Too cut & dried
Does the style of conserving forests currently dominant in India require an overhaul? Yes, say state governments and affected people. ruksan …
World’s life expectancy up but gains uneven finds World Health Statistics 2016
A child born in a high income country is expected to live till 80 but life expectancy in sub- Saharan Africa is less than 60 years
Salvage science
Scientific Advisory Council to Prime Minister seeks more funds and education reforms in science sector
India's nutritional puzzle
From the maw of the Indian state there has emerged an undigested piece of development cake: nutritionally speaking, people's diets are out of …
The new Money plant
The seeds of a plant called jatropha yield oil that, after processing, makes biodiesel. It can reduce India's burgeoning oil import bill. And …
The Caspian affair
The landlocked Caspian Sea is a cauldron of geopolitics. Its essential ingredients: oil and natural gas
Energised by oil
Energy policy has always been of vital importance in the US. That's why oil and gas executives have taken over the reigns of the government today
Oil that glitters
Petroleum fuels the engines of the global economy. So there is never enough of it. Oil politics dictates international relations
Picture imperfect
Aerosol research is still in its infancy. Further studies will reveal the definitive long-term impact of these tiny particles
One missed opportunity, 330 million drought-stricken Indians
We could have been drought-proof by 2010 had we only harvested rainwater. Sixteen years later, India's villages are paying the price
From barrels to battlefields
Today, it is oil politics that dictates international relations and alliances. Several international conflicts in recent years have been sparked …
India Exposed!
It is unimaginable. Air quality in most Indian cities is at critical levels. And the culprit - respirable particulates - are way above danger …
Printers' devil
The Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan High Court has ordered the relocation of Sanganer's polluting dyeing and printing units within a year. Failure …
Water woes in wet Kerala
More than 2,000 mm of rain in 2003 but crops destroyed and farmers committing suicide; crores spent on 31 irrigation projects but villages going …
Poor enforcement, weak laws make poaching an easy game
Salman Khan might be in the arclights because of his poaching misadventures. But many people routinely get away with killing protected animals; …
No Escape
A recent US study has conclusive evidence on the deadly nature of fine particulate matter in the air. These unseen particles, mostly emitted by …
New Age Approach
We need to go back to the drawing board to reinvent a green toilet. If necessary, to go back to our past and find technological innovations that …
Drowning In Human Excreta
Sanitation for urban India means building flush toilets and linking them to sewer systems. But the price of chasing this dream is leading to an …
"Subsidy culture has killed local agriculture"
Thupstan Chhewang, Chief Executive Councillor and chairperson of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) speaks to Down To Earth.
Ladakh on the move
Ladakh is the one region in India where sustainable development is the only way ahead. Dry toilets, water efficient crops, cooperative farming, a …
Damodar - Ten years after
How has the river that flows through one of the most industrialised regions in India fared since it was first written about in 1993? Down to …
Climate change conference- World leaders fail to act again
The 12th Conference of Parties to the UN climate convention saw the setting up of an adaptation fund to help poor countries. Ritu Gupta …
Have technology, will survive
A green agenda based on the paradigm of pollution prevention can rescue the small-scale industry
Mere plans
Government proposes. Industry disposes. Programmes for cleaning up have very largely gone by the wayside
By hook, crook or vision
Profits and a cleaner environment can sometimes complement each other. But Indian companies are still mired in poison. They must now look for a …