poverty by managing natural resources, shuns the very model of development.
5 min |
February 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Withering Heights
The rich diversity of aquatic plants in the Eastern Ghats has aided local communities in meeting their nutritional as well as livelihood needs. AJAY MAHAPATRA and ASHOK BISWAL analyse why these poorly documented plants are under threat.
3 min |
February 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Lock & Hold
The jallikattu debate is playing out much like the game itself, with each side trying to gain the upper hand: animal rights groups alleging animal cruelty, the Tamil people insisting on tradition and future of native cattle breeds, and governments eager to assuage feelings of discontent. Who will tame whom?
8 min |
February 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Mystery Fever
Doctors are clueless about the viral strain that has gripped several states in India this monsoon.
4 min |
September 16, 2016
Down To Earth
For a Good Night's Sleep
Most urban Indians dread bedtime. Sleep disorders ensure that 93 per cent of the people living in cities don't sleep well or worse, are not able to sleep at all. This sleeplessness results in diseases, which can cost their health and the country's economy dearly. What is causing us to lose sleep? And how can we sleep well again? VIBHA VARSHNEY and KARNIKA BAHUGUNA make sense of latest research.
10+ min |
March 01, 2017
Down To Earth
A Cure Worse Than The Disease
Isha Foundation's Rally for Rivers initiative to plant trees alongside river banks appears impractical and lacks scientific rigour ISHAN KUKRETI new delhi
2 min |
October 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Cassini Dives Into Saturn
The Cassini-Huygens probe has enabled scientists analyse the surface and atmosphere of some of Saturn's mysterious moons SHREESHAN VENKATESH
4 min |
October 16, 2017
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 |