Environment

Highlights from the issue

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DTE Staff

Sunita Narain's Desk: Between coal, chaos and green power

The challenge is no longer about adding green power, but about planning an energy mix that can be fitted and flexed

Cover story: Conflict in the backyard

Across India, farmers are abandoning their fields as conflict with wild and stray animals intensifies. Conservation policy must move beyond protection alone to restore a workable coexistence between people and animals

Cover story: Wildlife's fear of humans is fading

Two young women herding their livestock along a dirt track in Ranthambore.

Behavioural shifts among animals are a key driver of escalating conflict

Cover story: Reclassify wildlife habitats

No entry or Non tourism area or Access denied without permission signboard by Uttar Pradesh forest department for people and tourist in barahi range of Pilibhit tiger reserve.

Conservation of wildlife at the cost of people is neither possible, nor desirable

Appraisal: Gen Z enters the booth

Five verdicts reveal a generation voting beyond inherited loyalties

Special report: Growing malaise

The latest report by the National Statistical Office shows a growing preference for private hospitals in both urban and rural areas

India’s disease burden has doubled in three decades, with heart diseases and lifestyle disorders now afflicting people at much younger ages

Special report: One step closer

The 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, attained criticality on April 6, 2026

India attains criticality in fast breeder reactor technology, reaching the second stage of the country’s three-stage nuclear programme towards energy security

Science: Petri dish to plate

The idea of cultivated meat took form in Europe, with the first laboratory-grown beef burger patty created in the Netherlands

Synthetic meat production has seen a rise globally, even as environmental benefits of growing foods in laboratory remain debatable

Civil lines: Migrant workers are assets

"Refugees Welcome" placard placed on city hall building facade of Madrid in 2015, at the height of the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

There is a need for distribution of humans according to a country’s economic and development needs

Special report: Capital punishment

Construction of Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, the new capital city of Chhattisgarh, has been going on since 2008 and is scheduled for completion by 2031

Adequate compensation and proper rehabilitation remain a mirage for many displaced by the construction of Chhattisgarh’s new capital, Nava Raipur, even two decades after the project began

Patently absurd: An ‘open’ and ‘shut’ case of AI’s risky trajectory

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman, OpenAI, Microsoft is crucially about open source versus closed technology for corporate profit

Opinion: Pulse power

Legumes offer India a way to cut fertiliser use and import dependence. This requires incentivising farmers through carbon credits and payments for the ecosystem services the crops provide

Life and nature: Conserved by community

Tar village has taken steps to establish itself as a sustainable tourist destination for wildlife enthusiasts who want to see the snow leopard in its natural habitat. In 2024 the Union government selected it as one of the winners of “Best Tourism Villages Competition”

How a desire to make snow leopard tourism sustainable helped a small Ladakhi settlement became the region’s first Community Conserved Area