The government’s ambitious mission to control diabetes has made a reluctant start. Worse, it suffers from lack of planning. The project was launched as part of the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS). The first phase of the diabetes control project started …
In the lush forested uplands of Koraput, Domu Matpadia, a Paraja tribeswoman, is coming face to face with modern farm technology. A representative of Charoen Pokphand, a Thai agribusiness multinational, is telling her how to grow its hybrid maize seeds that the state government has given her free along with …
When representatives of the world’s largest seed company, Monsanto, began to make discreet visits to the second floor offices of the inconspicuous Van Bandhu Kalyaan Yojana in the Gandhinagar headquarters of the Gujarat government in 2007, it set in motion a process that would transform Indian agriculture in unexpected and …
Are hybrids always a precursor to a genetically modified (GM) version of the crop? In the case of maize, both the champions of GM and the opposition believe GM maize is round the corner. Currently, four multinationals are conducting field trials of GM maize in India. Monsanto India Ltd is …
SOUMYA Swaminathan’s 16-year-old son, Sudarshan, loves sports, and is training to be a footballer. Two years ago, he was confused which sport to train in. “He would come home and say he wants to play cricket. Next week it would be football,” says Swaminathan. Then she heard about the sports …
THE recent accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has left governments across the world worried over the safety of nuclear energy and its waste. As radioactive materials contaminated water, soil and air, technology to clean up the waste came to the forefront. Traditionally, naturally occurring substances such as …
IT WAS not until mid-1900s that scientists woke up to the importance of prebiotics—a non-digestible food ingredients that helps nurture bacteria in human gut. Consequently, nutritionists started recommending foods like whole grains and pulses more often. Now a study suggests that the secrets of nutrition related to prebiotics were well …
AUTISM is one of the few developmental disabilities the cause and cure of which remain elusive even 50 years after it was identified. There is no biological test to detect this lifelong disorder until it manifests at the age of around two. Diagnosis is largely based on behavioural and psychological …
The recent Group of Seven (G-7) summit clearly indicated what the outcome of the Rio conference is likely to be. There was no significant mention of any environmental issues nor was the subject of environmental aid debated at the summit.The single environmental issue discussed at the G-7 summit—the state of …
In 1532, the Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro routed the Inca army at Cajamarca in the northern highlands of Peru, bringing to an end South America’s biggest empire. The Spanish conquistador marched to the Inca capital Cusco in regalia, but claimed the Spaniards were restrained in their show of …
The recent Supreme Court judgement holding the appointment of Salwa Judum cadres in Chhattisgarh a violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution comes as a political embarrassment for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has consistently tried to upscale local resistance (read Salwa Judum) to the …
In 2008, I shifted from Pune to the green environs of Dehradun to follow my heart. Writing, photography and nature conservation projects followed, making life really interesting. One of the conservation projects I took up involved studying the conflict between monkeys and farmers in Uttarakhand. In many areas of the …
At one point in this book under review Australian naturalist Tim Flannery describes how the Greater African Honeyguide uses a distinctive call to lure people to beehives, which then become a shared food source. Such relationships, he laments, are breaking down, as “lazy humans” have shifted to abundant, industrially produced …
The world now produces nearly two billion kg of farmed salmon annually, in countries as distant as Norway, Chile and Canada. Fish breeders regard this as a feat. But as Paul Greenberg observes in this book under review, these salmon have been reared at the cost of the nine billion …
If you believe that progress of human civilisation depends on individual expression of new ideas, especially unpopular ideas, then the principle of freedom of speech is the most important value society can uphold. The Internet is usually regarded as the harbinger of free speech. It not only provides universal access …
South Africa’s advertising watchdog ordered oil giant Shell on July 13 to withdraw its claims in newspapers about its use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to explore gas in the Karoo, a semi-desert wilderness. The Advertising Standards Authority described the adverts as “misleading”. Activist body Treasure the Karoo Action Group …
Balls of ground chickpeas tossed into vats of sizzling oil and served with pickles and salads inside a pitta bread is a standard fast food across much of West Asia. But the ubiquitous, family owned falafel street stalls and cafes in Israel faced a challenge earlier this year when McDonald’s …
On July 9, activist Mark Lynas’ book The God Species inexplicably went off Amazon’s list. The UK author, who has attracted the ire of greens for his support for nuclear energy, suspected censorship. But the book was restored on in half a day. Lynas wrote on his website, “... the …
A canvas depicting Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama standing face-to-face getting ready to battle with their penises. Glass cases with Soviet condoms and old Russian pamphlets on “women’s illnesses”. Titillation is not the objective of Moscow’s first sex museum, Tochka G (G Spot) but that’s exactly the reason it is …
From August schoolchildren in the US state Indiana will not be required to learn joined-up, or cursive, writing. They will have to learn basic typing skills, which education officials say are more useful in the modern employment world. The move is part of the US Common Core State Standards Initiative, …
