Embodied energy demystified
Building materials are much more energy-intensive than perceived. India lags in taking steps to reduce their use
Smoke laws first enacted in city of joy
Because of its political importance in the British empire, Calcutta was one of the first cities to regulate smoke emissions. But legislation …
Common science
A website helps people observe and understand nature while gathering scientific data
Pesky pets
One of the first species domesticated by man, the pigeon is now an invasive species and a pest in many parts of the world
Immortal, yet going extinct
Despite the ability to regenerate its heart and brain, axolotl, an amphibian found only in Mexico, is close to extinction
Delhi's walking medicine bank
Omkar Nath Sharma has made it his vocation to collect unused medicines and distribute them to the poor
Ragi is back - but only as exotica
No body knows for sure how the ragi bandwagon started, but all of a sudden the urban elite became curious about the grain. Today, it is being …
In Mowgli's land
ANJOLI BANDYOPADHYAY visits Pench Tiger Reserve, the site of many a conservation scheme and finds the woes wrought upon the people there by …
Fading fauna, forgotten people
There are a hardly any tigers left in Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh. But, says aparajita dutta , the park is rich in biodiversity, …
Apples go higher in
Weather does not support traditional sweet varieties in lower regions; sour varieties replace them
Leopards in my backyard
India is the only country where high densities of people and livestock share space with carnivores
Upturned harvest
On a trip on the outskirts of Jaipur RAVLEEN KAUR finds farmers making money by following an unconventional practice
In ocean’s way
People watch helplessly as the sea nibbles the Konkan coast, swallowing groves and beaches, and shallowing creeks
Bee sure to yield fruit
It is established that bee-keeping increases fruit productivity, but can the practice become successful in urban India?
Digging their Destinies
Villages in arid areas of Vidarbha and Marathwada fight back drought by reviving natural depressions along stream beds
Farmer’s pod luck
A Sehore farmer finds a unique pigeon pea variety that bears pods three to four times in a row
Keeper of grains
An ecologist has been guarding seeds of more than 750 rare rice varieties for over a decade
Seeds bill doesn't matter in India's horticulture capital
sopan joshi meets farmer-tycoons oblivious of the Seeds Bill 2004, but hooked to a biotech future
Sweet cruelty
Sugar plantations were run by African slaves who were tortured, but they also revolted against their masters
Saving for rainy days
People of West Bengal’s Sunderbans region are setting up grain banks to safeguard against food crisis
Fertile rocky land
With help from a non-profit, graziers reinvent a soil conservation practice, turn into thriving farmers
Dam in check
In an atmosphere of deepening mistrust on the India-Nepal border, Bihar farmers find it difficult to build check dam
Dam of defiance
The Chikkapaclasolagi barrage, on the River Krishna in Karnataka, is said to be the country's first "people's dam". But having built …
Prosperity and Beyond
A quarter of a century ago, a jeep driver decided it was time to make a change. Ralegan Siddhi, made into a model village by Anna Hazare, faces …
Cherapunjee - the driest desert
Water trickles from it. Is it possible the wettest place on earth wants for water? That seems to be the impression, until L L Sorung, a teacher, …