Maize Mania

Maize has become the queen of cereals, courted by state governments, seed companies, farmers and the feedstock and starch industries as the crop …

Ponty, buses and PPPs

Science under siege

Agricultural science has ossified in India. Despite a vast network of public research institutions and agriculture universities across the country,…

Coal quandary

In a sweeping pronouncement, the Supreme Court has termed all the 218 coal blocks allocated since 1993 illegal. This has raised a fundamental …

Back to toilet school

On August 15, the government announced it had achieved the target of building toilets in all schools in India. But are these toilets functional?

Scientifically invalid

Inter-Academy update on GM crops does little to redeem Indian science

Biotech industry has a new patron

Department of Biotechnology is playing venture capitalist to private companies to push biotech research in agriculture

Battle against TB

Latest WHO report highlights the advances made by countries in controlling the spread of tuberculosis and recommends ways to achieve eradication 

Out of rathole

Post a ban on small-scale coal mining, Meghalaya is investing its energy and enterprise in other sectors

Civil v political

Arguably, this is the hottest political summer for Delhi. Reason: friction between anti-corruption activists and the Union government over the …

Use public sector lands for Make in India-like businesses, suggests Economic Survey

It also recommends the use of public lands for start-ups and industrial clusters

Banks at a loss

Piling up non-performing assets serve as a lesson for banks to do social and environmental impact assessments of projects more rigorously

For more skin in the game

With RBI and the Supreme Court calling for action against powerful debtors, state-owned banks have been put on notice

Public–private partnerships can help achieve sustainable agricultural development goals

Public–private partnerships in agriculture have the potential to modernise the sector and provide numerous benefits to smallholder farmers

State turns its back on health sector

With state-run health care facilities proving ill-equipped to tackle the surge in dengue and chinkungunya patients, private medicos are …

Farrukhabad children deaths show the rampant mismanagement in government hospitals

49 children have reportedly died in a month in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad district hospital due to lack of oxygen supply, but the …

Economic Survey 2019-20: A radical deregulation agenda of poor economics and poorer economic history

Efforts to create a Singapore-on-Ganges will simply not work

RTI reveals 13 of 14 operational coal mines allotted to PSUs being run by pvt contractors

Of the total 35 coal mines allotted to PSUs between 2015 and 2020, 21 have been given to mines developer and operator contractors

Simply put: The budget amid a pandemic

Down To Earth’s cartoonist Sorit Gupto analyses the budget for the next financial year through his cartoons

Corporate net zero promises found to be insufficient and relying on cheap offsets

25 of the world’s largest companies only commit to reduce emissions by 40% on average, not 100% as suggested by the terms ‘net zero&…

Indian thermal power plants got Rs 7.62 lakh crore in loans in 17 years: Report

Tamil Nadu got the most loans at over Rs 84,000 crore; followed by Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh

Oxfam’s latest report is a wake-up call on the ever-increasing gulf between India’s haves and have-nots

India should adopt a pro-people and nature-friendly economic model to reduce its inequalities