[Interview] India needs to tweak its policies to promote solar energy growth: Tim Buckley
As of March 31, 2014 India had a total installed solar capacity of 2631.93 MW. By the end of November this year, the number grew to 32527.55 MW, a jump…
Articles by Karthikeyan Hemalatha
The author is a freelance journalist based in Bangalore. He covers issues
relating to the environment, climate change, agriculture and marine ecology. He was selected as a fellow with the Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists in 2015 to cover the UN General Assembly and international politics.
New study sheds light on lack of research in snake antivenoms
Much like snakes themselves, India’s focus on research on snake antivenoms seems to have slithered past policy makers and scientific bodies. At least 46,000 people die of snake bites every…
Pepsico vs farmers: Plant varieties cannot be patented, emphasise legal experts
Food giant PepsiCo India, last week, formally withdrew cases it had filed against nine potato farmers in Gujarat. The multinational corporation was seeking Rs. 1.05 crores (Rs. 10.5 million) from…
Electric buses in India: To be or not to be?
Transport corporations in India are gradually junking rickety old buses that spew blankets of thick black smoke, to make an ambitious and direct leap to cleaner and sophisticated electric buses.…
India’s first attempt at regulating fishing trawlers underway
India will make its first serious attempt to regulate fishing vessels that go out to the sea - for which bureaucratic wheels have just begun to turn. A central government…
An app to fill data gaps on snake bites in India
Every hour, there are up to six people dying of snake bites in India. Despite being the biggest man-animal conflict in the country, there is very little information on these…
Can India’s solar revolution help meet its Paris Agreement emission goals?
Being a coal-obsessed nation with tremendous aspirations for cars and fast bikes, India’s greenhouse gas emissions recorded an annual growth of 5.6 percent between 2005 and 2013 - among the…
Pest responsible for food crisis in Africa reaches Karnataka
The fall armyworm, an exotic pest from the Americas, has been reported from India for the first time. Scientists are concerned that the pest could pose a serious threat to…
Death of an environment defender highlights rising violence against activists
The Kali river, just 184 kilometres long, in Karnataka, may not have the aura of the mighty Narmada or the political significance of Cauvery. But with six dams, a seventh…
Early warning system for flash floods can save thousands of lives at risk
Every time there is persistent and intense rainfall in Ladakh, the cold desert region of India's northern state Jammu and Kashmir, the locals begin to worry. It brings back images…
Hatchlings out and turtles in: A second mass nesting at Rushikulya this year
The Rushikulya beach on the eastern coast of India is seeing a lot of traffic, some of which is unusually two-way. Millions of baby turtles are emerging from their sandy…
Tourism in Ladakh worsens water availability in the cold desert
Reaching Pangong Lake feels like reaching the edge of the world. It is six hours from Leh, Ladakh’s district headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir, crossing the Changla Pass, the second…
Shortage and decreasing efficacy of ASVs: India faces a snakebite treatment double whammy
Mari, a middle-aged man belonging to the Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu, is equally comfortable in handling poisonous snakes and rattling off about their dangers in broken English to a…
Walking on the beach to a career in conservation
Walking along the beach for nearly 8 km and looking for nests of turtles, dead in the middle of the night, can be both fascinating and tiring. Watching an olive…
Ogling tourists disturb dolphin behaviour in Goa
With the beginning of the New Year, thousands of tourists from all over the country and the world are pouring into Goa. The party capital of India is on a…
Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter
Environment And Health
- As heatwaves projected to worsen across India, do vulnerability assessments and heat action plans suffice?
- Assam’s North Lakhimpur treats 40 years of legacy waste in just nine months
- Varying levels of microplastics detected in sea salt produced across India
- Decline in pollinators linked to half a million premature human deaths every year, shows study
Almost Famous Species
- Understanding the role of local communities in the conservation of critically endangered rhino rays
- Citizen scientists help discover a blind catfish species hidden inside Kerala’s aquifers
- Flying is riskier for female katydids, finds India’s first insect radio telemetry study
- Why the dancing frog may no longer be able to shake a leg
Eco Hope
- [Interview] Conservation scientist Joli Rumi Borah on integrating traditional knowledge in research
- [Interview] Scientist Ruth DeFries on deforestation: There isn’t one driver, there’s a different context in different places
- India budgets for mangroves and wetlands
- Working with biomaterials to add to the sustainable energy mix
India's Iconic Landscapes
- Experts call for coexistence, sustainable development as tiger population is close to saturation
- Ain’t no mountain high enough: alien invasive plants increasing in higher elevations
- Unplanned, faulty buildings tremble under weather events in the fragile Himalayan regions
- Nourishing soils of Kashmir’s karewas crumble under infrastructure
Beyond Protected Areas
- Small cats in big trouble: Why we need to save these elusive endangered species
- Rising tiger population is said to aggravate human-tiger conflict in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli
- Questions arise about Project Cheetah as three cheetahs die in 45 days
- Nepal comes next in line to Sri Lanka to debate exporting ‘problematic’ monkeys
Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- How a drought-prone village in Maharashtra attained agricultural success with millets
- Thirunelly’s seed festival celebrates traditional climate-resilient seeds and farm produce
- [Explainer] Why is 2023 the International Year of Millets? What do we achieve by celebrating such years?
- Nations adopt Global Biodiversity Framework amid concerns over watered-down targets
Just Transitions
- Bauxite mining in Jharkhand is impacting soil fertility, people’s health
- Incentives to boost demand, increase in e-buses in Tamil Nadu’s latest EV policy
- Electricity transition in India’s renewable-rich states needs to accelerate, says study
- [Interview] Ajay Kumar Rastogi on leading India’s first just transition task force
