'NGT must have suo motu powers'
Justice Swatanter Kumar has been chairing the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for nearly two years now. In an interview to Down To Earth, he speaks …
A decentralised system will lead to sustainable water use
S Vishwanath, a Bangalore-based engineer and planner, started the Rainwater Club to help people manage rainwater efficiently. He spoke to Binayak …
Health care should be cheaper and more accessible
N H ANTIA Director of the Foundation for Research in Community Health, Pune, Maharashtra is striving to promote the concept of better health care …
Alternative fuels can reduce air and noise pollution levels
Vialle, a company based in the Netherlands, manufactures customised cars using alternative fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied …
Restore ecosystems or suffer a lower standard of living
Andre F Clewell , a US-based botanist and plant taxonomist, has for the past 15 years been working on ecological restoration. This relatively new …
Time to act
The Madhya Pradesh government has recently sent a letter to the Prime Minister seeking changes in the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The …
Sunil Shaunak on ethical medicine, patent laws
Sunil Shaunak of Imperial College, London, is pioneering 'ethical pharmaceuticals'. He talks to Subhra Priyadarshini about his work, evergreening …
Turn on the tap
Why do Americans buy expensive bottled water when they have high quality tap water? That’s been an abiding enquiry for PETER GLEICK. …
'CBD has lost its track'
Bolivia is one of the few countries that has consistently been opposing treating biodiversity as a commodity at the ongoing Conference of Parties …
Energy transition is now a must
Marie-Hélène Aubert, adviser to the French president for international negotiations on climate and environment, was recently in New …
Affected people can even approach the criminal court
JUSTICE N VENKATACHALA former judge of the Supreme Court, is currently chairperson of the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA). Set …
'Clean environment has to be a fundamental right'
For more than four years now, Narayan Belbase, an environmental public interest lawyer, has been working towards facilitating and mainstreaming …
‘Let farmers decide the price’
Mani Chinnaswamy’s contract farming model has prompted IIM graduates to study his Appachi formula. After all, it gives farmers the right to …
'Regional climate models must for managing water'
Subimal Ghosh, faculty member of IIT-Bombay, has been working on localised climate change models. He speaks to Dinsa Sachan about extreme …
‘Energy conservation is a moving target’
A decade has passed since the Energy Conservation Act was enacted in 2001. Most provisions of the law are yet to be implemented properly. Ajay …
Vehicular emissions are a cause for concern
Praful B Desai, professor emeritus and former director of the Tata Memorial Cancer Research Institute, Mumbai, spoke to Leena Chakrabarti on …
The rich are enjoying themselves at the expense of poor people's health
Karen E Smoyer of the University of Alberta, Canada, has been working on the impact of poor environment on the weaker sections of society. …
"We have to reduce the exposure of people to diesel exhaust"
Daniel Greenbaum , president and the chief executive officer of the US-based Health Effects Institute, has done pioneering work on the health …
"Psychosocial care should be a component of overall health care"
K SEKAR, assistant professor, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, talks to NEELAM SINGH about …
Meinhard Von Gerkan on GMP's entry into India
Meinhard Von Gerkan, a partner in the German architectural firm GMP, was in Delhi recently to prospect for ventures in India, particularly in …
Historian Heather Goodall on indigenous people, water in Australia
Heather Goodall, a historian at the University of Technology, Sydney, has a special interest in Australia's indigenous people--especially their …
'Village level forecast will take time'
What prevents Indian scientists from making weather forecasts for farmers? Sailesh Naik, secretary to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, tells …
Unorganized players give e-bike a bad name
For a growing section of riders, e-bikes are a cool way out of increasing fuel costs. Naveen Munjal’s firm Hero Electric leads India’…
'They asked me to withdraw my court case'
P PARDHA SARADHI is tenacious. This mild-mannered professor at the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Delhi (DU) has …
Rift valley