A village council in the remote northeastern state of Nagaland has offered a template of investment that can be replicated by financial institutions and banks throughout the hilly and rural regions to harness the renewable energy potential of an area

Nature-based tourism has the potential to enhance global biodiversity conservation by providing alternative livelihood strategies for local people, which may alleviate poverty in and around protected areas. Despite the popularity of the concept of nature-based tourism as an integrated conservation and development tool, empirical research on its actual socioeconomic benefits, on the distributional pattern of these benefits, and on its direct driving factors is lacking, because relevant long-term data are rarely available.

Carbon has been building up in the atmosphere. Presently, much emphasis is given on mitigation at ‘source’. But a substantial amount of carbon still remains unabsorbed and enters the atmosphere, causing global warming. This is where ‘sinks’ come in. Our objective should be to maintain a balance between the worldwide sources and sinks of CO2 so that further build-up stops. This has to be our first guiding principle to avoid global warming and prevent climate change. (Correspondence)

It is probably the most important battle of our times, the battle for natural resources like land, natural gas, telecom spectrum and coal mines. Who owns them-the state, citizens or private players? How to make the best use of them? A series of supreme court judgements on one hand several parliamentary bill on the other answer the questions differently. Both need to come to terms with finer nuances of various sectors.