CATEGORIES

Talking, thinking trees

Can trees communicate, have consciousness or memories? German forester PETER WOHLLEBEN’S new book explores the latest research in the field. Excerpts from the book:

MAY 16-31, 2000 | DROUGHT - A POLITICAL DROUGHT

Drought in India is a human-perpetuated crisis

SEPTEMBER 1-15, 2008 | HYDROPOWER - MYTH OF POWER

Nourisher of an ancient civilisation, the Ganga could be gasping for its survival

JULY 1-15, 2009 | VACCINE SHORTAGE - GET YOUR OWN VACCINE

How a plan to promote private vaccine makers boomeranged

JANUARY 1-15, 1995 | DISEASE RESURGENCE - THE MICROBES STRIKE BACK

Diseases that were cheerfully believed to have been eradicated are inexplicably cropping up again in India

NOVEMBER 16-30, 2018 | MOBILITY - DUMPED BY THE RICH

Low-income vehicle importing countries of Africa and South Asia are turning into a scrapyard for old, used and close-to-being-scrapped vehicles of rich nations

OCTOBER 1-15, 1997 | BANDIT VEERAPPAN - CATCH ME A COLOSSUS

What gives rise to people like Veerappan who openly flout the law? Is it the result of a policy which increasingly alienates people from what should be theirs and encourages them to support outlaws? Is something rotten in the State machinery?

FEBRUARY 16-29, 2020 | COVID-19 - CORONAVIRUS PANIC

More than a month after the first case was reported from China, there is little the world knows about the new coronavirus. What’s certain is that the virus is highly contagious. Is the world ready to face a pandemic?

JANUARY 1-15, 2003 | FOREST RIGHTS - DEEP IN THE WOODS

A murky battle rages inside India’s forests and court rooms. Are the recent eviction drives misdirected at forest dwellers?

DECEMBER 16-31, 1994 | BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY - THE LIVING DEAD

The world’s biggest industrial disaster is now rendered trivial

The Pain Of Getting The Jab

The COVAX Facility and the African Union are struggling to bring some relief to Africa which has been suffering from vaccine apartheid

Spring back to life

A non-profit's technological approach for springshed rejuvenation helps Uttarakhand women end their water woes

NOT JUST ANYWHERE

Water structures built under rural employment guarantee scheme must be suited to local geography

Viable model to save rainwater in India

This is with reference to the editorial “Water in age of climate change” (16-31 March, 2021).

CHALLENGE 2021

India has enhanced its global standing by supplying COVID-19 vaccines to rich and poor countries alike. It must now scale up its manufacturing by roping in public sector units to cement its position in the changing geopolitics

VACCINE APARTHEID

AFRICA IS WITNESSING A SECOND WAVE OF COVID -19, BUT LESS THAN 2 PER CENT OF THE 690 MILLION VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED TO DATE GLOBALLY HAVE BEEN IN AFRICA. THE WORLD WILL DO WELL TO REMEMBER THAT NO COUNTRY IS SAFE TILL EVERYONE GETS INOCULATED A report by Kiran Pandey and Vibha Varshney from New Delhi, with Maina Waruru from Kenya; Christophe Hitayezu from Rwanda; Bennett Oghifo from Nigeria; Elsabé Brits from South Africa; and Mekonnen Teshome from Ethiopia

Uneasy spring

The world is heating up even in La Niña years that are associated with cooler temperatures

Nepal chokes under forest fires

ON MARCH 30, Nepal was forced to shut down all its educational institutions for five days after air quality of the Himalayan country dipped to hazardous levels. The country, in its advisory, also asked the elderly to stay at home.

Breaking new ground

The world’s longest running agricultural study adds to the debate on organic-inorganic farming

Arrival of blue king

How do peaceful people get forced into battles they do not want to fight? In Oonga, a book adaptation of a 2013 film of the same name, writer-director DEVASHISH MAKHIJA undertakes a journey with a little Dongria Kondh boy, who is desperate to see a performance of the Ramayan, to expose the clash between adivasis and mining companies that threaten to destroy their villages, forests and hills. Excerpts

Carbon Cost Of Internet On The Rise

The environmental impact of digital platforms is becoming glaring by the day.

GREEN IS THE NEW ORANGE

THERE IS MORE TO CARROTS THAN THEIR COLOURFUL ROOTS

‘Artists world over should raise alarm'

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ARE NOT JUST DRYING THE EARTH BUT ALSO THE SPIRIT OF HUMANKIND. THIS IS THE MESSAGE DANCER, WRITER AND ACTIVIST MALLIKA SARABHAI AND DIRECTOR YADAVAN CHANDRAN AIM TO DELIVER THROUGH THEIR RECENT DANCE VIDEO, ARID. THE DANCE COMPRISES THREE ACTS ON THE INTENSITY OF THE WATER CRISIS. THEY SPEAK ON THE ROLE OF ART IN TACKLING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN AN INTERVIEW WITH DAKSHIANI PALICHA. EXCERPTS:

Rays of light and hope

An energy start-up aims to provide a sustainable power solution to rural consumers

GOURMET GUR

Destruction of date palm trees during cyclone Amphan and warming weather have resulted in a huge decline in production of West Bengal’s trademark nolen gur

A GOOD FIRST DRAFT

NITI AAYOG’S DRAFT NATIONAL MIGRANT POLICY TAKES A RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH AND DISCUSSES THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLECTIVE ACTION AND UNIONS TO HELP MIGRANTS BARGAIN FOR BETTER CONDITIONS. BUT KEY GAPS REMAIN

NEW TARGETS

COVID-19 cases are being reported in large numbers from districts that had so far been mildly hit by the pandemic

THE CHASE AND THE CHANGE

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has shown what it can achieve by putting water conservation at its core

UNTOLD RISKS

India needs a full-time organisation to tackle a host of biological threats

CATTLE WISE

INDIA NEEDS TO LOOK BEYOND GAUSHALAS IF IT WANTS TO CHECK THE NUMBER OF STRAY CATTLE