Keeping the Mahatma’s light shining
This October, while India hosts grand celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, over a million students from over 100 countries across five continents will pay tribute…
How a community radio gives voice to the climate-vulnerable in Tamil Nadu
“What preparations should one make for children before a cyclone strikes?” asked Durga, a volunteer at a community radio station in the coastal village of Vizhuthamavadi, roughly 320 kilometres (km)…
A social venture on the road to improve lives, reduce emissions with electric rickshaws
Jugnu Prasad manoeuvres silently through the congested streets in Varanasi in the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh. While heavy air pollution and the sputter of fossil fuel-powered vehicles engulf…
Turning agro-waste into environment-friendly plastics
In Italy’s ancient port city of Genoa, a laboratory table at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) laden with green, brown and orange heaps of powder may remind one of Holi,…
Community farming in Goa emerges as a tool against land conversion
Father George Quadros hit upon the idea of collective farming almost by accident. As an amateur farmer, he has been dabbling in various cultivation methods since 1986 at southern Goa’s…
Flood-resistant housing attracts attention in Kerala
In the runup to the observance of the first anniversary of the torrential floods that wreaked havoc in Kerala, causing a loss of Rs. 310 billion (31,000 crores) and claiming…
Your environment this week: Dealing with Fani, India’s solar sector waste challenge
This week's stories rolled into one. To receive a weekly email with a roundup of our stories, please sign-up to our newsletter. Upping the ante for disaster management in cyclone-prone…
Vhali Watcher: An app to set whale sharks free
For fisherfolk from Gujarat, finding a whale shark tangled in their nets is an unwelcome sight. They can’t legally harvest the protected species, yet the world’s biggest fish can wreak…
Wetlands to wastebins, Mumbai’s diverse habitats house hundreds of bird species
Early on a Sunday morning, before the sun had even risen, hundreds of Mumbaikars stumbled out of their beds. They went crisscrossing through the city and then flocked to certain…
What underwater sounds tell us about marine life
The water appeared opaque the deeper we travelled. An occasional peach-coloured butterscotch jellyfish would emerge from the depths, the bell breaking the surface to tread water, with its tentacles swirling…
