Farmers split on merits of Dunkel proposals
The attack on a Bangalore seed company was reported as the start of a farmers' movement against globalisation of agriculture. Now, some farmers …
Future tense
What will work? Investments in future projects? Expensive fresh water? Recycling for industries? Legislations?
Order out of chaos
New Zealand's far-reaching reforms in conservation and forest management has "changed the face of forestry" in the country
For better living
To clear the persistent ambiguity governing the concept of sustainable development of urban centres, attention must be paid to present and future …
Spray and forget
A clear, comprehensive policy on pesticide use and awareness about its harmful effects can help in solving the problems
Virus attack
Unknown, unidentified and lethal fevers are striking India. Leaving a trail of deaths and misery. A system caught unawares gropes in the dark. …
Zero Intellectuals
The nation that invented the zero is now confounded by one zero. EPCA meets all agencies in its search for alternatives. But instead of ultra …
Breaching the digital divide
Information technology can become a good development tool for the rural India. But can our villages be logged on to the infotech highway with …
Roots of change: Seed (Udaipur, Rajasthan)
A true product of Bhoodan movement • Rights over grazing land led to self-rule • Fights panchayat dominance
Environment to the defence
Ironically, Indian scooter manufacturers keep the Chinese at bay using strict emission norms. With WTO rules in place, domestic emission norms …
Freewheel
Who wants to buy a scooter that's priced as high as a limousine? The auto industry can choose to make costly changes to the conventional …
DEFINING SAFETY
"All substances are poisons; the right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy". Modern food regulation is about determining what that right …
Cancer train
Brave front: Bimla hugs her son goodbye before leaving for Bikaner for her second round of radiotherapy
Evidence of Damage
Anecdotal reports of high incidence of cancer had been coming from certain areas of Punjab since last few years. It is common knowledge that …
Andhra Pradesh's killer pharma industry
The pharmaceutical industry is booming in the environs of Hyderabad. But poor regulation means local people are having to pay the price of …
Putting out new shoots
Whether it's increasing yields, cutting growth time of plants, increasing their resistance to disease or preserving genetic resources, scientists …
Cracking the cancer code
In recent years, scientists have closed in on cancer, pinning down precisely how its hellish manifestations are caused and spread. Their findings …
Completing the great gene jigsaw
An epiphanic understanding of gene sequencing at last seems to reveal the tale of life and death
What a bloody mess
When the Ebola virus broke on April 10 this year, the scientific world went into a tizzy? It's uncontrollable, it's the big daddy of horror movies,…
Kuttanad: a case in point
Kuttanad in Malayalam means 'small town'. But the ecological devastation which human hands have wrought here is in no way small or insignificant
Backs to the wall
Kerala's backwaters are one of its most prized possessions. But they are fighting for survival today, with reclamation for the purposes of …
Coral cause
The world's seas and oceans harbour about 600 species of corals, most of which are hard put to escape human marauders. A people's initiative in …
Fallacy in figure
During the 1980s the rate of destruction of natural forests was reduced as compared to the 1970s. Most of the deforestation took place in the …
The green fences
Nobody knows what is green. Labels merely help companies to cash in on the guilt inherent in a consumer society
The confused consumer
An unaware and confused Indian consumer is groping in the dark, hoping to clutch at any green stalk of hope