‘The role of the state should be pragmatic, not ideological’
Calestous Juma is professor of Practice of International Development and faculty chair of Innovation for Economic Development Program at Harvard …
'I cannot be a mute spectator to the carnage of Ganga'
As Uttarakhand grapples with the task of repair and restoration, octogenarian environmentalist G D Agarwal's fast to free Ganga of dams continues.…
Role of climate change in tropical cyclones still unclear
Thomas Knutson is a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US. He was the co-chairperson …
Chhattisgarh will not allow GM crops
Chandrasekhar Sahu, agriculture minister of Chhattisgarh, is passionate about making farming a viable proposition for farmers. He has written …
Get a good night's sleep
March 15 is a day to celebrate good sleep and create awareness about lowering sleep problems in society through better prevention and management. …
'Bollywood stars could act in the romances around nuclear contamination'
So says Brazilian environmental journalist Norbert Suchanek who is travelling with his film festival across the world. One of its kind, the …
Treasure and the tricks
Conserving genetic purity of 750 varieties of rice with limited resources like a small piece of land and no workforce is a major challenge. Debal …
Detergents threaten India's waterbodies
Narinder K Kaushik, professor emeritus at the University of Guleph, Ontario, Canada, speaks to Nitin Sethi on the dangers of phosphate content …
Land subsidence is serious
India depends heavily on groundwater. But overextraction can cause the land to sink. A recent study found that signs of land subsidence are …
Organic goes online
India’s organic food exports have found a new strength—online traceability. Web-based TraceNet can trace an organic product right …
GM maize and its health implications for humans
Michael Antoniou, head of the Nuclear Biology Group in the UK, has been studying the health effects of genetically modified (GM) crops since 1995.…
River restoration is not just an ecological act
Despite decades of restoration efforts by a rich ensemble of state-development actors, cultural heritage votaries and rights activists, the …
'Poor nations need Codex education'
Sanjay Dave, director of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), was recently elected chairperson of …
Ramsar is not a strong, strict and rigid convention
India has listed 16 wetlands under the Ramsar sites, but with no policies, knowledge or interest shown by the authorities, proper management is …
'NGT must have suo motu powers'
Justice Swatanter Kumar has been chairing the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for nearly two years now. In an interview to Down To Earth, he speaks …
‘Manipulate market, lower drug prices’
In times of rising costs of healthcare compounded by shortage of funds, UNITAID, a UN organisation, was set up in 2006 to improve access to life-…
‘Ganga basin temperatures to rise by 1-2°C by 2050’
Eddy Moors, who heads the Earth System Sciences and Climate Change group at Alterra Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands, …
Toxic Alert
In large doses, cadmium is carcinogenic. A study now shows that even chronic exposure to the heavy metal in low doses causes breast cancer. …
A decentralised system will lead to sustainable water use
S Vishwanath, a Bangalore-based engineer and planner, started the Rainwater Club to help people manage rainwater efficiently. He spoke to Binayak …
Health care should be cheaper and more accessible
N H ANTIA Director of the Foundation for Research in Community Health, Pune, Maharashtra is striving to promote the concept of better health care …
Alternative fuels can reduce air and noise pollution levels
Vialle, a company based in the Netherlands, manufactures customised cars using alternative fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied …
Restore ecosystems or suffer a lower standard of living
Andre F Clewell , a US-based botanist and plant taxonomist, has for the past 15 years been working on ecological restoration. This relatively new …
Time to act
The Madhya Pradesh government has recently sent a letter to the Prime Minister seeking changes in the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The …
Energy transition is now a must
Marie-Hélène Aubert, adviser to the French president for international negotiations on climate and environment, was recently in New …
'CBD has lost its track'
Bolivia is one of the few countries that has consistently been opposing treating biodiversity as a commodity at the ongoing Conference of Parties …