Adulteration business

As tests became more advanced and could detect adulteration, the industry has evolved and found new adulterants

New Light On Dark Matter

Scientific research is unearthing new understanding on an old mystery

Foggy superstructure

It is unclear how the new commission on air pollution will fit in the federal framework, but its formation asserts the role of the executive and limits the judiciary

REPEAT ATTACK

Kerala’s struggle with the second wave of COVID-19 should serve as a warning to other states

Third tier or third wheel?

Newly constituted District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir have triggered fears of dilution of grassroots democracy in the Union Territory

Fingers crossed

Undoing the damage caused by Donald Trump may be Joe Biden’s first step, but the climate challenges that the US faces today are daunting

Digest - IN FRONT-COVID WARRIOR

Priyanka Shukla and her friends fought the administration to provide assistance to informal workers in Chhattisgarh during the lockdown

Checkmate, again?

THE NEXT PANDEMIC IS NOT FAR AWAY

An alien gone native

TREE TOMATOES FROM NAGALAND ARE A WORTHY SUBSTITUTE FOR THE REGULAR ONES

AGE OF VIRUS

The much-scorned, dreaded biological entities are also the highly misunderstood beings

Scent of summer

EMBRACE KHUS ROOTS FOR A HEALTHY LIVING AND FOR A HEALTHY PLANET

Not even a glimmer

Epidemic of chronic diseases, social inequalities and covid-19 will worsen the future of global health

Natural capitalists

A village in Assam escapes unemployment and food scarcity by reviving an ancient food forestry practice

Bracing For An ‘Improved' WTO

The World Trade Organization needs an overhaul, but the reform will leave even less space for developing nations

Meal Of Indulgence, Everywhere!

Using local ingredients in baking can make food healthier

Milk, Or Not?

A debate rages as India’s top food regulator releases a draft regulation restraining plant-based milk from using the word “milk” on their labels

TEA POINTS

REKINDLING THE BRITISH-ERA ROMANCE WITH TEA CAN HELP UTTARAKHAND REVITALISE ITS ECONOMY AND RESOLVE THE LONG DRAWN-OUT MIGRATION CRISIS

People before profit

A Delhi-based clean energy services firm provides solar power and irrigation facility, with flexible repayment option, to returning informal workers in Uttar Pradesh

FACE OFF

Facial recognition has become a frontline policing tool in India amid fears that it is prone to errors and allows the government to expand surveillance without much oversight

CHAOS IN THE MANDIS

The first kharif season after deregulation of the agriculture market is underway. The government has started procuring paddy at minimum support price, even before the designated period. For the largest private trade in India, this is a time of anxiety. How is the market treating farmers? SHAGUN KAPIL visits mandis in Punjab and Haryana only to find that the market has become even more unfavourable for farmers

“Multiple lakes beneath glaciers on Mars”

Mars’ south pole will be one of the prime sites for setting up a base if humans ever try that. In a region named Ultimi Scopuli, researchers have found three salty waterbodies underneath icy glaciers, giving a boost to prospects of both microbial extraterrestrial life on Mars and its habitability for humans. The results, published in Nature Astronomy on September 28, came from the analysis of data from the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) aboard the Mars Express spacecraft launched by European Space Agency in 2003. MARSIS sends out radio waves onto the Martian surface and interprets the waves that are reflected back. The scientists used the same processing techniques as they do to find liquid lakes beneath the ice sheets near the Earth’s poles. The team had found evidence of a 19-km-wide single saltwater body in 2018 through 29 observations made between 2012 and 2015. Now they have found stronger evidence from 105 additional observations for the existence of the larger waterbody and three smaller waterbodies that surround it. We are quite confident of our find, says ELENA PETTINELLI, professor of mathematics and physics at the Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy, and co-author of the research paper, in an interview with AKSHIT SANGOMLA. Excerpts:

BORDERLINE UNETHICAL

Should we short-circuit trials of experimental COVID-19 vaccines?

All talk, no show

Countries may have announced grandiose plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they are unlikely to meet the global target to become carbon neutral by 2050

Private Players Run Almost All Coal Mines With PSUs.

Mine Developer and Operators (MDOS) have been running 13 of the 14 operational coal mines allotted to various public sector undertakings (PSUS) since 2015.

How Safe Is Your Hand Sanitiser?

The one product that has made its way into most homes across the world, including India, in the wake of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, is hand sanitisers.

Time ticking for coal

Business-as-usual will not work to combat climate crisis. Difficult targets must be set to reduce carbon emissions

HOPE@VACCINE

Global negative GDP could hasten the discovery of the world’s fastest vaccine. But what are the perils?

ETCHED IN FOSSIL

Prehistoric climate change damaged the ozone layer and led to a mass extinction

ADVANTAGE INDUSTRY

Government after government has diluted the environment impact assessment process, effectively making it a ritual practised without any reverence to the environment. The draft Environment Impact Assessment 2020 Notification is the latest proof. An analysis by NIVIT KUMAR YADAV & ISHITA GARG

Expect A Late Monsoon Withdrawal Due To La Niña

There is over 50 per cent chance of a La Niña condition in the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the autumn of 2020, suggests the latest update by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It adds that once formed, the La Niña condition might continue into the winter season.