Highlights from the issue

Highlights from the issue

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Sunita Narain's Desk: A world remade by rivalry

A world remade by rivalry
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

It is now an established strongman’s world, in which each country must work out its own economic future, its alliances and its own road to prosperity

Cover story: What lies beneath

The deaths from contaminated water in Indore expose the short-sightedness of India’s current water-supply model. Tackling the problem will require tighter regulation, better data and a sewage-first approach

Cover story: Great drying

Great drying

With countries like Iran seeing unprecedented, prolonged drought and water resources depleting faster than they are replenished,   the world enters an era of water bankruptcy 

Interview: ‘Bankruptcy is a state of failure'

‘First thing to do when solving water problems is to understand diversity’
‘Water bankruptcy’ is bitter and painful, but admitting it can be a good strategic move.iStock

The world must accept the new water normal if there is hope for mitigation, says Kaveh Madani, director, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health and author, “Global Water Bankruptcy Report”

Interview: ‘Can't imply the same unprecedented drying is established for every basin'

‘The Ganga stands out as India’s river basins respond unevenly to warming’
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The Indian subcontinent does not behave as one coherent hydro-climate unit, says Kaustubh Thirumalai, associate professor, department of geosciences, University of Arizona, US

Life and nature: Conserve or perish

Introduced in 1998, bamboo rafting on the Periyar lake helped turn a forest-produce smuggling corridor into a patrolling zone
Introduced in 1998, bamboo rafting on the Periyar lake helped turn a forest-produce smuggling corridor into a patrolling zone(Photographs: Ratheesh S R)

Periyar Tiger Reserve has rewritten Indian conservation by turning poachers into protectors and conflict into coexistence

Special report: Competing concerns

Competing concerns
French farm unions at a demonstration against the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement in Strasbourg, France, on January 20, 2026(Photograph: Reuters)

What are the repercussions of the EU-Mercosur pact that have made European farmers protest against the free trade agreement?

Special report: Access open

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An amendment to India’s nodal forest conservation law opens up forests across India to commercial exploitation by the paper industry

Special report: Unexplored potential

Unexplored potential
The Sundarbans’ low-lying geography makes it extremely vulnerable to floods and natural disasters, whose frequency is increasing with climate change

Can tourism help communities in the Sundarbans cope with climate-induced loss and damage?

Special report: From fryer to flight

Used cooking oil, co-fired at existing oil refineries to create sustainable aviation fuel, is abundantly available in India but not channelled properly
Used cooking oil, co-fired at existing oil refineries to create sustainable aviation fuel, is abundantly available in India but not channelled properly

Sustainable fuel made from used cooking oil can play a pivotal role in helping India achieve its aviation emission reduction goals. Measures to collect this oil must be revamped

Civil lines: Popular distrust

Popular distrust
Photo: iStock

For the first time in years, environmental concerns have been displaced by
geo-economic confrontation as the top short-term risk

Patently absurd: India is facing up to its innovation lag

India is facing up to its innovation lag
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

There are signs now that India is acknowledging the superior strides
made by China in a frontier technology like AI

Down To Earth
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