Science
Down To Earth
When N Means Noxious
India is under the grip of nitrogen pollution, finds the country's first assessment on the impacts of the nutrient
7 min |
December 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Inconvenient Truth, Retold
Every issue is contested because it is the contest of ideas and of realities. These exclusive excerpts from Sunita Narain's new book, Conflicts of Interest remind us of the politics behind climate change that threatens our common future
10+ min |
December 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Remodeling The Climate Negotiations
After 25 years of its existence, UNFCCC has not been able to address the complex realities of climate change. It's time that we remodeled the UN climate convention for deep emission cuts and for saving the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable populations
5 min |
December 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Germany Goes The India Way
Germany has issued a compulsory licence to a US firm to make a patented HIV drug and it's a big deal
3 min |
December 01, 2017
Down To Earth
Evolutionary Battle
A new book unravels the unusual ecological relationship between the monarch butterfly and the milkweed
4 min |
December 01, 2017
Down To Earth
'Natural Disasters Are Shaped By Social And Economic Inequality'
In the early hours of October 31, 1876, a devastating cyclone emanating from the Bay of Bengal drowned at least 0.21 million people and another 0.1 million died in the cholera epidemic and famine that followed. Such events are often described as "natural disasters". But historian BEN KINGSBURY turns that interpretation on its head in his book, An Imperial Disaster: The Bengal Cyclone of 1876, showing it was not simply a "natural" event, but one shaped by all-too-human patterns of exploitation and inequality—by divisions within Bengali society, and the enormous disparities of political and economic power that characterised British rule on the subcontinent. RICHARD MAHAPATRA spoke to Kingsbury on the untold narratives of "natural disasters". Excerpts
3 min |
April 01, 2019
Down To Earth
A Mountain Lost
The Aravalli mountain range extends for more than 692 km from Champaner in Gujarat to Delhi and beyond. Its role in defining the shape of the Indian subcontinent and its climate, and the fact that it triggered the explosion of multicellular life, are under-appreciated. The rugged mountains guide the monsoon clouds and protect the fertile alluvial river valleys from the assault of cold westerly winds from Central Asia. However, over the past four decades, the world's oldest mountain range has been destroyed by mining, deforestation and over-exploitation of its fragile and ancient water channels
10+ min |
April 01, 2019
Down To Earth
'I Am A Farmer About To Commit Suicide. Can You Help Me? My Aadhaar Number Is...'
Ishan Kukreti reports on how psychologists are now intervening to help distressed farmers
6 min |
April 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Paddy's Last Straw?
Haryana has launched a scheme to dissuade farmers from growing water-guzzling paddy, but most remain sceptical JITENDRA & MEENAKSHISUSHMA KURUKSHETRA, HARYANA
4 min |
July 01, 2019
Down To Earth
Battle Ready
Chhattisgarh stays mining operations in a Bailadila hill after protests by tribal people. But can it withstand pressure from mining giants?
4 min |
July 01, 2019
Down To Earth
The Real Weed
There's a little bit of glyphosate in everyone's body. Glyphosate's weed-killing properties were accidentally discovered 20 years after the chemical was first synthesised. Today, it is omnipresent across the world. The WHO says it causes cancer and studies link it to many diseases. Countries have been struggling to ban or restrict its use due to pressure from the industry and farmer groups. But a new movement to ban this chemical as well as to find alternatives is gaining ground. VIBHA VARSHNEY tracks the toxic trail
10+ min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Kicking Up A Stink
India has been dragging its feet over abating odour pollution. Does it lack in infrastructure, or will?
5 min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Gearing Up For Space Wars
Space is becoming the new destination for weaponisation and world dominance with the United States leading the charge
5 min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Cut The Noose
The worst affected in India's farm crisis are small, marginal and tenant farmers. It's time to strengthen their hands
4 min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Cautiously Modern
Indonesia's 600-year-old paddy-growing community has embraced modern lifestyle while preserving ancient traditions
4 min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Popeye Would Like It
Tree spinach, or chayamansa, is nothing less than a superfood for humans as well as livestock
3 min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Speaking Trees
In Around the World in 80 Trees, JONATHAN DRORI brings out the unsung botanical heroes out of their recondite existence. He describes their geographical phylogeny, ecological services, and most importantly, their sociological importance. In fact, it is the human stories of myths and beliefs around their flora that make the book so extraordinary. He speaks to S S JEEVAN.
3 min |
July 16, 2018
Down To Earth
The Trick Is In The Treaty Text
When rich nations insist on patent linkage provisions in bilateral and regional trade pacts here is a way out
2 min |
November 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Casting A change
Young entrepreneurs see opportunity in biomass waste, help India curb air and plastic pollution
4 min |
November 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Climate Champions
Youths are rejecting cushy jobs perceived as harmful for the environment
2 min |
November 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Sweet Cousin
It is a little-known vegetable called meetha karela that grows abundantly in the hills of Uttarakhand
3 min |
November 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Star Collision
How scientists solved a centuries-old mystery
4 min |
November 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Up In Arms
Shrinking of the world's largest desert lake has triggered a survival battle among nomadic tribes in the Kenyan-Ethiopian border. JITENDRA travels across Kenya's Turkana county to see how climate change and human activities have led to the crisis
6 min |
October 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Under Siege
India's demand for teak wood is endangering Ecuador's rainforests and agricultural land ISHAN KUKRETI | New Delhi
4 min |
October 16, 2017
Down To Earth
No More Horsing Around
Glanders, a bacterial, zoonotic disease that affects equines and is a potential biological weapon, has been breaking out regularly across India since 2006. Should India be worried? RAJAT GHAI | New Delhi
4 min |
October 16, 2017
Down To Earth
Is Activism The Cure?
As prices of life-saving drugs skyrocket, people from diverse fields are getting together to fight Big Pharma
2 min |
October 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Pitfalls Outweigh Potential
Government is pushing for biofuel production to reduce crude import bill. Can it steer clear of the food versus fuel dilemma?
4 min |
October 16, 2018
Down To Earth
Unholy Chase
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made cleaning of the Ganga again a high priority national agenda. He had the advantage of learning from the failures of the past 30 years in cleaning the national river. And he had the missionary zeal to proclaim a deadline for doing so. A year before his promise of a clean Ganga in 2019, the river is far from being so. In many stretches it is dirtier than before. An analysis by BANJOT KAUR on why the river will remain polluted despite river-friendly budgets and politically correct rhetoric
10+ min |
October 16, 2018
Down To Earth
The Wake Up Call
THE UNITED Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) consists of scientists who can by no stretch of the imagination be called radical or activists.
4 min |
October 16, 2018
Down To Earth
A Contentious Solicitation
India's most ambitious health insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, is definitely a lure. Millions of Indians bleed to pay their ever-increasing medical expenses in private healthcare and end up becoming even poorer. Experiences of public-funded health insurance schemes in the last decade show that these initiatives have not been effective as they are not supported by the proportionate creation of public health systems. India simply doesn't have enough well-equipped public health infrastructure. So what does this new scheme mean for millions of poor and sick people? KUNDAN PANDEY travels to Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana and Kerala to understand what the new scheme needs to be cautious about.
10+ min |