The non-government sector has come of age. Never before has it hogged the limelight as now, following the agitation over the Lokpal Bill. “Civil society has made national news for the first time. We have been in the headlines for three consecutive months,” says Amitabh Beher, executive director of the …
The battle over Lokpal has entered its next big phase. The question now is: how will civil society react to the outcome of the July 3 all-party meeting in which all political parties discounted the role of non-government groups in formulating a law? The government’s draft of the Bill makes …
A mystery fever is stalking children in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. As many as 47 children succumbed to the disease by June 29. Seventy-nine others, admitted in the two government hospitals in the district, were either undergoing treatment or had been discharged after treatment. The disease has been around in Muzaffarpur …
It’s been more than seven months. Farmer representatives from 12 villages in Nawalgarh are on a sit-in protest outside the sub-divisional magistrate’s office. Their demand: do not give our fertile land to industry. Three cement giants are eyeing this limestone-rich area in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Limestone is the prime …
A youth enters a south Delhi bar, greets the bartender and orders “the usual”. The drink, it turns out, is Red Bull plus vodka. Prod him a little and Manoj Joshi, a law student, says there is no better drink on the menu. It tastes great, he says, and will …
Just mention the large brown-and-white bird and the residents of Mardi village in Solapur burst out in anger. The district in Maharashtra is one of the few refuges for the rare Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), endemic to the grasslands of India and Pakistan. Of the 30-35 birds remaining in …
A bill to be tabled in Parliament is set to re-ignite an old tussle between the Centre and states. The Pesticides Management Bill of 2008, which will be heard in the Monsoon Session, aims to replace grand old Insecticides Act of 1968. It will regulate a wider range of chemicals, …
Till a few years ago, women of Bisha Bedi village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district hardly slept at night. Throbbing pain in the neck and the back kept them awake till early morning. It was caused by fetching water over long distances. “We used to wake up at four in the …
About two years ago, a fire broke out in the Biligiri Rangaswami Temple Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka. The police arrested 35 community leaders of Soliga tribe for causing the fire. Five people still have cases against them. Yet the forest community recently submitted a bold proposal to the Centre advocating …
SOME are petrified while others squeal at the mere sight of these scaly reptiles. Lizards that scurry past walls to hide and sometimes free-fall into the kitchen sink with a splat face a serious threat across the world. Scientists say climate change is one of the biggest reasons. There are …
AN ESTIMATED 410 million Indians live in the cities. Their lifestyle is seen as an improvement over life in rural areas, be it in terms of job security, stable future or better access to sanitation and medical help. But cities have their ills—higher incidence of violence, never-ceasing noise, increasingly unclean …
IN 1860, Charles Darwin encouraged cattle owners to maintain data on a special breed of cows living in Northumberland county, northern England. Little did he know that 151 years later these records, which included births and deaths, would provide evidence of how climate change is affecting breeding patterns in Chillingham …
AFFORESTATION, a key climate change reduction strategy recommended by the United Nations, will not have much effect on global temperatures. Instead, if carried out in high altitudes, it may lead to climate warming, according to a study carried out by scientists in Canada. The scientists assessed the impact of replanting …
MONITORING air pollution just got simpler. A handy and low-cost instrument has been developed for researchers to measure and analyse soot level in the air. Soot, or black carbon, is the second biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. It is released in the air by incomplete combustion of …
COCONUT trees are found across the world and it is said that they played a fundamental role in human migrations and the development of civilisations. So far, nobody has studied the genetic variability in the tree. Now a study of the DNA shows that coconuts have two well-defined and differentiated …
In most Afghan households, winter is heralded by the strong aroma of fried mint leaves that lingers till late in the night. The smell is a sure give away of what a family has had for dinner—Aashak, a speciality dish of Kabul comprising dumplings and noodles. The dumplings stuffed with …
The Morse committee has asked the World Bank to step back from the Sardar Sarovar project. Whether the bank complies or not, the committee has undoubtedly delivered a resounding indictment of all those involved in the project—from the governments of Gujarat and India to the mighty World Bank. There is …
The World Intellectual Property Organization has announced clearly that it intends to play a role—and considering the clout WIPO enjoys it implies a significant part—in promoting intellectual property (IP) in agriculture to enhance productivity. The UN body stepped into this touchy arena with a seminar at its Geneva headquarters that …
The Khandadhar waterfalls is a favourite picnic destination of many college students in Odisha. But it may soon be a pleasure of the past. The falls spring out from the Khandadhar hills that are home to 69 working sponge iron units. And with more than 150 mining projects approved, the …
If you are a farmer in India, chances of succumbing to a snake bite are greater than anywhere else in the world. While the country is one of the top destinations for medical tourism, in the case of snake bite casualties, we appear to be mired in the Dark Ages. …
