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Cover Story

In deep water

Rivers Krishna and Mahanadi are in crisis. In the race to industrialise, states have drawn plans to exploit their last drop. For four decades, three states have been squabbling to exact the maximum water from the Krishna, writes Bharat Lal Seth. Two tribunals have been of little help in resolving the dispute. Richard Mahapatra travels along the Mahanadi in Odisha and witnesses conflict between farmers and industry

Editor's page

New business for new renewables

It was a trade exhibition abuzz with the restrained chatter of busy suited executives at company stalls making contacts and finalising deals. Nothing out of place except that this trade was about renewable energy technologies, which have unconventional reasons for growth. First, these technologies are seen as the most economical and feasible source of energy for millions of people unconnected to the electricity grid and having no electricity to light their houses or cook their food. This energy poverty is disabling and needs to be eradicated. Introduction of decentralised and improved technologies paves the way to catapult the poorest of the households into the most modern systems. Secondly, these technologies—from wind and solar to biomass—provide cleaner low-carbon energy options to combat climate change. These are future systems critical for survival of all.

News

CAPART up for overhaul

Funding agency for rural NGOs may be on its last legs

Burdened with bumper crop

Faulty procurement, rising farm inputs force West Bengal farmers to commit suicide

Channels of interest

National Water Policy draft gives industry implicit priority over agriculture

Patently Absurd

Medicines Pool Swirls

Drug companies are slowly joining the UN effort to offer life-saving patented medicines to poor countries but the terms are sometimes restrictive

Science & Technology

Science and Technology - Briefs

Stem cell dilemma

How clinics use embryonic therapy not approved by ICMR

Locust repellents

The insect dislikes crops rich in nitrogen and proteins

Food for brain

Vitamins and omega-3 fatty acid improve cognitive ability

Why fish go crazy

Ocean acidification hampers brain chemistry

Factsheet

Species census

Total number of known species on Earth are rising. A report by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, US, compiled a list of species discovered in 2009

Web Check

Making waste a way of life

IF you thought composting is a smelly, messy work, the website under review offers ways to make it simple and stylish. It has products, ranging from composters, rakes, gloves and microbes to lemon grass spray that keeps fruit flies at bay, so that one can prepare compost conveniently and hygienically. The beautifully crafted terracotta composter bins can be used to decorate one’s terrace or garden.

Special Report

Aravallis razed

Repeated court orders fail to save part of the primitive mountain range in Alwar from mining

Cleaning the cotton stain

ICAR sets up independent investigation into Bt Bikaneri Narma research scam

Hidden hunger?

There is a rush to cash in on micronutrient deficiency in India through fortification of food

TB turns invincible

Discovery of a deadly form of TB in a Mumbai hospital underscores mismanagement

Feature

Born at 44

Odisha village gets pattas after nearly half a century. Land reform programmes get jumpstart

Crosscurrent

Permitting wildlife science

Forest permissions haunt wildlife research

Review

Reforming the cyber nation

Mid-December last year, I posted a few excited messages on Facebook about a forthcoming holiday to Australia. My page saw a steady invasion of ads from travel operators, some extolling the beauties of Australia.

Media

Twitter grows conservative

Twitter announced that upon request it can block tweets in countries where they are deemed illegal. The removed content would, however, be available to the rest of the world. Earlier, when the social network would delete a tweet, it would disappear worldwide.

Burger King cut to size

An unknown graffiti artist did the maths on a billboard put up by global fast food chain Burger King, and transformed the ad into criticism.

Texts of prey

UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has initiated a crackdown on firms that send out unsolicited emails and text messages offering credit or promising to write off debts.

News Snippets

>> Iran’s cyber police arrested administrators of a Facebook group, which had initiated an online beauty competition, on the charge of encouraging individuals to access vulgar content through the Internet. The cyber police posted a note on the group’s Facebook wall saying: “In the name of God, we inform you that the page ‘Daaf and Paaf’ is now under the control of [the cyber police].” Some fear it might crack down on the Iranians who posted their pictures to take part in the competition.

... and ghosts come to life

A trove of wax cylinder phonograph records, recovered from a cabinet in Thomas Edison’s laboratory, has been brought back to life after over a century of silence. The cylinders hold the only known recording of the voice of powerful German statesman Otto von Bismarck, who had unified the nation, reported The New York Times.

Prized Indian teachers

Algeria has invited Indians to teach English in its universities. With five per cent of its people proficient in the language, the largely Arabic and French-speaking African nation needs around 250 English teachers.

Stolen work

Swedish retail clothing giant H&M was ripped apart by netizens for stealing the work of US artist Tori LaConsay and reproducing it on a range of its household items, including pillowcases, towels and doormats.

According to BBC, LaConsay had painted a billboard, saying, “You look nice today”, in 2008 to make her tight-knit neighbourhoods in East Atlanta feel good about themselves.

Letters

Letters - February 29, 2012

Road to Hell

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