In defence of shifting agriculture

IT HAS taken almost two decades of consistent research into the northeastern tribal practice of shifting agriculture for P S Ramakrishna, …

'There is a conflict in gene patenting in India and abroad'

ASIS DUTTA, a senior biologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, is the first Indian scientist to have applied for a gene patent in …

"Right should belong to scientists"

For the first time in India, the draft of the Plant Varieties Protection (PVP) Act is being finalised by the ministry of agriculture. India, as a …

Reconstructing atmospheric history

Old paintings can provide information about the composition of the atmosphere of bygone ages. When a volcano erupted in Indonesia in 1815, …

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 …

`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 …

Why are we all falling ill

The pursuit of unsustainable economic growth, bad development policy, lack of good science, and poverty are a prescription for ill-health. These …

David Sands on bacteria's role in rainfall

David Sands, professor at the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, usa, hypothesized that there is a link …

Agriculture is egocentric

Norman Uphoff, professor emeritus of government and international agriculture at Cornell University, US, likes to say that the system of rice …

G Nammalvar, messiah of organic revolution

G Nammalvar was one of a kind, a messiah of farmers who was revered as a saint-teacher by his followers. He was an agriculture scientist, a …

Nobel winner Paul J Crutzen on the neglect of nitrogen cycle

Paul J Crutzen received the 1995 Chemistry Nobel prize for showing that nitrogen oxides react catalytically with ozone, thus accelerating …

'They asked me to withdraw my court case'

P PARDHA SARADHI is tenacious. This mild-mannered professor at the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Delhi (DU) has …

Linkage between science and public policy has weakened

M S Swaminathan, popularly known as the father of India’s Green Revolution, has been associated with national agricultural research system (…

GEAC has power only to withdraw permission

Arjula R Reddy, a plant geneticist, was appointed co-chairperson of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in 2009. At present, he …

A plant breeder comes into his own

Awards are finally coming to K Vinod Prabhu, 54, a plant breeder, for his work on building resistance in wheat, mustard and rice through the …

Deconstructing science

Nature uses lean sources to get work done. The environmental crises we face today are a result of ignoring this simple paradigm for two centuries.…

Science for ecology

Down To Earth and the Centre for Science and Environment announce the winner of the 2001 Green Scientist Award. In the exercise to rate the …

Manipulating Research

Private funding has given a new meaning to scientific research today. With rising corporate research budgets, academic institutions are leaning …

The many ways of GM contamination

Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the food and environment programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), is among the most …

Flat in 20 days

Global climatic anomalies allied with local weather conditions produced the most freakish hailstorms in central and north India in February and …

Science under siege

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

Lives of others

Wildlife is more of an academic concern except when the charismatic tiger is wiped out from a protected forest or our favourite fish vanishes …