I was dropped because I stood for Western Ghats conservation: P T Thomas
P T Thomas, senior Indian National Congress leader and sitting Member of Parliament from Idukki Lok Sabha constituency, has been denied a ticket …
'Elephant conservation is not exactly anybody’s priority'
M D Madhusudan is an ecologist and conservationist with Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysore, Karnataka. An elephant expert, he is a member …
Lethal link
An expert on toxicology and a campaigner deeply concerned with the health impact of chemical pesticides, Romeo F Quijano was at the forefront …
“Aboriginal people in Australia still do not have right over their land”
Poet and writer ALI COBBY ECKERMANN was in India recently to launch her memoir, Too Afraid To Cry. The book is an account of her growing up as a …
GM crop benefits are all in future
Nearly 40 years ago, Marc Van Montagu of Ghent University in Belgium, along with fellow researcher Jeff Schell, discovered that Agrobacterium …
Lowland rice is a carbon sink
Pratap Bhattacharyya, senior scientist at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Odisha, along with his team at the institute, says rice …
Everyone is stealing germplasm
When agronomist Ralladoddi Hampaiah was advisor to the Russian government, he discovered how easy it was to take genetic resources out of India. …
Iran-India gas pipeline laid low by geopolitics
Mani Shankar Aiyar is known for the many controversies sparked by his provocative comments and controversial ideas. As Minister for Petroleum and …
‘People often talk of the Gandhian model of development, but if such a model is genuinely Gandhian then it is not about development’
Mahatma Gandhi never used the words environment protection. However what he said and did makes him an environmentalist. His writings are replete …
‘Low solar energy tariff bids are sustainable’
The second batch of bidding for photovoltaic projects totalling 350 MW capacity in December under the national solar mission witnessed …
Private sector is profiting from vacuum left by ICAR
In the agriculture research hierarchy, Swapan Kumar Datta occupies the second rung, one of eight deputy director generals (DDGs) in the Indian …
The minimum radioactive dose for treating thyroid cancer
The approach to treating thyroid cancer has changed over time. One method is using radioactive iodine to kill left over cells after surgically …
‘Government of MP has always tried to fudge data’
The Supreme Court, on May 3, asked the Bhopal Municipal Corporation to start supplying clean drinking water to those localities in the city that …
Solving poverty
Gurdev S Khush is the principal plant breeder in the Plant breeding, genetics and biochemistry division of the International Rice Research …
'Punjab Contract Farming Act protects traders’ interests'
In April this year, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Contract Farming Act. The new law provides a legal framework to regulate contract …
A plant breeder comes into his own
Awards are finally coming to K Vinod Prabhu, 54, a plant breeder, for his work on building resistance in wheat, mustard and rice through the …
‘Stopping GM trials is anti-farmer’
Genetically modified (GM) mustard hybrid DMH-11 developed by Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants ran into …
'Industry-politician nexus is trying to eliminate us'
Purushan Eloor is an environmental activist and research coordinator with Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy (PMVS), which has been fighting …
‘Handling toxic waste is a matter of science, not administration’
Whether it is the dismantling of toxics laden ship from the US, Oriental Nicety, or the clean up of the 350 tonnes of waste lying at the defunct …
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,…
From the dirtiest to the cleanest: Mexico City’s journey
Mexico City is today recognised as one of the cleanest cities in the world, and the credit for this goes to Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon who recently …
‘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 …
‘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.…