CATEGORIES

Drug debacle

Sixteen years after India banned the veterinary use of diclofenac to save its vultures, three other drugs revive the old challenge

GOOD WHILE IT LASTED

Earth is losing species at an unprecedented rate, which, many believe, is the planet's sixth mass extinction. Since the biodiversity loss this time is the doing of humans, the event also marks the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch, a self-aggrandising nomenclature that highlights our disproportionate and irreversible impacts on the surroundings

Dung deal

Chhattisgarh's plan to purchase cow dung to boost the rural economy, ensure clean villages and solve the problem of stray cattle destroying crops had success initially, but things have not gone as per plan

'Compromise' on TRIPS waiver is a sellout

Tough new conditions emerge in the compromise deal to ease WTO intellectual property barriers to production of COVID-19 medical tools

Climate Justice, Now

IPCC's latest climate report provides evidence that climate-justice needs to be at the centre of global policymaking

Bizarre Patent Tussles Over A Covid-19 Jab

Moderna's many intellectual property disputes over its vaccine highlight the need for a patent-free regime to fight the pandemic

Urban ladder

Safely managing faecal sludge is India's new sanitation challenge. In the absence of adequate rural treatment plants, a few states rope in underutilised urban facilities

Organic boost

Farmer producer organisations can help organic farming initiatives overcome marketing hindrances

Endemic Not The End

We know that the novel coronavirus will be with us forever. Without undermining the threat it poses, we must learn how to live with it by adapting strategies developed in previous pandemics

To what end

West Bengal has decided to mine coal from a reserve so deep and unreachable that the extraction might turn out to be financially unviable, and still end up displacing 21,000 people

‘Observations will help trace our cosmic roots'

Early last month, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) opened its 18 golden mirrors to the universe and captured its first image-ofa sun-like star called HD-84406, some 260 light years from the Earth. The telescope was launched on December 25, 2021, and took 30 days to travel 1.5 million km from Earth in a direction opposite to the Sun to reach its destination-a gravitationally stable point named L2—from where it will orbit the Sun, slightly changing its position every three weeks to stay in a halo orbit.

Pre-emptive strike

The popularity of anti-hail cannons among Himachal Pradesh farmers has made the state build an indigenous version, though the efficacy of such devices is unproven

Bullish turn

Post mechanisation, for the first time there is innovation in farm equipment to revive bullocks and aid small farmers

South Africa's vaccine advance brings hope

The WHO-aided tech transfer hub in South Africa is set to change the outlook for a continent deprived of COVID-19 vaccines

Space for nuclear

From fuel to outer space power plants, the world is developing different usages of nuclear energy to explore the deep space

FAULTY GROUND

The stretch of the Cauvery where Karnataka plans to build the Mekedatu dam lies alonga fault plane and in a geologically unstable region

Blue hydrogen not really green

Reliance Industries on February 12 announced an intent to become "the world's top blue hydrogen producer" by repurposing a 30,000 crore synthetic gas plant to manufacture the fuel.

BIOLOGICAL GOLD MINE

An emerging science explores how faecal analysis can revolutionise disease diagnosis and treatment

United they stand

Women farmers in 30 villages of Madhya Pradesh join hands to command a higher price for their groundnut produce

Rewarding incompetence

India's new star-rating system to promote state agencies that give hasty environmental clearances to projects

Natural option

Organic and natural farming approaches are not only profitable and sustainable, but also productive

WHITHER AMRIT KAAL

The Union Budget 2022-23 did not talk about the developmental targets promised for this year under the Strategy for New India@75, but set the country on a new journey of hope till 2047

NET GAIN

In its journey to the Bay of Bengal, the Brahmaputra carves out different types of waterbodies along Assam's landscape.

India trips on its patent waiver proposal

Delhi has not backed its WTO proposal to suspend intellectual property rights on COVID-19 pharma products with robust action

Glorious oversight

ABOUT AMERICAN POP CULTURE FIXTURES AND PRIVILEGED WAY OF LIFE PRESENTED AS A REVIEW OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

Heritage erased

Kashmir's highly fertile alluvial soil deposits called karewas are being destroyed in the name of development, much to the peril of local people

Charged up

Battery makers are moving beyond lithium to power India's clean energy ambitions

25.87 MILLION HECTARES

That is the size of forest missing from the latest assessment of India's green cover. Does this land exist? Is it encroached upon? Or is it just degraded; so degraded that there are no forests to be counted here?

Viva Cuba For Its Vaccine Revolution

Punching way above its weight, the tiny nation has developed five vaccines, and offers hope of vaccine equity across the world

2021 Was Earth's Sixth-Hottest Year

THE YEAR 2021 was the fifth warmest for India since 1901. The "Climate of India during 2021" report published by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on January 15 says annual mean temperature of the country was 0.44oC above the long period average (LPA).