Freedom fuel

Pune entrepreneur experiments with cooking devices powered by solar and biomass to beat rising LPG prices

All zeros and ones

The ability to capture, store and model data is fuelling the technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution, which many believe will lead to a future owned by corporations

A question of sales

Natural farming practices have drastically reduced input costs, but Himachal Pradesh's farmers still lack market access

Capital owners

PROPERTIES OF RENT IS ABOUT THE TENSION BETWEEN RAPIDLY CHANGING ECONOMIC REALITIES AND THE PARALLEL ATTEMPTS BY COMMUNITIES TO HOLD ON TO KINSHIP ASSOCIATIONS, AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL NOTIONS OF RESPECT AND HONOUR

RESTRICTED IN GIR

Despite ample scientific evidence and a Supreme Court order to translocate lions from Gir forest of Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, the shift to establish a second wild population has not happened

Churn under sea

SEAFLOOR SPREADING, CAUSED BY AN UPWELLING OF MAGMA, HAS LED TO EPISODES OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE GEOLOGIC PAST. THE SPREAD RATE HAS SLOWED DOWN IN LAST 19 MILLION YEARS, BUT COULD GATHER MOMENTUM

Model shift

Farmers in Zimbabwe are shifting from rain-fed to irrigation-based agriculture to beat erratic rains in a rapidly changing climate

Does Rajasthan's Wage Employment Scheme Tick All The Boxes?

Rajasthan's attempt to provide income security to urban poor shows challenges of designing a wage guarantee scheme for towns and cities

Dry monsoon for east, northeast

EAST AND northeast India may continue to see a deficit of rainfall in August and September this monsoon season, as per the recent analysis by the India Meteorlogical Department (IMD). Most parts of the regions have been receiving below normal rainfall since June. July rainfall, 44.7 per cent less than normal, was the lowest in 122 years, says IMD.

Perfect decomposition

A Goa-based startup offers a homegrown biodegradable polymer as an alternative to single-use wrappers

PURPLE POWER

Packed with nutrients, the deep-coloured jamun gives an excellent health boost during the monsoon while ensuring year-round wellness

Organic takeover

A federation of farmer-producer organisations taps into the growing organic market to help members raise incomes

Africa To Pay For Europe's Energy Crisis

AT THE latest meeting of the Group of 7 (G7) countries, host Germany and Italy watered down a pledge to end financing for overseas gas projects. The pledge was made at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change last year, and at the meet in June, new loopholes were introduced for temporary financing so countries can tide over the energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Not an easy fix

Global warming could be depleting forests and grasslands of a key macronutrient, nitrogen. This will have far-reaching consequences on the growth and survival of the animal world

Fuelling problems

With LPG price crossing the ₹1,000-mark, the poor are forced to return to unclean cooking fuels

Illusive oilseed

Without the Centre's push, niger seed might vanish from the tribal food plate in near future

Sequence for a just future

Without a robust regulatory framework, digital genomic data will not allow benefits from biological resources to reach communities

Acquired shortage

India's HIV drug shortage is real and could have been averted

Imposed choice

Rise in hysterectomies among younger women and at private hospitals signals imminent public health crisis

TAKING OWNERSHIP

There is a surge in demand by forest communities to not only access the resources of their habitat, but also to establish their ownership over forests. They are doing so by wielding a previously underused provision of the Forest Rights Act. The forest department, however, is reluctant to let go of its control. SHUCHITA JHA and ZUMBISH travel across Odisha and Chhattisgarh to understand how communities have gained through this law and the mechanisms they are setting up to ensure sustainable use of forest resources PARTY

Is The Covid-19 Vaccine Story Over?

India claims vaccines are no longer an issue in the battle against COVID-19, but a host of developing nations would disagree

The invisible bhadralok

FIELD NOTES FROM A WATERBORNE LAND SHEDS LIGHT ON THE LIVES OF THOSE BENGALIS WHO BARELY EXIST FOR THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Dry beginning

June is becoming drier and this is delaying the sowing of the kharif season

Not close enough

Human milk banks are important for infants who do not have access to mother's milk. But India is yet to see large-scale rollout of such centres

Spark of hope

India needs to reform panchayati raj institutions, reserve seats in Parliament and legislative assemblies to create more women leaders like the new President Droupadi Murmu

FIX FROM GROUND UP

Prepare business strategies for districts and leverage existing government schemes to make India a global economic powerhouse

'We can soon study stars that formed during the Big Bang'

THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE AMAZED THE WORLD ON JULY 12 WITH ITS FIRST IMAGES OF THE UNIVERSE. ASTROPHYSICIST JESSY JOSE OF THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, TIRUPATI, WILL SOON USE THE LARGEST AND MOST POWERFUL TELESCOPE IN THE WORLD TO STUDY THE EARLY STAGES OF STARS. SHE TELLS ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY WHAT MAKES THIS DEEPSPACE VIEWING TOOL ONE OF A KIND

Bridging gaps

A farmer-producer organisation in Dantewada provides crucial market links for organic produce and helps naturally improve yields and incomes

Clear signs

The repercussions of a 1.5°C global temperature rise would be catastrophic for India. Ladakh could grow 2.23°C warmer than pre-industrial levels; Rajasthan could receive 23 per cent more rainfall AKSHIT SANGOMLA and PULAHA ROY New Delhi

KILL TO CONSERVE

Sustainable use of wildlife is the best approach to conservation in the long run. This is the latest scientific assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Optimal exploitation of wild flora and fauna will ensure that livelihood and dietary needs of humans are met without threatening survival of the species. But do countries have the capacity to ensure sustainable use, and to make sure the benefits reach local communities? An analysis by SHUCHITA JHA, HIMANSHU NITNAWARE and VIBHA VARSHNEY in New Delhi with ABSALOM SHIGWEDHA in Namibia, CYRIL ZENDA in Zimbabwe, PETER ELIAS in Tanzania and CHRISTOPHE HITAYEZU in Rwanda