CATEGORIES
Araku's pioneer
A tribal farmer in Andhra Pradesh got the best of both worlds when he combined natural farming with his wisdom from shifting cultivation
Question Of Ecological Identity
ISHAN KUKRETI speaks to a legislator, an anthropologist and legal experts to make sense of this simmering debate
2020 Endless Fallouts
COVID-19 has turned the clock back in terms of global health and development indices. The recovery will be long and arduous for a world facing climate change on an unprecedented scale. Indicators are already there that the year ahead will be turbulent
Sting operation
One of India’s worst malaria-affected districts, Malkangiri in Odisha, is on its way to win the fight against this scourge
The great discontent
Farmers delivered the country’s historic harvest bucking the pandemic in 2020. But the year also broke all records of their protests as they demand fair price and access to markets
Fungal attack in apple orchards across the valley
WIDESPREAD FUNGAL infection is set to hit apple production in Kashmir this season.
SHRINKING WORLD OF CHANGPAS
The Changpas are trans-Himalayan nomads. For ages, they have roamed the Changthang region of southeastern Ladakh, cut off from the world. Some accounts say they travelled across the Himalayas to arrive here around the 8th century. Located at an altitude of 4,500 metres, life in this arid, vast and rugged plateau is hard. Winters are very long, summers short and vegetation scarce. As a result, the Changpas have led a pastoral life. They rear Changthangi goat, from whose under coat comes the famous pashmina wool. The goats graze on the mountainsides, feeding on seasonal grasses. The weather, however, has changed in the past few decades. The winters and summers are warmer, and there is a perceptive decline in precipitation and snowfall between November and March. This has drastically reduced the size of the grazing grounds and the Changpas now have to shift locations more frequently. RITAYAN MUKHERJEE captures the changing lifestyle of the Changpas
Collateral damage
India’s latest plan to save its vultures from dying due to drugs used on cattle offers little hope
PURE TRASH
THE GOVERNMENT’S NEW PROPOSAL ON EXTENDED PRODUCER’S RESPONSIBILITY ON PLASTIC WASTE IS A MOCKERY OF THE COVID-19 REALITY WE FACE TODAY
Gated farming societies
An agritech startup in Bengaluru is helping city dwellers own and manage farms for long-term wealth benefits
We need pure honey
It is time we outwitted the business of adulteration. This requires government to act decisively. It needs industry to be made responsible. It needs consumers to be made aware of the purity of the honey they consume. This demands change
When we spiked honey with Chinese and Indian 'all-pass' syrups
If the samples passed the tests for purity, it would show that such syrups worked
Leads to China
Tracking down the imported syrup being used for honey adulteration
Panchayat Incorporated
Twenty20, which established a corporate panchayat in Kerala in 2015, is expanding its realm during the local body polls this year. How sustainable is the option? JINOY JOSE P KOCHI, KERALA
Indian passage for adulteration
Manufacturing of adulterant syrups has begun closer home
THE HONEY TRAP
INVESTIGATION INTO THE BUSINESS OF ADULTERATION OF HONEY
LABORATORY TESTS OF HONEY WE CONSUME
HONEY WHICH PASSED INDIAN STANDARDS FAILED WHEN TESTED USING EQUIPMENT THAT CAN DETECT MODIFIED SUGAR SYRUP
Immunity booster or buster?
What makes honey special and why honey adulterated with sugar is bad
How we broke honeygate
An undercover operation to contact Chinese sellers of sugar syrup brought to light the shady business
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