Free the air of mercury

In 2003, we at the Centre for Science and Environment undertook the task of creating an inventory of mercury use in India. We decided on this endeavour after conducting the environmental rating of the chlor-alkali industry: an industry that produces basic chemicals like caustic soda and chlorine.

On wrong trek

Serene natural beauty, lush green forests, crystal clear springs and stars twinkling through the night—these are sights that attract trekkers to Uttarakhand’s mountains. The beauty of the area was in our minds too when we planned a trek to Roopkund. The glacial lake 4,200 metres above sea level is famous as the site where a Nanda Devi game reserve ranger discovered more than 500 skeletons in 1942.

Shrinking homes

Subhash Sahni, a fisherman who rows a small boat near the Ganga -Gandak confluence at Patna, once demonstrated his skills to me. He showed me how to attract two prized fish varieties—Bachwa and Gherua—to his fishing hook. Having fewer bones, these fish are easier to eat and are tasty. Naturally, they fetch a good price.

A pecking order falls

We live in a world filled with theories of human nature, or more correctly, theories of human nature that explain differences between people. Such theories have a wide ranging currency and explain differences between people in things as varied as poverty, labour efficiency, honesty, graciousness, violence (or lack thereof), scientific progress, cleanliness of streets, alcoholism, sexual prowess and what not.

India Inc’s new bogey

Auduth Timblo is the owner of Fomento Group, one of the largest mining and iron ore exporting corporations in Goa. Last week during a meeting in Lisbon to promote business relations between Goa and Portugal, Timblo blamed an “overworked and underpaid judiciary” and its “activism”, and “green tape” in Indian governance for halting Goa’s economic development.

Plants have proteins

When people hear calls for 25 per cent less industrial cattle ranching, or even calls for “Meat-Free Mondays”, their usual misgivings centre around protein. Protein needs vary somewhat with age, between men and women, infants, children, and during pregnancy and lactation, but a safe rule of thumb is 50 g/day.

How Valley of Flowers got World Heritage Site tag

The Valley of Flowers has immense natural beauty and a bonanza of flowers. However, carrying out research there demands physical fitness, patience and perseverance. Long back in April 1993, when I first started surveying the Valley of Flowers National Park, nestled amid some of the majestic snowy peaks of Himalayan mountains in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, I was quite sceptical of my success. I was not even sure whether I would complete the study.

Walmart and the other America

There is the United States of America and then there is the idea of USA that exists in the minds of significant portions of the middle classes across the globe. This idea varies slightly according to the region, reflecting specific aspirations and anxieties. In the Indian continent, it is increasingly not the one made in Hollywood, given the “IT-coolie”-fired traffic to the US.

It’s not just about a good holiday

The devil is in the detail. When land is held in public trust, the question of who constitutes the public needs clarity. In India’s protected areas this question has become pertinent in light of the Supreme Court’s interim decision on tourism. This order requires states to declare buffer zones for tiger reserves. Tourism within the core of the reserves without notified buffer zones has been banned.

What lurks beneath the Network

A series of buzzwords has become a naturalised part of discussions around digital social media—participation, collaboration, peer-2-peer and mobilisation. Especially in the post-Arab Spring world (and our own home-grown Anna Hazare spectacles), there is this increasing belief in the innate possibilities of social media as providing ways by which the world, as we know it, shall change for the better.