The Ice Story

Amit Shanker talks about a random photograph that helped him reveal how Americans kept British cool.

Annoying the US, our way

Despite close cooperation with American enforcement officials, US unhappy with India’s report card

The Microsoft way

Wherein an Indian firm using pirated Microsoft software here is sued in the US by California state for using unfair trade advantage

Looming threat of a secretive trade pact

Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will extend restrictive intellectual property laws globally

Guar mine

Farmers in Rajasthan make big bucks as shale gas rush boosts demand for little-known cluster bean

Brown oil and silvery sheen

DAHR JAMAIL visited Louisiana fisheries on harvest day but found the catch sordid

Menacing US diplomacy

Specialist attachés are strenuously pushing maximalist intellectual property rules worldwide

Myriad gains, we all lose

The US appeals court has upheld the patents for isolated human genes, ignoring scientists’ warning that it would obstruct vital research …

Science meets fiction

Down To Earth invites sci-fi buffs and writers to take its readers on a guided tour of the world of science fiction that throws a mirror to the …

Nemesis of killer drugs

The investigator who took on a pharma giant in the US

Acta is trade terrorism

India’s generic medicines export faces a huge threat from the anti-counterfeiting law which creates barriers to global trade

Who are you?

Microorganisms have a complex equation with humans. From the structure of our bodies to cultural differences, the invisible beings influence our …

Brickbats for compulsory licences

US criticises India and BRIC group for strengthening provisions on life-saving medicines

Sponsored blight?

Another monsoon. The season of suffering in India's flood plains. And of blaming upstream people for floods. Is there an end to this

A rather ridiculous gap

Clothing giant Gap’s trademark infringement notice to an NGO selling products made from recycled waste is a curious case

Poor little rich states

Rich in natural resources but extremely poor, the three new states are in need of a new strategy for development. But no blueprints have been …

Obama takes first dip

The US becomes the first to join a global patents pool to make AIDS drugs cheaper but health workers are sceptical of the initiative

US plays dirty on tar sands

The EU appears to have backed off on important climate change policy because of pressure from US-backed Big Oil

G8 and tragedy of Africa

Rich nations are forcing African states to change laws to facilitate private investment in agriculture in a replay of colonial adventurism

Monsanto does it again

The biotech seed giant sues a farmer for planting unbranded commodity seeds bought in the open market for patent infringement

The natco-pfizer test

Natco’s demand for a voluntary licence from Pfizer will establish how well the compulsory licence process works in India

Race to kill kyoto protocol

As Copenhagen nears, Obamas America sees new hope Yes, we can...dump climate multilateralism. In Bangkok, most developed countries joined the …

Memories of Agent Orange

Phulmai's walk - a day in the life of a headloader

Headloaders - collectors of fuelwood in India's woodlands. On the one hand, seen as forest destroyers, on the other, they are the sole support of …

No climate for cleantech

Most of the clean energy innovations are with just six rich countries and hardly any technology is coming to developing nations