Highlights from the issue

Highlights from the issue

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Sunita Narain's Desk: Don’t push limits

Don’t push limits
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

Policy and practice must accept that the Himalayas require a separate development plan

Special report: Transmission trap

Transmission trap
Between April and August 2025, at least 30 solar plants were forced to cut output, losing nearly `700 crore(Photograph: Reuters)

Solar and wind power projects are facing curtailments, which developers and industry analysts attribute to delays in construction of electricity transmission lines and inaccurate demand forecasting

Special report: Relocate, resettle, repeat

Relocate, resettle, repeat
Morwa town in Singrauli will be completely destroyed to allow expansion of Jayant coal minesPhotograph: Vijay Kumar Verma

How India’s largest displacement exercise unfolds in a district much displaced

Cover story: Fighting chance

Confronted with the twin pressures of climate change and economic malaise, African countries are mounting adaptation programmes

Special report: A mandatory requirement

A mandatory requirement
Sand mining can have an impact on the physical characteristics, flow, sediment and ecology of the river, which necessitates assessing sand replenishment capacity before extraction can start Photographs: Vikas Choudhary / CSE

Assessment of a river’s sand replenishment is now a legal requirement for obtaining environmental clearance to mine the resource

Opinion: Global South reimagined  

@narendramodi / X (formerly Twitter)

In an increasingly fractured world marked by unilateralism and weakened climate cooperation, civil society must elevate Global South cohesion as a top climate agenda

Civil Lines: A generation in protest

A generation in protest
Nepalese Gen Z protesters in front of Bharatpur mahanagarpalika office.Photo: Wikimedia Commons CC 4.0

Youth protests are growing due to a sense of exclusion, ineffectiveness of democracy 

Patently Absurd: Delhi court ban on Sci-Hub is bad news

Delhi court ban on Sci-Hub is bad news
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

Researchers will be hit by the loss of the free science website while big publishers are milking India on subscriptions

Interview: ‘A separate Local Government Service Commission can be set up to recruit panchayat employees’

‘A separate Local Government 
Service Commission can be set up to recruit panchayat employees’
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

Insufficient revenue generation hinders panchayats' functioning, says V N Alok of the Indian Institute of Public Administration

Book review: The catalyst within

The catalyst within
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

Max Nieuwdorp's The Power of Hormones on how hormones not only shape one's health, but have likely impacted global events

Food: Sip and unwind

Moon milk prepared with ashwagandha and other spices is said to boost relaxation and promote sound sleep
Moon milk prepared with ashwagandha and other spices is said to boost relaxation and promote sound sleep(Photograph: Vibha Varshney/ CSE)

Ashwagandha, one of the most revered herbs in ayurvedic medicine, has found its place in contemporary wellness recipes

Down To Earth
www.downtoearth.org.in