Medical tests: How necessary?
Doctors are increasingly prescribing tests to arrive at a diagnosis. Has this benefited medical practice or patients? Four experts debate
Weaving trouble
Kashmir's handmade pashmina shawls have long been threatened by power looms outside the state. The problem has now spread within
Goodness of the unpolished
The popularity of polished white rice has killed the red and black varieties that have medicinal properties. A few Tamil Nadu farmers are …
High on nectar
Demand for neera, the fresh sap of young coconut flowers, is rising with advances in food preservation technologies. It's time Kerala stopped …
Bee sure to yield fruit
It is established that bee-keeping increases fruit productivity, but can the practice become successful in urban India?
Digging their Destinies
Villages in arid areas of Vidarbha and Marathwada fight back drought by reviving natural depressions along stream beds
Sacred assault
High stress levels are affecting the reproductive health of endangered Asian elephants in captivity, says study
Invasive ‘aliens’
Lantana camara is growing unchecked in Western Ghats, threatening the biodiversity hot spot
Butter fruit
Shalini Dhyani explores the forgotten virtues of mahua fruit and seed oil
Millionaire mukhiyas
Money pumped in development schemes in Bihar is giving rise to a new breed of village heads, flush with money and flexing muscles
Stage set for armageddon
Two wheat genes that confer absolute resistance to lethal Ug99 stem rust strain identified
Insensitive to sensitive zone
Centre declared a stretch from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi eco-sensitive. Why is Uttarakhand dragging its feet over implementing it?
Participation or takeover?
Private companies now dictate terms in Maharashtra’s agriculture sector. Punjab follows suit
‘Need balanced criteria to judge backwardness’
Following Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s campaign for special status for Bihar, a panel of six experts chosen by the Union Finance Ministry …
Time for a facelift ?
A German company claims its silicon-based technology can restore the Taj Mahal to its past glory. But some experts doubt its effectiveness
Taj corridor project compromises heritage
Sadly, preserving Taj Mahal appeared to be the last thing on the authorities' mind when they allowed land reclamation work to continue for six …
US, epicentre of unequal wealth
As the US completes 50 years of its "war on poverty", the country does not have much to celebrate, thinks JOEL BERG, an expert on …
Crafted tales
Startups are connecting artisans to the urban consumer by providing them an online market to showcase their craft
Doing very nicely without IPRs
We need to re-imagine the role of the state in creating knowledge without intellectual property rights
A taste of mountains
Jakhiya seeds are used for tempering almost all types of vegetables and curries in the Garhwal region
Sea that isn't
In just 50 years, the Aral Sea - once the fourth largest inland water body - has turned into world's newest desert
The India effect
The US is targeting India's patent law because it is inspiring other countries to follow suit
Saving for rainy days
People of West Bengal’s Sunderbans region are setting up grain banks to safeguard against food crisis
Food allergies on the rise
Increase in number of cases reported across the world; prevalence rate in India could be 3 per cent
Double trouble
Two layers of black carbon, a pollutant causing greenhouse effect, have been found over Guwahati. Usually there is just one