CATEGORIES

THE CIRCULARITY ARGUMENT

A circular economy can help India achieve its developmental aspirations while following the low-carbon pathway. It will also help address the challenges of waste management, pollution and overexploitation of natural resources. Industries are already innovating to reuse high-volume wastes and have shown that the transition can usher in both environmental and financial windfalls

Banking on flawed drug voluntary licences

The Medicines Patent Pool is pushing for more VLs, but its bad deal with Novartis on a cancer drug shows the pitfalls

Lasting solutions

For the first time, the UN has recognised the role of indigenous communities in tackling aridity. A repository of traditional knowledge India has the wherewithal to lead the way

IMD at 150

India's journey into modern weather forecasting took a decisive turn 150 years ago with the establishment of India Meteorological Department during the British rule. The agency has come a long way since then, shaping the way the country predicts and responds to its diverse climate challenges

Every drop counts

In drought-prone Marathwada region, 14 villages have managed to counter water shortage by budgeting the resource

Threat to survival

Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam faces ecological challenges as railway electrification and hydrocarbon exploration endanger its fragile biodiversity

'Migration is going to be a battlefield'

AMITAV GHOSH is one of the foremost chroniclers of our times. His literary sojourn includes writings on topics that range from languages to climate change to human lives. His latest book, Wild Fictions, brings some of his works on these issues under one title. In a conversation with RAJAT GHAI, Ghosh shares his views on the future of human movement. Excerpts:

Face of future

California wildfires confirm forest fires are intensifying in a hotter world, emitting substantial amounts of greenhouse gases and reinforcing global warming

Friends of the forest

Residents of 30 villages in Uttarakhand establish a model for public participation in saving forests from wildfires

Climate-crazy playbook

Just hours after his second (and final) term began on January 20, US President Donald Trump unleashed 46 presidential actions. Several of these are centred on the US' climate commitments, energy transition, migration and trade policies, and are likely to have negative global implications

Inspiring initiative for revival of native seeds

Apropos the article \"Return of Rambhog\" (16-31 December, 2024), which focuses on the revival of Rambhog paddy in Kanpur Dehat and Kanpur Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh.

On shaky ground

Despite reporting net gains in green cover, the latest forest survey shows degradation of natural forests, particularly in ecologically sensitive hotspots

Burden of proof

The government's drive for e-KYC verification to ensure rightful targeting of beneficiaries has proved exclusionary for many

Rupee slide impacts agricultural trade

THE UNION Cabinet on January 1, 2025, approved the extension of a subsidy package of ₹3,500 per tonne on di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) for companies.

THE 500 GW SWITCH OVER

Coal is the king of energy at present. India needs to dislodge it with clean energy for an equitable green transition

MANIFESTING 500 GW

Ensure that renewable energy is available round the clock.Establish a viable market and reward those who take lead

Lifting a curse

How Gangabai Rajput helped her water-scarce village in Madhya Pradesh let go of superstition and revive an ancient waterbody

HOLD THEM SACRED

The Supreme Court has recommended that the Union government create a comprehensive policy for the governance and management of sacred groves across the country

REPORT CARD 2024

Coal is still the king in terms of electricity generation. But new renewables, mainly solar power, have shown an impressive growth

'India a laboratory for seismologists'

India is no stranger to earthquakes. In recent memory, Latur and Bhuj districts in Maharashtra and Gujarat witnessed devastating tremors in 2003 and 2001 respectively. Such quakes leave clues that can aid preparations for future events, say seismologists KUSALA RAJENDRAN, professor, Indian Institute of Science, and CP RAJENDRAN, adjunct professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies. The Rumbling Earth-The Story of Indian Earthquakes, captures their work on historical as well as recent quakes. In an interview with ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY, they discuss the science of earthquakes, why the Himalayas are due for a huge event and why prediction remains a challenge. Excerpts:

Capturing Siang

As India pushes for a mega-dam on the Siang river to counter China's upstream projects, the Adi tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh fears losing ancestral land

An extraordinary crusade against neglected diseases

Former US President Jimmy Carter's decades-long campaign to rid Africa of a painful parasitic disease is unmatched

MAKE OR BREAK MOMENT

Much has been done to improve regulatory environment for scaling up clean energy. But hiccups remain

Lifting a curse

How Gangabai Rajput helped her water-scarce village in Madhya Pradesh let go of superstition and revive an ancient waterbody

CLIMATE SHAPES SPECIES

Gradual changes in a population that lives in a region with environmental shifts give rise to new species

LEAFY GOODNESS

Leaves of the bottle gourd can be a healthy green addition to the plate

'Story of human origin is still not figured out or over'

Fifty years ago, the discovery of a partial skeleton amid the barren desert landscape of northern Ethiopia transformed our understanding of where humans came from, and how we developed into Homo sapiens. \"Lucy\" was first spotted on November 24, 1974, by the American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his student assistant Tom Gray. Named after the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, a popular song in the their team's camp at the time, it was immediately clear she was a female, because of her small adult size, and that she had walked upright, unlike chimpanzees. Lucy was also very old-at almost 3.2 million years, she was anointed as the then-earliest known (distant) ancestor of modern humans. Over the following decades, rather fittingly given her name, she became a \"paleo-rock star\", going on a US tour from 2006 following a deal with the Ethiopian authorities.

Deadly discharge

Residents of an industrial cluster blame effluent and sewage treatment plants for discharging poorly treated water that contaminates the area, causes skin diseases

US drug regulator faces Trump heat

FAILED REPUBLICAN presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is making more news now than during his doomed attempt to get the party nomination for president. Ramaswamy's decision to throw in the towel and back Donald Trump after his campaign went nowhere showed acumen, the kind he is famous for in the investment world.

Distorted picture

India's groundwater recovery may be misleading, as new assessment methods inflate annual recharge figures and discontinue on-ground verification