The revolutionary who transformed health care
ZAFRULLAH Chowdhury draws inspiration as much from Hippocrates as from Mao Zedong. To the first, he owes his medical ideals and to the second, …
A reluctant candidate for Chile's presidency
Meet Manfred Max-Neef. Pianist, economist, eco-humanist and politician from Chile, all rolled into one. Internationally acclaimed for his concept …
"At what cost to the environment"
"The country's forest cover will be raised by five per cent during the Ninth Plan," said Suresh P Prabhu , the Union minister for …
'Their capability to pay arises out of their high level of exploitation'
Union minister for environment and forests Kamal Nath's attitude to the UNCED summit is a curious mixture of pessimism and optimism. He is …
Green politics must be pragmatic to succeed
Erstwhile Green Party spokesperson Sara Parkin on the future of green movements in the industrialised world.
'Bioenergy is being taken quite seriously'
Gerald Leach is a senior research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in London. He has written extensively on rural energy …
Patkar unperturbed by exodus of villagers
Medha Patkar, doyenne of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which opposes the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on the Narmada river, has won a major …
Indian science must stop merely aping West
Cynicism is perhaps the natural fallout of a long career within the government machinery. But when Yash Pal, one of the country's leading …
India will soon play a major role
SIRPA Pietikainen, Finland's environment minister, says the world has quite a few things to learn from India, especially when it comes to …
The great experimenter
For ages, Indian farmers have practised ecofriendly farming by using local resources to improve soil fertility and control pests and diseases. …
'The best solutions are often simple'
ANIL LAUL , principal architect, Anangpur Building Centre, is best known for his advocacy of alternative technologies and building products. His …
"The digital divide is also about a divide in the mindset"
Sam Pitroda, regarded by many as the father of India’s telecom revolution, was in India recently for the Fourth Annual Baramati Initiative …
"Farmer's income is more important than foodgrain production"
Eminent agricultural scientist and chairperson, National Commission for Farmers (NCF), M S Swaminathan talks to Sourav Misra on agricultural …
"Whistleblowing is bound to increase"
Joyce Rothschild, professor of sociology, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, …
'Roughing it out in Lebanon was futile'
Selvakumar Sounthararani, a 36-year-old woman from the war-scarred northern town of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, worked in Beirut, Lebanon, as a …
Copyright issues impinge on democracy
Siva Vaidhyanathan says he holds a debt to copyright regimes. Studying these systems, allowed him to explore cultural interactions in Afro-…
Iodine deficiency causes mental handicap
Chandrakant Pandav , additional professor, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, is a leading member …
"Natural resources need to be protected"
For centuries the people in Bhinyad, a village in Barmer district, Rajasthan, been planning their agricultural activities while preserving the …
'Community rights must figure in the Forest Bill'
The raging controversy over the regressive draft Forest Bill has dumped the onus of defending it on minister of state for environment and forests …
Keeper of the nation's water kitty
MADHAV Chitale, former secretary in the ministry of water resources, is a recipient of The Stockholm Water Award, given by the Stockholm Water …
India needs the science of the common people
It's a paradox that while the government is busy opening up the telecom sector to multinational companies, technocrat Sam Pitroda, perhaps the …
'It really riles me to see developing countries pushed into a corner'
Tough-talking Malaysian negotiator Wen Lian Ting explains why the North's stand on forests is morally unjust and politically untenable
'We need technology, but on our own terms'
Nanuram Rawat was the adhyaksha of the gram sabha in Seed, one of the first gramdan villages where environmental resources have been regenerated …
"Biodiversity treaty is misleading the Third World"
A known a crusader for traditional Indian medicine. P Pushpangadan, who completed his Ph.D from Aligarh University, is currently the director of …
'I don't think future generations will be very happy with our performance'
Michael Jefferson is vice-president of the London-based World Energy Council (WEC), an international association covering all energy forms. …