Elementary failure

Since the Right To Education Act came into force on April 1, 2010, India has been witnessing an experiment that involves parents in enforcing a …

The new obesity

A growing number of people are unable to shed those extra pounds despite strict diet regimes and long hours of workout. Evidence shows that the …

Science for ecology

Down To Earth and the Centre for Science and Environment announce the winner of the 2001 Green Scientist Award. In the exercise to rate the …

European Commission's research commissioner on India's coaction with EU

The first India-European Union ministerial-level science conference took place on February 5, 2007, in New Delhi, signalling, for the first time,…

Beyond Bhopal: incentive for unsafe industries

A judgement by a Bhopal court has brought the worst gas tragedy into spotlight. It has galvanized the media and the government into action. A …

Republic quaked

Gujarat is paying a heavy price for a calamity that is by far the biggest government-made disaster since Independence. As the state crawls out …

Predicting the future

A severe shortage of medicinal plants and herbs threatens ISM. Cultivation may be the only way out. But currently medicinal plants that are …

Scorching salt

As the world celebrates yet another Environment Day, groups of marginalized people in some part of the globe or the other get evicted from their …

‘There is not enough milk’

Amrita Patel was part of the White Revolution that made India self-sufficient in milk. She joined Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’…

How MEA torpedoed the Bangladesh-India gas pipeline

Mani Shankar Aiyar is known for the many controversies sparked by his provocative comments and controversial ideas. As minister for petroleum and …

Bill will push PDS reform

Development economist JEAN DREZE, known for his work on issues such as hunger, famine, social and human development in India, child health and …

Veggies delight

The rising demand for vegetables has opened up a money-making opportunity for small farmers. Already reeling from recurring droughts and …

‘Forest department is the encroacher’

When V Kishore Chandra Deo became the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs three months ago, both the ministries were in inertia.…

On privatising water

What about privatising water? Should India move to do it? What tips the scales in its favour, and what doesn't? In 2003, two editorials in Down …

Private affairs

The invitation was innocuous. The Confederation of Indian Industry (cii) -- the grouping of the large and most powerful industries -- was …

1,620.361 ha of discontent

Special economic zones and sit-ins. Mega-projects and marches. Public-private partnerships and pitched battles. Precociously, because they are …

Mining firms set up shop in Orissa

Lanjigarh block, Kalahandi, Orissa, May 17: At its summit, the northeastern ridge of the Niyamgiri hill range has a bald patch, typical of …

Unhealthy countryside

It was once associated with the rich and urban. Today, hypertension is fast spreading in rural India. This is a cause for concern because …

OFFICIALLY BANKRUPT

June 30, 2004: The India Eco-Development Project -- a project meant to enhance the country's biodiversity and provide people living inside and …

Deep waters

Puducherry's plans for a new port have prompted unprecedented protests. Allegations of a huge land grab facilitated by procedural violations and …

Goa must grow...but how?

On January 26, 2007, the government of Goa withdrew its newest blueprint for the development of the state, called the Regional Plan 2011. …

Unravelling the food mess

Reaching food to people who need it the most has remained one of the most stubborn problems in India. The public distribution system (PDS) is in …

Wealth of forests withheld

Forest departments across the country owe millions of rupees to communities. For 20 years communities toiled under the Joint Forest Management …

The small big polluter

Small-scale industries: Where regulations are meaningless and pollution control an unaffordable luxury. Can they leapfrog to cost-effective …

30,000 farmers demand Hirakud dam water

Western Orissa is witnessing an upheaval. In the eye of the storm is the Hirakud dam. Over 300,000 farmers dependent on its water for irrigation …