Greenpeace USA has uncovered documents that reveal one of the world’s most prominent climate sceptics being funded by US oil and coal firms. Willie Soon, astrophysicist at the Solar, Stellar and Planetary Sciences Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, is kno-wn for his view that global warming is caused …
On June 28, the humble pi came under threat from a group of detractors who observed a day to honour what they claim is a more appropriate mathematical constant: tau. Tau proponets say the constant twice as large as pi—or about 6.28, hence the 28 June celebration—makes calculations easier. Not …
Google has stopped collecting images for its Street View service in Bengaluru after police raised security concerns. Google launched its project to collect high definition images to give Google users 360 degree views of streets in Bengaluru in May. “We received a letter from Bengaluru’s commissioner of police and are …
A new study has found that getting motivational text messages can help smokers quit the habit. The study published in the Lancet found smokers are twice as likely to give up cigarettes when receiving the motivational texts. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine put 5,800 smokers …
Government officials in a south-west China village wanted to inform residents they were inspecting a new road. Instead, it appears they have become stars of what is being described as a contender for the worst-doctored photograph in Internet history. When a photo of three levitating officials inspecting a newly completed …
TODAY many of us are aware that our eating habits are not exactly making us healthy. We know the problem but the solution somehow seems elusive. And healthy is expensive. This website showcases the work of an alliance of 100 non-profits from across the world who try to find solutions. …
Azim Anwar is a smiling young man with a singular mission in life: downloading everything he can possibly find on the Internet related to his interests: movies, funny videos, music, games and football matches. He gets more stuff from his network of friends and relatives (his brother has given him …
If you are doing nothing else this week, then watch Home, a brilliant film about uncertain future of life on the earth. With a mix of stunning photography and powerful words, the film delivers a stark message: we need to mend our ways. Watch it online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU"ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU. The film …
THAT day when Darla Dhanalakshmi suffered severe joint pain and numbness in the limbs she knew something was seriously wrong. She had been suffering from the pain since January after she visited a clinic on the outskirts of Hyderabad. There she was asked to pop an unknown pill. The pain …
NANDAN Nilekani has just submitted his report on how the Centre should give direct fertiliser subsidy to farmers, but Odisha has already rolled out a scheme to reimburse maize farmers their cost of fertiliser. This will benefit about 45,000 farmers picked for a special maize scheme. Under the scheme, the …
THE Maharashtra government has relaxed the criteria for giving aid to families of farmers who have committed suicide. The move comes in the wake of recent media reports that 4,000 farmers’ families in Vidarbha were denied relief on the ground that land was not registered in the name of the …
HOLDING a thermal power station in Chandrapur city in Maharashtra responsible for polluting a river, the state pollution control board has ordered forfeiture of its bank guarantee of Rs 5 lakh. Toxins released by the station killed thousands of fish in the Irai river, on whose bank it is located. …
AFTER two years, voices of more than a thousand fisher families along the Mundra coast in Gujarat have been heard. A grievance mechanism of the World Bank has accepted their complaint that a soon-to-be commissioned coal power plant funded by the bank will affect the environment and their livelihood. The …
THE Supreme Court has allowed French construction giant Lafarge to resume limestone mining in an eco-sensitive area in Meghalaya. The ruling came on July 6 after a bench said it is “satisfied” with the revised clearance by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF). The court also issued several …
CALL it a pressing need to meet the growing thirst of the Mumbai metropolitan area or plain negligence, but the Maharashtra government is building a dam in a quake-prone zone. Worse, work is going on without environmental clearance or the consent of people who stand to lose their homesteads, livelihoods …
AMID countrywide agitations over land acquisition and growing food security concerns, the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj is considering reserving land for agriculture. The ministry has suggested a bill that would make it mandatory for all states to declare the most fertile land (or category I agricultural land) …
My article last fortnight about people’s fight against POSCO has brought me interesting responses. They call for clarifications and further discussion. The question is about the value of current livelihoods of the people of coastal Odisha. Is earning from betel nut farming being exaggerated to reinforce the romantic and misinformed …
Why have yields stagnated? Yield stagnation at an average of 520 kg fibre per hectare over the past five years could be because of several factors, including bad weather and poor agronomic management. But over 800 Bt cotton hybrids developed by private seed companies have been approved for commercial cultivation …
What inspired your journey? Teruel: I discovered electric bicycles while living in Beijing. For two-and-a-half years I used it to commute to work. In 2009, I woke up with a mind to go around the world on an electric bicycle. It was the mix of my passions—travelling and electric bicycles. …
When 50-year-old Usha Vashisht received a lewd call on her mobile phone she ignored it. But soon it became a regular feature. Then she decided to file a complaint with Delhi police's anti-obscene cell. “To my surprise, even after innumerable attempts no one answered the dedicated helpline number 1096,” she …
