Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
sectarian violence is passe. In keeping with the latest trends today, blood is being spilt over water - an inalienable right which can no longer be taken for granted. The daily news contains harrowing accounts of people facing the drought in Gujarat. With the worst days still ahead, the situation …
The recently-concluded meeting held in the German capital of Bonn has failed to address the issue of persistent organic pollutants ( pop ), deadly chemical pollutants that can enter the foodchain and play havoc with life forms. It has also failed to address the issue of setting up a mechanism …
through advances in medicine have made some kinds of organ transplant possible, the biggest hurdle for transplanting organs for the hundreds of thousands of needy patients is the lack of donors. Scientists have experimented with several materials to develop artificial organs that are accepted by the body's immune system. But …
There is no doubt in the minds of anybody that the world is steadily heading towards a global water crisis. For one water was always a scarce resource and of late the scarcity is growing. Coupled to this is the problem of pollution of water sources by domestic sewage, agricultural …
water is scarce in Mauritania, one of the countries in Africa which is worst-hit by drought and desertification. Even in areas where water is available, overgrazing by livestock has led to an acute water scarcity. In a bid to provide water to its people, the government of Mauritania has set …
THE reds are being forced to turn green in the Nizamabad, Adilabad and Warangal districts of the Telangana region where the people have embraced the Andhra Pradesh government's joint forest management (JFM) programme in a big way. What is unusual is that forest officials move around freely in the remote …
politicians and builders have joined hands in an attempt to destroy a water body which is the lifeline of residents of Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh. Though work has been stopped, the builders have succeeded in partially filling the 200-year-old Devi talab situated in the heart of the town, with the …
Wildlife authorities in Assam are set to conduct a week-long census at all wildlife habitats in the state to estimate the tiger population. This is part of a countrywide tiger census to be taken up in the current year. Monkeys have become an endangered species in the Northeast due to …
fresh water is, perhaps, the most important of all natural resources affected by uncontrolled economic growth. In large parts of India, people face scarcity of water for both drinking and irrigation purposes. Take the case of Tamil Nadu. There are 34 river basins in Tamil Nadu. The Institute of Water …
Beware of dogs. The dog, a human’s best friend after brewer’s yeast, tends to think with its nose and its tongue. If it finds a tasty morsel of unknown origin it will first smell it then lick it. Such contact may lead to dangerous consequences. Dogs, however, are unaware of …
Sharing of the Teesta river water is expected to top the agenda of the Joint Committee of Experts (JCE) of India and Bangladesh which will meet in Dhaka. "If possible, discussions about sharing other common rivers will also be held,' said Khalilur Rehman, a senior member of the Indo-Bangla Joint …
To meet the power demands of rice mills, a small-scale unit based in Tanuka, Andhra Pradesh has developed a low-cost technology to generate electricity using rice husk. After three years of research, Associated Engineering Works have come up with the rice husk gasifier, which won them the department of scientific …
The Delhi government's decision to re-open 372 industrial units, which were found polluting the Yamuna river, has once again demonstrated its inability to withstand even the slightest pressure. Not even when the larger interest of the people of Delhi is at stake. The step, if nothing, is highly retrogressive and …
Compare Southeast Asia with South Asia. The land area of Southeast Asia is 435 million hectares (mha). In South Asia, India is 327 mha and all other countries included would probably add up to the land area of Southeast Asia or a little less. The total population of Southeast Asia …
Pollution reached its highest recorded level in Hong Kong during the first week of the New Year as low winds and dirty air from the mainland left the area cloaked in smog. The air pollution index at Tung Chung in north Lantau was 161 at 1 pm
At least three farmers, who died recently in Falla village 28 kilometres from Jamnagar town, felt this way. They were not alone. With them were almost half a thousand others. The farmers were unhappy because the authorities had taken a decision to tap a water source, in this case the …
With very few non-polluting micro-buses plying on the roads of Kathmandu, the Nepal government might soon review its pro-environmental decisions. Sources at the ministry of population and environment said that the government might make announcements after discussing a fresh technical report that has been prepared by a team of government …
Oceanographers have discovered significant plumes of chemicals that spew from what appears to be the first signs of deep-sea vents. During a survey of the Atlantic's East Scotia Ridge in the south of the equator, Roy Livermore of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues detected the …
Dear Prime Minister, This is a year of severe drought in Gujarat and western Madhya Pradesh - an area that is well known for natural disasters of this kind. During the last general elections, your home minister, fighting for a fresh term from this region, had to face evocative slogans …
This paper presents the potential of rainwater harvesting for drought-proofing India's villages. It urges members of parliament and state legislative assemblies to ensure that the governments take up rainwater harvesting on a large scale to improve local food security. There is enough rainwater in every village of India to meet …
