India needs the science of the common people
It's a paradox that while the government is busy opening up the telecom sector to multinational companies, technocrat Sam Pitroda, perhaps the …
The spirit of the sanctuary
Sacred groves - tracts of virgin forests - are vestiges of an ancient practice in which people protected a forest to avoid the wrath of its …
Why diseases are "mysterious"
The government's public health system is completely defunct. Of late, there has been an alarming rise in disease outbreaks in the country. …
Book review: Water: Perspectives, Issues, Concerns
This is a work of encyclopaedic scope. The subjects it deals with range from an in-depth study of the treatment of water in the Indian …
Blow to anti-AIDS campaign as condom turns taboo subject
The paanwallah-doubling-up-as-a-condom-vendor ad has been taken off the air. Instead, Doordarshan will show a village council member warning …
Who is watching GM crops?
As India gets ready to unleash a vast number of genetically modified (GM) food crops, politicians have joined activists in opposing engineered …
Simulating real-life networks
India is a leader in IT. But how do researchers here apply the science to improve people’s lives? Malay Bhattacharyya, assistant professor …
Beads that can heat water
With fossil reserves fast depleting, new technologies promising more efficient use of renewable energy sources, especially the sun, are flooding …
‘Rethink economics of poverty’
Want poor families in north India to immunise their children? Offer the parents a small bag of lentils as an incentive and vaccination rates make …
'In genetics, the ethical choice lies with the people'
A professor of molecular biology and virology at the Salk Institute at La Jolla, USA, Dr Inder M Verma is also the chairperson of the Scientific …
Developed nations are not bothered about marine resources
Fifty-five-year-old thomas kocherry , one of the founders of the National Fishworkers Forum -- a trade union network of 200,000 traditional …
Yet another hypothesis to explain decline in vulture population
Another theory has implicated a commonly used veterinary medicine for the large-scale disappearance of vultures from the Indian sub-continent. …
Dark zones are human-made
Groundwater sustains almost 60 per cent of the irrigated land in India. Most districts in India today have larger shares of irrigated land under …
"It happened by sheer accident"
More great discoveries in the realm of science get stumbled upon by the unprepared mind than untangled by methodical research. dna fingerprinting,…
Craning glory: Demoiselle cranes find sanctuary in Rajasthan village
Kheechan village on the edge of the Thar desert lies on the migration route of demoiselle cranes travelling from their breeding grounds in …
What's cooking in India's largest biogas plant
Methan village in Sidhpur tehsil, Patan district of Gujarat saves 500 metric tonnes of fuelwood annually. They've been doing it for the last 15 …
Locating the State
In September 2004, Down To Earth carried a two-part editorial on the failure of the State to deliver basic services. In the September 15, 2004 …
Organic Universe
Organic is all the rage. Organic food, cosmetics, clothes and even organic medicines. But mostly it is food. There are speciality stores that …
Should conservation be privatised?
Since the late 1960s, many African countries, including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, have adopted a new approach to conservation.…
`Top scientists misuse power, funds'
It seems like a lost cause but Kasturi Lal Chopra battles on. As president of the Society for Scientific Values (SSV), he leads the charge to …
`Family farming is not a romantic idea. It is business'
The food price rise of 2007-08 highlighted that investments in the agriculture sector have reduced in the past three decades. One of the most …
Towards wetland conservation
The Union environment ministry has been working for the past four years to create a regulatory framework to protect the country’s wetlands. …
"Polluters are today's environmentalists"
Crusader for the rights of over eight million Indian fisherfolk, Thomas Kochery , 57, made news headlines when he rejected the US $150,000 …
Software freedom
On Richard Stallman's personal homepage it says, "America means civil liberties. Patriotism is protecting them." Words that sum up the …
Farming fish and mussels
When bad management and increasing demand for inland fish led to plummeting stocks, fishing villages around the Ashtamudi estuary in Kollam …
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