Page 10:We all eat GM food, uninformed and illegally

In - Depth

Agriculture

Why farmers now dread a normal monsoon

No major agrarian reform has happened in the 50 years since the Green Revolution. A normal monsoon cannot be assumed as the only incentive for farmers to sustain productivity. It's time India offered its food producers a new deal

Environment

Save our seas

Air

New systems, old habits

Early deaths due to ozone pollution are the highest in India. Credit: Robert_z_Ziemi / Pixabay

Air

Multi-pollutant crisis in Delhi-NCR: Ozone pollution another deadly contributor

Water

Naini lake is depleting, but can we undo the wrongs?

Experts believe that obstruction in the subsurface recharge and increased abstraction of water to quench Nainital’s thirst are making the lake shrink

Agriculture

A tract of burnt land in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh. Though burning crop residue is prevalent in several parts of the state, officially, only one case has been registered so far this year in Gautam Budh Nagar district (Photo: Srikant Chaudhary)

India's burning issue of crop burning takes a new turn

The pattern of burning crop residue in India is changing. The practice is no longer limited to the post-monsoon crop of rice or the northern states of Punjab and Haryana

Environment

Waking to the chemical spill in Delhi

Lives of about 500 schoolkids were put at stake when a toxic chemical leaked in a busy slum area in south Delhi on May 6. Down To Earth finds out the lapses and highlights the pressing concerns

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Deer, antelopes, wild cattle and pigs are illegally hunted for meat in different parts of the country. Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Trade / Flickr

Illegal and ignominious world of wildlife trafficking

Analysing the magnitude and international nature of illegal trade of Indian wildlife species

Agriculture

The Bakarganj weekly animal market in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district wears a deserted look. Over 800 head of cattle used to be traded every week at the market before the slaughterhouse ban on March 22 (Photo: Vikas Choudhary)

Meat Matters

Why slaughterhouses have to be "illegal" to be sustainable and why farmers have to give up their cattle for survival

Agriculture

Under the British rule, farmers in Champaran were made to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their land and the crop was bought at throwaway prices for textile mills in Britain (Photo: Oscar Mallitte)

Champaran Satyagraha continues

A century ago, Gandhi tested the idea of satyagraha to fight for indigo farmers. While the crop is seeing a revival in the south, Champaran is in the throes of another peasant struggle

Science & Technology

Mortal combat

Can life be extended indefinitely? There is a renewed vigour among scientists looking for ways and means to cheat death

Agriculture

How is fodder crisis rendering livestock vulnerable?

Today, India faces an acute fodder shortage that has left drought-hit farmers and livestock vulnerable. Jitendra finds out how fodder crisis has the potential to cripple India's rural economy

Health

Gurmeet Singh of Delhi cannot sleep well at night. Incessant snoring and breathlessness wake him up frequently. He undergoes a sleep study at a clinic (Photo: Vikas Choudhary)

For a good night's sleep

Most urban Indians dread bedtime. Sleep disorders ensure that 93 per cent of the people living in cities don't sleep well or worse, are not able to sleep at all. What is causing us to lose sleep?

Lifestyle

Real or fictional, these women are heroines of all time

From the spirited Bathsheba to Mandakini Amte, from unrecognised midwives and unsung domestic labourers to fearless tribal activist Sumani Jogdi, these women deserve our admiration

Environment

Men as the wind beneath our wings

From Mahabharata hero Bhima to Nobel Laureate Tagore, from Infosys founder Narayana Murthy to Bhagwad Gita’s Krishna, we bring to you memorable men whom women love and admire

Science & Technology

The seven planets could have some liquid water and maybe life on the surface. Credit: NASA

Sister Solar System and Earth's cousins

After discovering Earth-like planets in 2014 and 2015, the NASA took a step towards finding life outside our own solar system by discovering a new one with seven Earth-sized exoplanets

Wildlife & Biodiversity

Lock & hold

The jallikattu bull row in Tamil Nadu provokes the law v culture debate

Lifestyle

Death and resurgence of mother tongue

On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, we present to you stories on dying dialects, language revival movements and their significance to ecology and culture

Environment

Often, flames are seen leaping off the water because of the phosphorus and oil on the surface Credit: DCP Traffic East / Twitter

Bellandur Lake: a story of toxic froth and fire

Bengaluru’s failure in managing solid waste and lack of a sewage management plan explain repeated incidents of Bellandur lake catching fire

Water

A dry riverbed
in Maroua town,
part of the
Chad Basin, in
Cameroon (Photo: Reuters)

Lake Chad's forgotten crisis

Ecological degradation in the Chad Basin has triggered Africa's latest humanitarian crisis. It's time, the basin countries looked beyond the excuse of insurgency

Air

Dirty air dooms Indians to early death

New analysis of global burden of diseases shows very high rate of increase in early deaths from particulate and ozone pollution. Over a quarter of global deaths from air pollution occurs in India.

Governance

Life in limbo: the Rohingya refugees trapped between Myanmar and Bangladesh

Abuses on Rohingyas have reached new height but neither Myanmar nor neighbouring Bangladesh are taking responsibilities to grant basic human rights to this population

Environment

Chennai oil spill: planning, assessment and action inadequate

The extent of ecological and economic damange is yet to be known and coordination between the maritime board, the state disaster response team and the port authorities is absent

Environment

Relevance of Gandhian environmentalism

Mahatma Gandhi never used the words environment protection, but his writings are replete with remarks on the excesses of industrial society

Governance

The future trajectory of the nation will be governed by our ability to provide education, knowledge, and a progressive worldview to our young citizens (Credit: iStock)

Budget expectations: quality education needs financial backing

In absence of substantial financial backing, achieving quality education appears to be distant dream