Cementing Ties
Wherever there is construction, there is corruption. The foundation of most projects rests on commissions, bribes and kickbacks
Divide And Rule
Policies that alienate the people from control over their habitat can cost the country dearly in terms of green cover and air and water quality
The Root Of All Evil
Laws meant to protect the forests are doing exactly the opposite. Funds for afforestation programmes are pocketed by the corrupt and land remains …
Dubious deal
Before looking for supporters elsewhere, the fossil fuel-dependent North should take the first step in reducing carbon emissions at home
North vs South
Developing nations should not sit back and allow the US to do the thinking. They should find a way of making their contributions meaningful and, …
In search of Vision 2020
The vision of a 'common future' appears to have been lost somewhere along the way from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to the first assembly of the …
The Rural Sector Opportunities and challenges
To deal with 'economic poverty', it is necessary to deal with 'ecological poverty'. And people's participation is necessary to undertake …
Parched lands
The frequency of droughts has made even traditionally water-rich regions fall under the spectre of death
India's urban renewal plan goes wrong
The Centre's ambitious urban renewal plan has one basic flaw: in the name of public-private participation it tries to give greater agency to …
The street fight
Three years have passed since the day we released our first study on pesticides. The government reduced excise duty on soft drinks in this year's …
Disciplining the enfants terrible of industry
Small is not always beautiful: Small-scale industries in India account for only 35 per cent of the country's industrial production, but their …
Humanity's puzzling past
The 4.5 million year blind leap from "almost human" to Homo sapiens continues to baffle palaeontologists, but 2 new finds offer a new …
A plague on this country
The plague today holds the same threshold of dread that it did in the 14th century. So when the Black Death struck India late last month, the …
When alienation ruins
Sandalwood smuggling, epitomised by Veerappan, has become a collective phenomenon involving entire villages, which even the ban on sandalwood …
Selling God's secrets
After 20 years of scepticism, increasing sales have finally convinced industries that genetic engineering holds the key to the future.
Setting up shop
First, the government shook scientific institutions out of their lethargy by applying the brake on funds. Now, its asking them to tie up with …
Employment schemes fail to ease rural poverty
The government's employment generation schemes, laudable though they may be, have yet to achieve their goals. Not involving intended …
Neem gains honour as India's wonder tree
Known in ancient India as a tree with many wondrous properties, the neem tree is slowly drawing the attention of the country's scientific and …
Purifying the Ganga
"The story of the Ganges, from her source to the sea, from old times to new, is the story of India's civilisation ..." - …
Partners in prosperity
Sukhomajr, a village in Haryana, has come to symbolise how community efforts at natural regeneration can improve both the forests and the people'…
Keep forestsshall feed
The Northern model of conserving tropical forests by completely eleminating humans from them will spell ecological disaster, and may aimed more …
Killer chlorine
Once hailed as a boon to health, chlorine is now charged with being carcinogenic, maiming the immune and the reproductive systems.
Visionary
Blind terror: 80 per cent of the world's sightless are in the developing world, and the number will double by the turn of the century. Carl …
In a swelter over shelter
Besides highlighting some of the enduring concerns faced by today's urban planners, what else has the Istanbul 'city summit' -- Habitat II -- …
The road ahead
While the protocol has succeeded in lowering consumption of CFCs, developing countries still bear the cost burden of using and developing substitutes