ON A pleasant morning when fifty-four-year-old Australian marine diver David Hannan was gearing to plunge into the deep sea, a bunch of American scientists were ready to set sail for the Arctic Ocean. In another corner of the world at Dona Paula in Goa oceanographers were contemplating plans to measure …
MUCH has been talked about how climate change poses risk to ecosystems and individual species. But no one has analysed how global warming will affect the genetic diversity hidden within the species. DNA studies have revealed that traditional species contain a vast amount of “cryptic” diversity—such as different lineages or …
BE IT plant or animal, introduction of a foreign species to an environment has more often than not put the native ones at risk. At places, while competing for food and space, foreign species become so invasive that they push the region’s predominant organisms to extinction. In case of animals, …
HERBICIDES atrazine and metolachlor, commonly used to remove weeds and pests from crop fields were until now labelled nonvolatile. It was thought that most environmental risk from these pesticides comes from surface runoff—water from rain, snowmelt and other sources that flows over the land surface. But the US Department of …
Last week just as Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis was set to begin its final arguments in the Supreme Court against the rejection of a patent for its cancer drug Glivec (see ‘Evergreen Novartis’, Down To Earth, September 1-15) there were two swift and stunning developments. A letter was written by …
Try punching the air in front of you. Does it leave a hole? Surely not. But the ozone layer that exists in the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere just above us, does have a hole. Not quite technically perhaps. But in May 1985, Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan …
Once famed as the bicycle city of India, Pune has lost that reputation because of rising number of motor vehicles. It can once again host a quiet and clean transportation system, albeit with a twist. The Maharashtra transport authority has approved a scheme under which Puneites can hire electric scooters …
Twenty years ago, when Tim Berners-Lee linked up a community of scientists in what came to be known as the worldwide web, Jaron Lanier was an enthusiast of the project. Like many others he believed in the democratic potential of a large online community. Lanier’s views began to change around …
Google’s Street View is heading down the Amazon to capture pictures of “some of the most remote and biodiverse areas in the world”, says its official blog. The Street View team will be floating downriver in Peru in partnership with the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), the non-profit conservation organisation that …
It was once described as the most British corner of Buenos Aires and frequented by writers such as Graham Greene and Jorge Luis Borges. The grand old Cafe Richmond in the Argentine capital is being replaced by a Nike shop. “The Richmond was the only place you could get a …
Philip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, is trying to force a British university to reveal details of its research involving thousands of children aged between 11 and 16 about their attitudes towards smoking and cigarette packaging. The demands from the tobacco company, made using the UK’s Freedom of …
Illegal mining in Goa is being projected as a bigger scam than Bellary. While revenue losses from illegal mining has been estimated at about Rs 3,000 crore, the loss by way of damage to the environment and loss of livelihood has not been estimated. An estimated 100,000 people living in …
ALL construction activities along the banks of the river Ganga in Allahabad were brought to a halt last month. The Allahabad Development Authority (ADA) issued a moratorium in compliance with a state high court order to stop ongoing projects within 500 metres of the river’s highest flood level. The court …
BIOTECH companies in the agriculture sector have taken to a publicity blaze in recent months, splashing advertisements that extol the “inherent safety” of genetically modified (GM) crops along with organising a series of farmer meets and press conferences aimed at promoting transgenic technology as the “powerful and safe” way to …
FEW laws have been embraced as wholeheartedly by industry as BRAI or the Biotech Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2011. Yet to be introduced in Lok Sabha, following a last-minute hitch, the proposed law has received the full support of the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) and other leading …
In August, western Odisha was shut down 13 times to protest the state government’s decision to build three barrages on the Mahanadi river. They are meant to dam surplus water downstream of the Hirakud reservoir to generate 320 MW power, and, as recently announced, to irrigate farms. Not a single …
TOY makers use phthalates to make plastic toys supple and chewy. But the chemical also happens to be very toxic and its use in the Indian toy industry remains unregulated. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has finally drafted standards for phthalates in toys and childcare products so that their …
MUMBAIKARS won’t see any more sea links, at least for now. After the successful run of the five-kilometre road over the sea, linking Bandra to Worli in South Mumbai, the Maharashtra government was planning its extension to Haji Ali via another sea link. But now that plan has been shelved. …
On his focus areas as chairperson of Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) I would like to focus on building capacity in developing and least developed countries. Most of them do not understand the Codex document, what it contains and what is there between the lines. So, they do not know how …
The meteorological department records that some 60 mm of rain has fallen in just about 6 hours; 90 mm in 24 hours; and with this the city has made up for its deficit of rainfall this season. In other words, in just about 24 hours Delhi and its surrounding areas …
