Hello corporates, bye democracy
In the last decade or so, India has had an economic reforms regime, whose key mantras are privatisation and liberalisation. Our policy-makers …
Andamanese threatened by development
The indigenous population of the Andaman and Nicobar islands might very soon be extinct. Today the combined population of the four indigenous …
Paper chase
PAPER is important, but so are forests. The proposal of the ministry for environment and forests to allow the paper industry to establish …
Does science need spiritualism?
At the time of Independence, India saw 'big' science and technology as the only way ahead. Perhaps with good reason. Fifty-odd years later, though,…
Road to perdition for the Jarawas
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal are home to six tribal groups: the Nicobarese, the Shompens, the Great Andamanese, Onges, …
A little "war" between the North and South
The public debate between Dutch environment minister Hans Alders and Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, covering a whole …
Will liberalisation destroy the environment?
Get eight economists to discuss an issue and you'll get nine opinions. Down to Earth did precisely that. Eight noted economists were invited, …
Labour vs pollution
Ever since the Supreme Court (sc) ordered closure/relocation of polluting units in Delhi, which subsequently left nearly 50,000 people jobless,…
A lost name, a vanishing ecosystem
In the Kannada language, the word kere means a man-made or natural water tank, and the word for the numeral nine is ombhatthu , pronounced …
Desperately seeking experts
The environmental situation in India is grave -- our natural resources are getting depleted at an alarming rate and there is an acute paucity of …
Are human beings edging out all other life forms?
Northeast India occupies 8 per cent of the country's geographic area, and supports 3.8 per cent of India's total population (2001 census figures).…
Farming out the problem
A recent report that the Union ministry of environment and forests may be "exploring the possibility of allowing private persons to breed wild …
Are we ready to hand over on our life-forms?
There are certain plants, vegetables and fruits indigenous to India having medicinal properties. The knowledge of these properties rests with …
Andaman & Nicobar turtles face extinction
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the third most significant biodiversity hotspot in India. With a coastline of 1962 kilometres and many …
Why diseases are "mysterious"
The government's public health system is completely defunct. Of late, there has been an alarming rise in disease outbreaks in the country. …
Dark zones are human-made
Groundwater sustains almost 60 per cent of the irrigated land in India. Most districts in India today have larger shares of irrigated land under …
Towards wetland conservation
The Union environment ministry has been working for the past four years to create a regulatory framework to protect the country’s wetlands. …
Where are the panchayats?
Of the three farm water conservation programmes currently under way in Karnataka, the Jal Samvardhene Yojana (jsy) has completed a year of …
How to make the Commission for Sustainable Development work
It was only half a year ago, but events since the Johannesburg earth summit already make it seem like a distant event. The world has just seen an …
Are community reserves the answer to conservation?
The 2002 Amendment to the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972) -- the bible of the conservation movement -- calls for a new category of …
India's groundwater is flooded with fluoride
Fluoride is an acute toxin, with a rating slightly higher than lead. It is, in fact, one of the most bone-seeking elements known to human beings. …
Bt-by-Bt assessment
On November 10, 2002, people wearing 'Bollgard' caps visited cotton farmer R Narsimha Reddy at his home in Aleru, a village in Nalgonda, Andhra …
A watershed plan
Recurrent droughts and floods coupled with mass poverty, chronic unemployment and pervasive malnutrition are the major challenges before India. …
The holy book and the sacred list
The iucn' s Red List for prioritising species for protection is beset by serious flaws
Miracles and methods
I once saw a miracle. It was near a ragged wall of broken rocks near Udaipur. One side of the wall had patches of yellowing grass, not taller …
