Crank it up
Sugar mills in India are doubling up as power generators by burning crushed sugarcane or bagasse. But with the price of bagasse rising, their …
Desperate to relocate
Chetty communities living in the core area of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve have been demanding that they be shifted out of the forest for three decades.…
'Organic cotton production and consumption should become a mass movement'
Vivek and Juli Cariappa are Krishi Pandit awardees and dedicated organic farmers based in H D Kote taluk in Mysore. They have been practising …
Bengaluru’s lakes go bad as authorities deny responsibility
Agara, Bellandur and Varthur lakes are facing the dual threat of pollution and encroachment
Hepatitis afflicts many HIV/AIDS patients, but there is no policy for them
Health ministry and AIDS control body keep shifting responsibility; no statistics available on patients with co-infection
Kerala overlooks environmental aspects of proposed small hydropower plants
No information available on location of dams and whether the projects are in ecologically sensitive areas like the Western Ghats
Chaos in the iron age
After iron ore plunder in Bellary and Goa comes a Supreme Court order that adds confusion to chaos
Heavy metals in cosmetics
Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general at Centre for Science and Environment talks about the growing cosmetic industry and the presence of …
The grand old man of Kannada
SOME PEOPLE live in years, others in deeds. At 91, Kota Shivarama Karanth has done both. Journalist, litterateur, dramatist, playwright, …
A lost name, a vanishing ecosystem
In the Kannada language, the word kere means a man-made or natural water tank, and the word for the numeral nine is ombhatthu , pronounced …
'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 …
I can't just close down a polluting industry
As chairperson of the Karnataka state pollution control board (KSPCB), 39-year-old K V Bengeri has to contend with more than environmental …
"The awareness here is dismal"
Karnataka High Court's Justice M F Saldanha has emerged as one of judiciary's standard bearers in the ongoing battle to save the environment. His …
Catch me a colossus
Catching Veerappan, who amuses himself upsetting the government cart, is like trying to cage a titan. The State is in no position to meet his …
Green poetry
On October 15, 2003, the Prime Minister (PM) attended the first meeting of the new all-powerful Indian Wildlife Board. He gave a virtuoso …
Where are the panchayats?
Of the three farm water conservation programmes currently under way in Karnataka, the Jal Samvardhene Yojana (jsy) has completed a year of …
Profit from the poor
Fifty-four suicides in Andhra Pradesh have blown the lid off the social posturing by microfinance companies. Before the news of the deaths sank …
IT's underbelly
India produces about 400,000 tonnes of electronic waste each year, growing exponentially. Handling this is a great challenge. What adds to it is …
The negotiators
Of India's 18 major rivers, 17 are inter-state. In all cases, the water is intensely fought over. In all cases, there seems no resolution. In …
Meltdown
Till a couple of decades ago Bangalore was a sleepy city -- running to the rhythm of old trading networks and retired people taking their evening …
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 …
How Bellary was laid waste
Karnataka’s Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report is a sordid story on the rise of India’s mining poster boy, Bellary. The …
Saving rice
Rice is at the heart of a fierce strategy debate as the country prepares to launch the second Green Revolution in the eastern states. …
Organic thread
Even as Bt cotton invaded Indian fields in the past few years, some farmer groups kept pushing for organic cotton. In 2009-10, production in …
Universal health scare
The country’s planners are debating how to provide healthcare to all. In a drastic shift from the 65-year-old public health system, the …