CATEGORIES

TAKING OWNERSHIP

There is a surge in demand by forest communities to not only access the resources of their habitat, but also to establish their ownership over forests. They are doing so by wielding a previously underused provision of the Forest Rights Act. The forest department, however, is reluctant to let go of its control. SHUCHITA JHA and ZUMBISH travel across Odisha and Chhattisgarh to understand how communities have gained through this law and the mechanisms they are setting up to ensure sustainable use of forest resources PARTY

Is The Covid-19 Vaccine Story Over?

India claims vaccines are no longer an issue in the battle against COVID-19, but a host of developing nations would disagree

The invisible bhadralok

FIELD NOTES FROM A WATERBORNE LAND SHEDS LIGHT ON THE LIVES OF THOSE BENGALIS WHO BARELY EXIST FOR THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Dry beginning

June is becoming drier and this is delaying the sowing of the kharif season

Not close enough

Human milk banks are important for infants who do not have access to mother's milk. But India is yet to see large-scale rollout of such centres

Spark of hope

India needs to reform panchayati raj institutions, reserve seats in Parliament and legislative assemblies to create more women leaders like the new President Droupadi Murmu

FIX FROM GROUND UP

Prepare business strategies for districts and leverage existing government schemes to make India a global economic powerhouse

'We can soon study stars that formed during the Big Bang'

THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE AMAZED THE WORLD ON JULY 12 WITH ITS FIRST IMAGES OF THE UNIVERSE. ASTROPHYSICIST JESSY JOSE OF THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, TIRUPATI, WILL SOON USE THE LARGEST AND MOST POWERFUL TELESCOPE IN THE WORLD TO STUDY THE EARLY STAGES OF STARS. SHE TELLS ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY WHAT MAKES THIS DEEPSPACE VIEWING TOOL ONE OF A KIND

Bridging gaps

A farmer-producer organisation in Dantewada provides crucial market links for organic produce and helps naturally improve yields and incomes

Clear signs

The repercussions of a 1.5°C global temperature rise would be catastrophic for India. Ladakh could grow 2.23°C warmer than pre-industrial levels; Rajasthan could receive 23 per cent more rainfall AKSHIT SANGOMLA and PULAHA ROY New Delhi

KILL TO CONSERVE

Sustainable use of wildlife is the best approach to conservation in the long run. This is the latest scientific assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Optimal exploitation of wild flora and fauna will ensure that livelihood and dietary needs of humans are met without threatening survival of the species. But do countries have the capacity to ensure sustainable use, and to make sure the benefits reach local communities? An analysis by SHUCHITA JHA, HIMANSHU NITNAWARE and VIBHA VARSHNEY in New Delhi with ABSALOM SHIGWEDHA in Namibia, CYRIL ZENDA in Zimbabwe, PETER ELIAS in Tanzania and CHRISTOPHE HITAYEZU in Rwanda

Water diviner

Sarjubai Meena is resolute in her mission to conserve soil and water in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district BHAGIRATH

‘Never thought I’d see octopus change colour in front of me, at Juhu beach’

A journalist and editor, SEJAL MEHTA has for the last four years walked the shores across India looking for creatures in intertidal zones—spaces explorable upon the retrieval of high tides. By virtue of traversing the sea as well the shores, the life forms found in intertidal spaces are blessed with features that appear otherworldly. In an interview with PREETHA BANERJEE, Mehta talks about her walks and the sightings that resulted in her book Superpowers on the Shore. Excerpts:

OLD DIVIDE PERSISTS

The Bonn conference was important for laying the groundwork for global climate action. But it underscored progressive dilution of climate justice

Only a piglet in Russia's war on patents

Post-Ukraine, Russia has held back from appropriating intellectual property despite a law to punish unfriendly countries

Double trouble

The Union government's claim about being on track to double farmers' income sounds hollow as it has not even spent the allocated budget for agrarian schemes in three of the past five years

NOT JUST ANOTHER DELUGE

In a warming world, floods are no longer an annual affair in Assam, but a year-round crisis. As people struggle to cope with the new reality, some are already changing their cropping patterns and architecture

Sage advice

Plant clinics are emerging as parallel support system for farmers in resource-strapped countries

Forests in seconds

Miyawaki forests are springing up across Indian cities. Are they a way to restore urban biodiversity or just a quick-fix to achieve greenery?

Burden to bear

Living in the shadow of old state policies, vulnerable tribal groups demand their right to opt for family planning

An Indian epidemic

Increasing number of children and adolescents in the country are developing diabetes. This will have lethal consequences

World Environment Day Special : Democratise Thermal Comfort

45 In cities vulnerable to heat, thermal comfort is crucial to one's health, well-being and productivity. Building wisely can not only ensure it for all, but also decarbonise the built environment to help mitigate global warming. An analysis by Mitashi Singh, Sugeet Grover, Rajneesh Sareen And Anumita Roychowdhury

THE HUNT IN MUDUMALAI

The 2021 capture of a male tiger in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve was a high-stakes mission. The missteps made in this operation provide many lessons on wildlife management

Elephant whisperers

Chhattisgarh forest department has trained an army of people to spread awareness about elephant behaviour, avert conflicts with them

Trial by fire

E-scooter fires a wake-up call for India's electric vehicle strategy

POX RETURNS

Monkeypox spreads to new geographies as the world experiences its worst ever outbreak of the zoonotic disease

SPRINGS MAKE HIMALAYAS

Incentive-based approach can ensure conservation of Himalayan forest springs, a key source of water for downstream states

Charity after profiteering, the Big Pharma way

Pfizer to sell its medicines at no profit in world's poorest countries, and other big names to make cancer drugs more accessible

A SEED SPROUTS WINGS

The seeds of Indian elm are nutritious and have multiple uses in traditional medicine

A price rise nobody is talking about

Unprecedented fodder price rise is forcing farmers to quit dairy and abandon cattle