Highlights from the issue - August 2026

Highlights from the issue

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Sunita Narain’s Desk: My unfinished agenda

My unfinished agenda
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

We need a strong co-existence agenda that safeguards rising tiger numbers while securing the livelihoods of local people

Cover story: Coal’s new flex

Coal’s new flex
Photo Illustration: Yogendra Anand /CSE with AI assistance / CSE

India is adding renewable capacity faster than ever, but its grid still relies on coal-fired power plants designed for a different era of electricity generation. Flexible thermal power can bridge the gap, but will require urgent course correction

Appraisal: A weak legal foundation

A weak legal foundation
Illustration: Yogendra Anand /CSE

Ex post facto clearance remains an Achilles heel in India’s environmental law enforcement, and a new Supreme Court judgement is unlikely to deter future violators

First take: Floods don’t move governments

Floods don’t move governments
Illustration: Yogendra Anand /CSE

Even as the disaster increases in scope and damage, flood management and prevention strategies remain stuck at just admitting its threat

Special report: Beyond the lens

Illustration: Yogendra Anand /CSE, with ai assistance

Madhya Pradesh embraces a new technological framework to estimate crop yield losses under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, but farmers say it misses damage on the ground

Column: Doubtful estimates

Are India’s official agricultural estimates correct? New report raises worrying questions
Wheat being harvested near Jodhpur, Rajasthan.Photo: iStock

A government report raises serious questions on the quality of crop cutting experiments, which are used to assess not just India’s crop production, but also procurements at minimum support price and availability of grains for the public distribution system

Special report: Platinum pinch

Platinum pinch
Supplies of cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin, platinum-based chemotherapy drugs used to treat a range of cancers, are running short since May(Infographics: Tarun Sehgal/ CSE; with AI assistance)

Disrupted platinum supplies and higher prices leave patients across India struggling to access key chemotherapy drugs

Special report: Primed to slip

Kalladi landslide near Wayanad a disaster waiting to happen: Experts
The site of the disaster at Kalladi.Photo: Ajay Ghosh S

Just two years after seeing a landslide that killed over 300 people, Wayanad witnesses a similar disaster 

Civil Lines: Rise of stunted generation

Rise of stunted generation
Representative photo from iStock

Stunting is already a major public health challenge in India; climate change threatens to make it worse

Patently Absurd: How fair is AI’s use of copyright material?

How fair is AI’s use of copyright material?
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

A Delhi court says material used for AI training is fair use, but in the US and Europe, the infringement issue is yet to be settled

Opinion: Dangerous gamble

Dangerous gamble
In Bihar’s Simri block, residents show acute symptoms of arsenicosis, including dermatological lesions on limbs (Photograph courtesy: Asmita Ssaha)

In Bihar’s Simri block, unreliable piped water forces communities to depend on arsenic-contaminated water from hand pumps, despite known health impacts of the toxin

Life and nature: A legacy unravels

A legacy unravels
Gopal Dey and Lokkhi Rani Dey of Kuarpar village weave on average, 10 shitol patis (cool mats) a month, earning about R3,000. The couple says weaving items from strands of murta (Schumannianthus dichotomus) for a couple of hours every day is a part of their routine(Photographs courtesy: Sayantani Deb)

With Assam’s shitol pati mats finding few takers, the traditional weaving art form is slowly losing its practitioners

Review: A topical tale

Our plate in the courtroom

The India Story is an unsettling account of toxins in our foods, the state of public health, and the accountability of those entrusted with ensuring safety norms

Down To Earth
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