Africa is heading for trouble
The founding president of African Academy of Science, Thomas R Odhiambo , has been working to evolve a framework necessary for stimulating …
We want to ensure an NGO in every village
Anna Hazare's name is synonymous with rural development and people's power. Hazare had once again hit the headlines in May by undertaking a fast …
'Development paradigms should match tribal culture'
SITAKANTA MAHAPATRA'S poetry got him the prestigious Jnanpith award for 1993. His poems, written in Oriya, have been translated into many Indian …
Droughts in India were caused by El Nio
Richard Grove , a noted environmental historian from the Australian National University, Canberra, takes an active interest in the climatic and …
I can't just close down a polluting industry
As chairperson of the Karnataka state pollution control board (KSPCB), 39-year-old K V Bengeri has to contend with more than environmental …
"The awareness here is dismal"
Karnataka High Court's Justice M F Saldanha has emerged as one of judiciary's standard bearers in the ongoing battle to save the environment. His …
"We don't intend to threaten India"
The Environmental Investigation Agency ( eia) is one of the leading international environment organisations in London. Recently, it has …
'There is a conflict in gene patenting in India and abroad'
ASIS DUTTA, a senior biologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, is the first Indian scientist to have applied for a gene patent in …
"It is wiser for industry to invest in pollution control"
He was the archetypical activist-bureaucrat. For A N YELLAPPA REDDY, former special secretary to the government of Karnataka's department of …
"Right should belong to scientists"
For the first time in India, the draft of the Plant Varieties Protection (PVP) Act is being finalised by the ministry of agriculture. India, as a …
'I am rewriting Ayurvedic knowledge'
Vaidya Balendu Prakash is presently carrying out research work on Rasayan Shastra (metal therapy), based on ayurveda. He has been successfully …
"The West now understands that waste can be a resource"
Sweden's UNO WINBLAD was not a sanitation engineer but had trained as an architect in London in the late '50s. Those were the days of mounting …
"Industry must invest in clean projects "
Brian Robinson , chairperson, Australian Environment Protection Authority (epa) has enabled the Australian environmental enforcement system to …
CSD must become a forum for debate
New Zealand's minister for the environment Simon Upton is the chairperson of the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (…
'In genetics, the ethical choice lies with the people'
A professor of molecular biology and virology at the Salk Institute at La Jolla, USA, Dr Inder M Verma is also the chairperson of the Scientific …
Developed nations are not bothered about marine resources
Fifty-five-year-old thomas kocherry , one of the founders of the National Fishworkers Forum -- a trade union network of 200,000 traditional …
'The world's entire gene-pool is open for manipulation'
INDRA VASIL was one of the first scientists to successfully manipulate wheat plants using genetic engineering techniques. Before he came in, …
"Polluters are today's environmentalists"
Crusader for the rights of over eight million Indian fisherfolk, Thomas Kochery , 57, made news headlines when he rejected the US $150,000 …
Lessons from the colonial past
Twenty-two years ago, the publication of a book, Indian Science and Technology in the 18th Century, by an unknown Gandhian, DHARAMPAL, took the …
David Sands on bacteria's role in rainfall
David Sands, professor at the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, usa, hypothesized that there is a link …
"We are close to crisis point"
Agriculture and its subsequent effect on the environment, rapidly depleting natural resources like arable land and water, the slackening of the …
"Watershed management is not equitable"
N K Sanghi , director, National Institute of Agriculture Extension and Management in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), has been advocating a modified …
"Clean air can save many lives"
CARTER BRANDON an environmental economist in the environment and natural resources division of the World Bank (WB), has done considerable work …
"We are not afraid to lay down more lives for our rights"
Chilika, Asia's largest brackish water lake in Orissa, is in the midst of a controversy that refuses to die. At stake is the livelihood of …
Small towns do not degrade the rural environment
Auroville, or 'the city of dawn', is a unique township located in a predominantly rural district of Villupuram in Tamil Nadu. At the time of its …