What triggers desertification in India

A low down on the most important causes behind desertification in every state of the country. Addressing these will be critical to meet targets …

India shining meets Hindutva

Uma Bharti is getting serious. The newly elected chief minister of Madhya Pradesh (MP) has unleashed a development agenda built around the 'cow …

Hell and high water

The incendiary Sardar Sarovar Dam project came to a head on March 15 this year, when Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) agitators, led by the …

Harmful Vaccines

Public Health Activist Anand Rai explains how harmful chemicals are being used in children's vaccines. ENGLISH TRANSLATION I got to know …

No need to be neutral

NEW DELHI, August 28, 2003. At a press conference, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patekar said that the NBA would support candidates …

Solar power is the only viable alternative

K R DATYE has been associated for years with grassroots organisations such as the Pani Panchayat and the Mukti Sangharsh, which has spearheaded …

The house that Digvijay built

Governments and the masses have very rarely worked together successfully in modern India. In Madhya Pradesh, chief minister Digvijay Singh has …

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 …

Standing the test of drought

After the 1999 monsoon failed in several areas of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, there is a serious drought. Summer is a good four months away, and …

A midsummer dream

Anyone will tell you that follow-ups are not a story. Journalism is not about following stories of specific villages and how they fare year after …

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,…

‘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 …

Fat of the matter

What does 'healthy oil' really mean? It is difficult to tell. The Centre for Science and Environment studied branded edible oils to understand …

Beyond Bhopal: incentive for unsafe industries

A judgement by a Bhopal court has brought the worst gas tragedy into spotlight. It has galvanized the media and the government into action. A …

Maize Mania

Maize has become the queen of cereals, courted by state governments, seed companies, farmers and the feedstock and starch industries as the crop …

Veggies delight

The rising demand for vegetables has opened up a money-making opportunity for small farmers. Already reeling from recurring droughts and …

Wealth of forests withheld

Forest departments across the country owe millions of rupees to communities. For 20 years communities toiled under the Joint Forest Management …

How government is subverting Forest Rights Act

Does this official data betray a conspiracy? Only 1.6 per cent of the 2.9 million claims approved under the Forest Rights Act recognise community …

Rights without benefits

Over 1.3 million tribals and forest dwellers have got rights over the land they had been using for years under the Forest Rights Act. This can, …

Flat in 20 days

Global climatic anomalies allied with local weather conditions produced the most freakish hailstorms in central and north India in February and …

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 …

Troubled Beautiful Minds

They are there—each residential area has its mentally disturbed people; each family has anecdotes of crazy relatives. Nobody wants to …

Organic Universe

Organic is all the rage. Organic food, cosmetics, clothes and even organic medicines. But mostly it is food. There are speciality stores that …

Sand slips

Where there is a river, there is sand. Called a minor mineral, it fulfils a major requirement of the booming construction industry. No wonder, …

The hunt for benefits

India is hailed as a pioneer in implementing the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity—fair and equitable sharing of …