Highlights from the issue

Highlights from the issue

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1. Sunita Narain's Desk: Prescription for safer food

Prescription for safer food
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

India’s food-safety policy must work for all consumers

2. Special report: What suicide statistics conceal

What suicide statistics conceal
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

Health problems are becoming a bigger driver of suicide in India, with cases rising by nearly 45 per cent in a decade

3. Interview: Punjab's many curses

If Punjab wants to reduce illness-related suicides, it must treat the person not just the disease: Zimi Angad Singh
unknown via iStock

The state’s high burden of illness-related suicides is symptomatic of deeper social and economic malaise, says psychologist Zimi Angad Singh

4. Column: A major public health concern

Mental illness and suicide are a growing public health concern in India
iStock photo for representation

Suicide is rarely the result of a single event or illness, says psychiatrist Pramod Gupta

5. Special report: Sticky decline

Sticky decline
Farmers and workers separate lac-encrusted branches from trees in Ulihatu village, Khunti district, Jharkhand. At weekly markets in the district, lac can fetch around Rs 1,000 per kgPhotograph: Vikas Choudhary / CSE

India’s lac production struggles despite strong global demand and high prices, as climate volatility and myopic policy take their toll

6. Special report: Hidden in plain sight

Hidden in plain sight
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances take years or decades to break down, allowing them to persist in rivers like the Ganga which supports millions of people

Scientists warn that most “forever chemicals” in the Ganga remain unidentified, raising concerns about the true scale of pollution in the river

7. Civil lines: Goal keeping after 2030

Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2026: Goal keeping after 2030
Photo: @UNDP/X

As SDGs approach their deadline, will the world replace them with a new set of goals, or rethink the idea altogether?

8. First take: Beyond the milestone

Beyond the milestone
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

As the world celebrates Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar feat as a sign of success of the growth model, some ask why has poverty remained so persistent

9. Appraisal: Wings under peril

Wings under peril
In Hawai’i, US, avian malaria has led to major population declines and extinctions in native honeycreeper species

Avian malaria is spreading through critical biodiverse regions of the US and India

10. Cover story: Known unknowns

Known unknowns
During the 2005 floods in Mumbai, the Mithi river became the primary conduit for the flood waters to reach the sea. After the floods, walls were constructed around the river and people were moved to houses at higher elevationsAll photos: K A Shreya/CSE

Marine litter is on the rise worldwide. Plastics now make up most of the waste that reaches the oceans, travelling through cities and waterways. Why are there no comprehensive policies in place at either the global or national level to tackle marine litter effectively, and explore possible solutions?

11. Book review: The world is not enough

The world is not enough
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

Land is a finite resource, best left undisturbed for optimal environmental benefits. Since that is not a feasible option, the need is to improve agrarian productivity, says the book We Are Eating The Earth

12. Interview: ‘Many nations headed the wrong way’

‘Many nations headed the wrong way’

American journalist Michael Grunwald, author of We Are Eating the Earth, on how popular climate solutions, from biofuels to regenerative farming to reducing livestock production, could do more harm than good

13. Patently absurd: India hobbled by industry’s failure to fund R&D

India hobbled by industry’s failure to fund R&D
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

The chronically low investment in research and development by the private sector has now reached a crisis point

Down To Earth
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