"We need to think about all of us as being citizens of the same world"

Joseph E Stiglitz helped create a new branch of economics - the Economics of Information. This earned him the Nobel Prize for economics in 2001. …

Nobel winner Paul J Crutzen on the neglect of nitrogen cycle

Paul J Crutzen received the 1995 Chemistry Nobel prize for showing that nitrogen oxides react catalytically with ozone, thus accelerating …

Don't need subsidies, give us the right price

For most Indians, Mahendra Singh Tikait is the man who brought Delhi to its knees in 1988 with a rally that brought the national capital face to …

A belief in tradition

It was a unique ceremony for a unique award given to a unique rural community of India. In what is perhaps the first ceremony of its kind, …

Deconstructing science

Nature uses lean sources to get work done. The environmental crises we face today are a result of ignoring this simple paradigm for two centuries.…

Science for ecology

Down To Earth and the Centre for Science and Environment announce the winner of the 2001 Green Scientist Award. In the exercise to rate the …

Satirist Dario Fo sued

Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo has been sued for defaming Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in his new satire The Two-…

For a greener turf

US vice presidential candidates Al Gore and George W Bush try to hog the limelight by addressing crucial environmental problems

Anna vindicated

The anti-corruption department raids the houses of a former Maharashtra minister, who put social activist Anna Hazare behind bars for accusing …

Going green helps

The evidence is conclusive. Politicians who take care of the environment end up taking care of the people and their vote bank as well

Miracle man

Single-handedly, 62-year-old Shamjibhai Antala brings water to the arid lands of Saurashtra and reprieve to the villagers

Real or fictional, these women are heroines of all time

From the spirited Bathsheba to Mandakini Amte, from unrecognised midwives and unsung domestic labourers to fearless tribal activist Sumani Jogdi, …

Men as the wind beneath our wings

From Mahabharata hero Bhima to Nobel Laureate Tagore, from Infosys founder Narayana Murthy to Bhagwad Gita’s Krishna, we bring to you …

Celebration of life

In a first, a Bollywood commercial flick delves into a differently abled person's sexuality

A brief mania called Hawkins

Barely 100 out of the 5,000 present at the Stephen Hawking public lecture actually understood what he said. Some felt Hawking had endorsed the …

A scholar among bureaucrats

BOOK>> HEAD COUNT, MEMOIRS OF A DEMOGRAPHER • by Ashis Bose • Penguin • `450

Zurich’s Dr Dolittle is a lawyer

ANTOINE GOETSCHEL, 51, is a Swiss government advocate for animals. A specialist in animal welfare law for 25 years, he explained to SUMANA …

Tribute to Gopal Kadekodi—the man of ecological economics and more

Gopal Kadekodi has made major contributions to science, society, environment and humanity, among others

“My room used to be full of used napkins”

A Muruganatham, 47, of Coimbatore, invented a machine that makes 1,000 sanitary napkins daily. He also improvised a vending machine that can …

The revival of indigo

A school principal in Bihar revives the cultivation of the crop that symbolised the independence struggle

The back up man

BOOK>> MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION, THE LONG JOURNEY HOME FROM THE MOON • by Buzz Aldrin and Ken Abraham • Bloomsbury • Rs 750

Parliamentary panel moots penalty for misleading celebrity endorsements

Celebrities featuring in misleading advertisements of products should be penalised with a fine of up to Rs. 50 lakh and five years of imprisonment,…

Sensitive economics

Anil Agarwal's article, "The poverty of Amartya Sen", publised in the December 15, 1999 issue of Down To Earth , has drawn a number of …

I compete with birds

When Peter Kaestner is not holding visa interviews at the US Embassy in Delhi, he prefers nurturing his ambition of spotting all the 10,000 …

Greening the industry

The Centre for Science and Environment ( CSE) releases the environmental rating of the pulp and paper sector. Participants laud CSE efforts …