Highlights from the issue

Highlights from the issue

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Sunita Narain’s Desk: Plastic regime needs transparency

Plastic regime needs transparency
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

If the Extended Producer Responsibility is working so well, why do we see so much plastic waste everywhere?

Cover story: India’s sudden baby bust

India’s sudden baby bust

Indias total fertility rate has gone below replacement levels. Among the countries that have seen such demographic reversal, Indias journey has been the quickest. The usual reasons for such a change are not exactly evident in India’s case. What has led to this phenomenon?

Interview: ‘Goal shouldn’t be to push fertility up or down’

‘Goal shouldn’t be to push fertility up or down’
Poonam Muttreja, executive director, Population Foundation of India.

The need is to help people realise their reproductive aspiration freely, safely, with dignity, says Poonam Muttreja of Population Foundation of India

Column: Low fertility doesn’t clamp down our development

Low fertility doesn’t clamp down our development
K Srinath Reddy is a physician and founder president of Public Health Foundation of India.

Despite the falling fertility rate, the Indian demographic profile will remain young till 2050, says K Srinath Reddy of Public Health Foundation of India

Special report: What’s in a botanical name

What’s in a botanical name
The label on most mustard oil bottles do not mention the exact variety of mustard used to produce the oil.(Photograph: created with AI)

Even the food safety regulator has no clear answer what exactly gets sold as mustard oil in the market

Special report: Waterborne solar

Waterborne solar
The Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana provides central financial assistance of Rs 1 crore per megawatt after commissioning and up to Rs 50 lakh per project for feasibility work.(Photograph: created with AI)

India plans to increase floating solar capacity by 5,000 MW by 2035 but huge challenges remain

First take: Rise and rage of pastoralists

Rise and rage of pastoralists
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

Ahead of UNCCD meet in Mongolia, pastoralist communities champion their way of life as not just one of the oldest vocations that nurtures ecology but also as the new defence against climate change

Special report: Season out of sync

Erratic monsoon, rainfall deficit threatens Manipur’s agrarian economy
Farmers transplanting paddy at Maklang village, Imphal west district, Manipur.Photo: Ngangom Suraj

Manipurs farmers grapple with a monsoon that no longer follows the rhythms of the agricultural calendar

Follow-up: A war to stop an insect

Sal borer insects collected in Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district. Local tribal residents are stringing the insects into garlands of 100 each before selling them to the Forest Department, which is paying Rs 2 per insect as part of a control campaign.
Sal borer insects collected in Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district. Local tribal residents are stringing the insects into garlands of 100 each before selling them to the Forest Department, which is paying Rs 2 per insect as part of a control campaign.All images courtsey Surendra Jatav, Sub-Divisional Officer of the Dindori Forest Department.

Madhya Pradesh forest department deploys hundreds of people to collect and kill sal borers, seeks permission to fell thousands of trees as the pest outbreak intensifies in the state

Civil Lines: Gen Alpha calls for new syllabus

Gen Alpha calls for new syllabus
Sonam Wangchuk on fast last month.Photo Courtesy: @Cockroachisback/X

For the first time, school students are leading from the front to demand for access to basic amenities

Patently Absurd: Ebola and the politics of vaccines

Ebola and the politics of vaccines 
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

Africa was lucky to get its first vaccine, but a new strain of the killer disease shows that financing and policy gaps remain a big problem

Science: Vapour on the rise

Vapour on the rise

Wildfires and volcanic eruptions can push more water vapour into the stratosphere, altering temperatures and atmospheric circulation

Opinion: Sandalwood, reborn

Sandalwood, reborn
Sandalwood trees growing with their host, Malabar neem (Melia dubia) in Pimpode Budruk, Satara, Maharashtra. (Photograph courtesy: Sangram B Chavan)

India is reviving sandalwood cultivation, but success will depend on scientific management of trees along with reforms in regulatory policies

Review: A laugh and think riot

A laugh and think riot
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

An eye-opening take on the Ig Nobel Prizes and a celebration of curiosity in its wildest form, Unruly makes one laugh and ponder at the same time

Down To Earth
www.downtoearth.org.in