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).

VOICE OF SILENT VALLEY

M K Prasad spread environmental consciousness until his last breath

SITTING DUCK

Food inflation is at an unprecedented high across the world. Crop loss due to extreme weather events is behind the spiralling prices. The cycle can be interrupted only if farmers have access to robust weather forecast mechanisms and crop insurance schemes

An unusual contest

Rajasthan's state bird, the great Indian bustard, might lose its last natural habitat to wind and solar power plants

Patchy growth

Forests and trees now cover one-quarter of India's geography. But this is not necessarily good news

HOPE DEFERRED

With the pandemic near endemicity, an effective and widely available treatment for COVID-19 would be a significant breakthrough for managing the viral infection. Are we there yet? TARAN DEOL, NEW DELHI

Good riddance

A firm develops safer devices that use light and sound to reduce human-wildlife conflicts DAKSHIANI PALICHA

AN ETCH IN TIME

Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand re changing their ways of painting Sohrai murals

We Are Not At Peace With Nature

What can I wish for in the middle of a pandemic? It is not going to be a “new” year if we continue with our foolish ways of managing the planet

Omicron Unlikely To Increase Threat In Children

Hasty vaccination of healthy young people will have little benefit

A GENERATION INTERRUPTED

Children born today might be the next development challenge for the world

RESIDUAL PANDEMIC

There is a huge number of people who have defeated COVID-19, but continue to suffer its debilitating long-term effects RAVLEEN KAUR IN SURAT, GUJARAT

UNPREPARED STILL

World enters an endless loop of disease outbreaks and remains dangerously unprepared for such crises even in third year of the COVID-19 pandemic

RISING MERCURY IS MAKING NEPAL GLACIERS VULNERABLE

Changing nature of glaciers and glacial lakes make the Himalayas one of the most climate vulnerable regions on the planet. RIJAN BHAKTA KAYASTHA, a glaciologist at the Himalayan Cryosphere, Climate and Disaster Research Center, Kathmandu University in Nepal, speaks to AKSHIT SANGOMLA about glaciers in Nepal and the impact of climate change on them

For A Sustainable Farm Sector

A look at strategies and pathways to make Indian agriculture resilient in a changing climate and help the country fulfil commitments it made at COP26

SUN, SALT AND SAND

Use of solar-powered pumps for salt manufacturing has not just helped Gujarat's Agariya community fight the rising fuel costs, but also drastically cut their carbon emissions

Protracted struggle

Despite legal win, three tribal villages in Andhra Pradesh are still fighting the state to save their land from mining

Calling out Albert Bourla and Big Pharma

Omicron is the result of leading vaccine makers and rich nations' failure to provide equitable supplies of jabs against COVID-19

On thin ice

Reduced snowfall and high temperatures have upturned the lives of people in the Himalayan cold desert

Virus' Variant Ways

The third year of the global COVID-19 outbreak begins with a new variant, much like the earlier Delta variant that emerged at the start of the second year. Delta caused deadly waves, but the new variant, named Omicron, is more transmissible and shows signs of breaching acquired immunity. The world should be braced for a prolonged pandemic