TRIPPED
On December 26, 2004, the Union government of India issued the Patents (Amendments) Ordinance, which will change the way the country does …
Exhausting Practices
Prescribed as the antidote for all problems related to vehicular pollution, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates have been an obsession …
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 …
Vaccine Eloquent
Universal vaccination became part of government policy in 1978. A quarter of a century since, progress has been fitful. In some parts of the …
Profiting from disaster
Zoramthanga , the chief minister of Mizoram, has many reasons to reminisce the birth of his party, the Mizo National Front, an insurgent group …
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 …
GOT IT!
Think tourism in India and the first images that will flash through your mind is -- the Taj Mahal and the Indian tiger. Tigers, and the protected …
Peta's Pet
UK-based animal welfare group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals has been campaigning against Indian leather, alleging ill-treatment of …
BIG CAT CONUNDRUM
The tiger occupies a hallowed seat in India. Ecologists believe that millions of small ecological processes live out their routine lives under …
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 …
Forest conservation is too complex an issue to be resolved by executive fiat
The condition of India's forest and her forest dwellers is extremely grave. A fresh round of police attacks on tribal people -- four dead in Dewas,…
Just dump it
Acids of arsenic. Organo-mercury compounds. Batteries. Bristles of boars or hogs. More potent stuff: asbestos; slag dross; ash and residues of …
The inside story
Bad health is good business. The pharmaceutical industry knows that. But now bad health is turning out to be good business for the food industry …
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. …
Impotent plan?
In August 2005, the Indian Parliament passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (nrega). The latest avatar of state-financed employment …
Power the people
For the country where only 15 per cent of its population have access to electricity, Nepal has come a long way. It took 84 years to achieve power …
Logjam
Whenever the Supreme Court pulls the trigger, why does it miss the target? Because governments like those of the seven Northeast states work …
There's nothing august about Mumbai
July 26, 2005: It began raining at 11 am. In the next 24 hours, India's most populous city received 944 mm of rainfall. The resultant flood …
Theirs to mine?
This is the question angry and beleaguered tribals in Orissa and Jharkhand are asking, as mining companies set up shop in the midst of their land …
Who is watching GM crops?
As India gets ready to unleash a vast number of genetically modified (GM) food crops, politicians have joined activists in opposing engineered …
FIGHTING FOR AIR
Weighed down by extremely high levels of particles in the air, some Indian cities seem to be coming of age with regard to vehicular air pollution.…
The political economy of defecation
This is a story about Delhi and the Yamuna, about the relationship between one of India's richest cities and one of her most revered rivers. The …
Forest war
Naxalism started as a movement against land alienation. Today it has become a popular movement against natural resource alienation, …
Brinksman
As Le Clemenceau bobs on the horizon, reactions in India get sharper, noisier. We've discovered occupational safety. Asbestos is used in …
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 …