Weaving trouble

Kashmir's handmade pashmina shawls have long been threatened by power looms outside the state. The problem has now spread within

Making labour the fall guy

BJP thinks undoing labour laws will spur a manufacturing boom. Even now workers enjoy little protection or social security

As told to Parliament (March 10, 2021): 280 million LPG consumers in India

All that was discussed in the House through the day

Bihar in reverse gear

State plans to bring down its minimum wage rate to that under MGNREGA

Closure of stone crushers leaves labour high and dry

Blasted out

Gubraida gram panchayat scripts a success story by bringing illegal mining to a halt

Will MGNREGA help again? Rs 1,387 crore pending in wages

Migrant workers are returning to their home states again as COVID-19 pandemic lashes out brutally at several urban centres 

Court Digest: Major environment hearings of the week (June 6-12, 2020)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

The untouchables: COVID-19 lockdown and the migrants

Social-distancing on the one hand and slipping back to age-old social discrimination on the other hand can break backs 

Illegal mining forces Raniganj residents to eat now and die tomorrow

Villages in Asansol-Raniganj coal belt, which go to polls on April 29, 2019, stand on precarious land that might collapse any day, but the …

Crafted tales

Startups are connecting artisans to the urban consumer by providing them an online market to showcase their craft

Fiery protest

An immolation bid by a Bhopal resident leads to closure of polluting factories

Mercury threat

Mining accounts for more labour deaths

3 years of pandemic: I am still dealing with the havoc COVID wreaked on my health

Down To Earth reporter recounts his harrowing experience of dealing with post-COVID illnesses

Fixing severe child malnutrition: Views from Amravati’s Dharni

Between May 2020 and May 2021, the infant mortality rate in Dharni block was 37.28%; maternal mortality rate was 3.25% 

COVID-19 immunity: how long does it last?

In UK’s second wave, previously infected health workers were either completely protected from reinfection or were asymptomatic 

Multiple crises: the cost of wasted time

Much like COVID-19, when WHO procrastinated, FAO too is “considering”when to declare the locust upsurge as a plague

COVID-19: ‘Bengal hospitals turning into epicentres of novel coronavirus’

At least 80 healthcare workers, including 38 doctors, have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the state  

Punjab extends time for brick kiln conversion to September

Those operating kilns with older technology still have to pay a fine depending upon the capacity of kiln under the polluter pay principle

Oxfam’s latest report is a wake-up call on the ever-increasing gulf between India’s haves and have-nots

India should adopt a pro-people and nature-friendly economic model to reduce its inequalities

Formulate, implement national urban employment guarantee, workers tell Centre

The pandemic and subsequent national lockdown have exposed the long-existing vulnerabilities faced by India’s urban poor

Sting operation: How Odisha’s Malkangiri controlled malaria

One of India’s worst malaria-affected districts is on its way to win the fight against this scourge

Tannery workers in Kanpur risk DNA damage

Trivalent chromium, widely used in tanning industry, and thought to be harmless found to be the culprit

Master plan for anarchy

The judgement to relocate polluting factories in Delhi leaves several questions unanswered. Will the powers-who-be work to turn good intentions …