New Nepal

The country struggles with ways to use its diverse ecology in finalising new states

For the record

The wisdom of the unlettered

Locating the State

In September 2004, Down To Earth carried a two-part editorial on the failure of the State to deliver basic services. In the September 15, 2004 …

Bicycles pave the way

Automobiles were not the harbingers of good roads—at least not in USA

Neemi's water conference

Jal biradari launches movement to drought-proof villages

The world the slaves built

After the recent earthquake, Haiti is depicted as a basket case. It was not always so

Is social sector revenue or capital expenditure?

Blood on the Internet

Governments are censoring digital content on the ground that it infringes intellectual ­property rights or offends people. Can they be stopped?

Caspian tigers may not be extinct

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