More bite, less to chew
The most controversial aspect of the food security law is the restructuring of the public distribution system to cover an unprecedented 67 per …
Building dreams for homeless
Government promises land to the homeless in its draft Homestead Bill, but where’s the land?
Master plan for anarchy
The judgement to relocate polluting factories in Delhi leaves several questions unanswered. Will the powers-who-be work to turn good intentions …
Cleanup time
A campaign by an organisation to clean up the polluted lakes of Udaipur has finally paid off. The Rajasthan High Court clamps down on erring …
Regreening of Japan
The Japanese have regenerated their forests twice after their large-scale destruction. But today, it is doing so at the cost of tropical forests …
Win one, lose many
India needs to have a hard look at the sources of all its varied traditional knowledge and how to protect them
Faceless Figures
The status of cancer data in India is as scary as the killer itself. The most recent data on cancer by the Indian Council of Medical Research is …
The trail of ash
NALCO will be sued if it fails to restore an ash pond breach that has caused an environmental nightmare in Orissa
Mine games
Haryana's politics-mining nexus plays havoc with the environment (Read full article)
Orphaned by apathy
Hidden from the outside world, this is the plight of the Van Taungiyas. They were hired during the British rule as resident labourers to plant …
Dispensing with dear drugs
New US law to clear the decks for generic drugs (Read full article)
Tapping wastewater
Put into effect in earnest, the law on wastewater recycling can provide lasting relief to a parched Delhi. samreen farooqui delves into the issue
In the tax bracket again
The Orissa government has slapped a forest development tax on three minor forest produce items -- tendu leaf, timber and bamboo. Seen as a …
Pesticide industry thriving on legal loopholes
The CSE's recent expos has blown the lid off the bottled water industry's tall claims on the purity of its products. Simultaneously, it has …
Fat Chance
Reducing obesity -- the leading cause of non-communicable diseases in the world -- has become a political game. At stake are the interests of the …
Forest ministry favours intrusion
The biggest threat protected areas across the country face right now is from their purported protector -- the Union ministry of environment and …
Melghat Malaise
This first of three Down To Earth analyses of tiger reserves finds Melghat in Maharashtra in a legal mess
Meat Matters
Why slaughterhouses have to be "illegal" to be sustainable and why farmers have to give up their cattle for survival
Will welfare schemes win votes for UPA?
An analysis of Brazil’s last three elections suggests that peopleÔÇêdo vote for parties for such initiatives, but only when …
Who dropped MESA?
Government clueless about the Bill it introduced 12 years ago to govern urban areas in tribal regions. Constitutional crisis follows
A compromised consensus
Two new provisions in land acquisition bill promise to protect farmers. Are they foolproof?
Playing with facts
An affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by the Indian automaker TELCO suggests a misinterpretation of the WHO's views on air pollution. The …
Blues for the big cats
Everyone knows of the tiger's endangered status, but the government seems unwilling to face the reality. So far, it has tried to resolve the …
Power to the people
Heads of panchayats arrived in the Capital to demand the power to effectively run the traditional self-government
Ban lifted on fishing in Sutlej
Discharge of effluents into the river had caused large-scale fish deaths, leading to the curbs