Articles & Op-Eds

The food standard regulator has so far not assessed the safety of even one GM food and neither does it have a set procedure to assess safety.

DMF funds are being diverted for urban projects that have nothing to do with the priorities of mining-affected areas and communities.

India is the fourth worst-affected country despite it contributing only 5% in causing climate change, while it is over 20% for the US and the EU.

The Survekshan ranks cities that do their waste management in a highly decentralised fashion poorly, despite their sustainable waste-management systems.

As Delhi and parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plains were getting engulfed in a thick cloud of dust last week, a question kept coming to my mind: Is there any similarity between the recent dust storms in India and the dust storms that hit the Great Plains of the United States [...]

The government has recently released the draft National Forest Policy, 2018 (NFP 2018) for public comments. NFP 2018 intends to replace the National Forest Policy of 1988 (NFP 1988). But is there a need for a new forest policy? Let us first analyse the performance of NFP 1988.

Is samosa really healthier than a vegetable burger?’ This is the headline of an article written by noted journalist and food critic Vir Sanghvi, in the Hindustan Times Brunch magazine in early April. Vir wrote this article in reaction to a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report, that argued [...]

What would be the energy scenario in India in, say, 25 years from now? This is an important political enquiry as the path we choose would have a pivotal role in determining the country’s economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability. But, before gazing into the crystal ball, let’s analyse [...]

As I write this column, I am mindful that I may receive a legal notice from the Centre for Environment and Agrochemicals or the Crop Care Federation of India. These organisations, representing pesticides manufacturers and formulators, have been sending us legal notices for many years. We utter the word pesticides [...]

In the heydays of ‘India Shining’ in 2003, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) had experimented with an alternate model to control pollution from industries. The model was named ‘Corporate Responsibility for Environment Protection’, or CREP. It was based on the principle of voluntary compliance: instead of the government [...]

A few months ago, a ten-month old daughter of my colleague contracted urinary tract infection, which is fairly common and is generally caused by a bacteria. A routine antibiotic course should have treated her. But, when her urine culture report came, it shocked everyone. This child had no history of [...]

An amendment was made recently in the Indian Forest Act of 1927, to remove bamboo from the category of trees. With this minor modification, bamboo grown on agricultural land will not require a transit permit (TP), for felling and transportation, from the forest department. However, bamboo grown in the forest [...]