Magzter GOLD ile Sınırsız Olun

Magzter GOLD ile Sınırsız Olun

Sadece 9.000'den fazla dergi, gazete ve Premium hikayeye sınırsız erişim elde edin

$149.99
 
$74.99/Yıl

Denemek ALTIN - Özgür

UNWILLING TO SHARE?

Down To Earth

|

October 16, 2025

The National Biodiversity Authority has disbursed less than 27 per cent of money it received from companies and traders to beneficiary communities since 2008-09

- HIMANSHU NITNAWARE AND VIVEK MISHRA, DELHI

UNWILLING TO SHARE?

A STATUTORY body created to ensure that local communities get compensated for their traditional knowledge and products by entities that use them for commercial purposes has fallen miserably short of its target. Queries filed by Down To Earth (DTE) under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005, show the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) disbursed less than 27 per cent of funds received from companies, institutions or individuals since 2008-09.

NBA was established in 2003 under the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002, to conserve and enable sustainable use of biodiversity in the country. This is how this happens: Say, a forest-dwelling community specialises in catching snakes and extracting venom, which it sells to companies for research, NBA is responsible for ensuring the community gets adequately paid for its service by the buyer.

Down To Earth'den DAHA FAZLA HİKAYE

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

Collective denial

A decade on from the Paris Agreement, countries are planning more fossil fuel production than before, putting global climate ambitions at increasing risk

time to read

4 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

BUILT TO BINGE

Over the past few decades, food companies have exploited basic human instincts to peddle ultra-processed products. Engineered to hijack the brain's reward system, these foods are silently fuelling a new addiction epidemic, and driving rising rates of obesity and chronic diseases. Urgent policy action is needed to reclaim control over our food environment.

time to read

19 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Another farmer quits

THIS DUSSEHRA, Pitabasha did not go for the customary sighting of the Indian Roller, or tiha, as it is called in Odia. The bird is believed to grant wishes, and every year thousands of people flock to farms, fields and forests hoping to glimpse it and make a wish. But the 30-year-old farmer from Matupali village in Odisha stayed back. From that day, he also stopped calling himself a farmer.

time to read

2 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

What the H-1B visa angst reveals about India

It is odd that India strenuously promotes the exodus of its tech talent while failing to foster innovation at home

time to read

4 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

REDUCED TO INSIGNIFICANCE

On October 12, the Right to Information (RTI) Act completed 20 years. Activists who monitor the Act, and former information commissioners, say that amendments by successive governments have rendered the law toothless. As per Central Information Commission's latest annual report (2023-24), the number of RTI applications rejected in the year was over 67,615—the highest ever. BHAGIRATH curates a conversation on what went wrong with the law that was sought to bring transparency and accountability in governance.

time to read

14 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

'Depopulation would mean fewer people contributing to advancement of knowledge'

Trends show that in a few decades, global population will begin to shrink. Once depopulation starts, no one knows how to stop it in a sustained way, write DEAN SPEARS and MICHAEL GERUSO, associate professors of economics, University of Texas at Austin, US, in their recent book, After the Spike. The authors, who are also economic demographers, argue that population decline will be detrimental to global progress and that a smaller population would not necessarily be better for the environment. In an interview with ADITYA MISRA, they say that the time to talk about depopulation is now because the search for a solution could take decades. Excerpts:

time to read

5 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

Rebirth of Sukapaika

A cardiologist revives a dying river in Odisha with help from 425 riparian villages

time to read

2 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

Monsoon withdrawal stalls after early start

AFTER UNLEASHING unusually heavy spells of rain across northwest India, the southwest monsoon began withdrawing three days earlier than normal, on September 14.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

Despair follows deluge

As floodwaters recede in Punjab, communities are left with ruined fields, lost livelihoods and an uncertain future. VIVEK MISHRA travels through the seven flood-hit districts to gauge the scale of the crisis.

time to read

6 mins

October 16, 2025

Down To Earth

Down To Earth

Bone dry to soaking wet

Farmers in Marathwada were ill-prepared for the intense rainfall that hit the perennially water-starved region.

time to read

4 mins

October 16, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size