From a woman's point of view

THIS RESOURCE guide to environmental action by women's groups and communities in the Asian Pacific region offers an excellent introduction to the issues involved, addressing all readers and not just women.

Jumping on the biotechnology bandwagon

BIOTECHNOLOGY means a lot of things to different people. The new and the traditional coexist and reinforce each other within biotechnology -- now an established and highly interdisciplinary applied field. However, it symbolises big money, in terms of new industries, agricultural practices, patents and research grants. For scientists and academics, biotechnology is in -- everybody wants to jump on this bandwagon, everybody wants a piece of the action.

Science through fun and games

POPULAR demand for informative and entertaining science fare is constantly rising. And, any doubts on this score would be dispelled by the public response to Doordarshan's recent invitation to write in and say what they would like to see on the extended transmission that becomes effective early next year. More than one lakh letters have flooded into Doordarshan's offices, and many viewers want to see far more and varied science programmes than are being offered now on Doordarshan.

Gender roles among the Mukkuvar fisherfolk

THIS REMARKABLE book transcends the crucial limitations of both Marxist social theory and conventional anthropology by consciously avoiding "economism" and "culturism". While recognising "the independent transformative power of capitalism", Ram places "culture and sexuality at the centre of capitalist transformation and the new division of labour between men and women".

Time to look at biofertilisers

LARGE-SCALE manufacture, transportation and application of chemical fertilisers are energy-intensive processes, which is why the hike in oil prices has made them more expensive. Moreover, the vast quantities of waste generated by the industrial and domestic sectors have led to extensive land and water pollution. The collective impact of these phenomena has been an increased interest in biofertilisers.

Fun and information on wildlife

NATURE Scope-India, one of the first publications of its kind in the country, is being brought out on the lines of the Washington-based National Wildlife Federation's NatureScope.

A wealth of anecdotal material

DD social service ads preach, but rarely convert

AS STAR TV enters its second year of existence, there is less of its excellent public service advertisements to be seen. With paid consumer advertising increasing, the network no longer has to run messages on environmental protection and conservation as frequently.

Stretching arguments to point of absurdity

CRITICISING or condemning lopsided developmental priorities and highlighting their consequences is one thing; outright rejection of the very concept of development, science and technology is quite another. Propagating extremist ideology -- one that goes to the meaningless extent of rejecting even the Second Law of Thermodynamics -- is the sum and substance of this new book by Claude Alvares, a self-described "deprofessionalised intellectual".

The saga of the big brother in a little village

Anna in Marathi means brother and Kishan Baburao Hazare is lovingly known as Anna Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi, the village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district that he helped transform from poverty to plenty. Yet, though life in the village has changed, Anna continues to live in a small room in the village temple.