They may be microscopic in size, but bacterioplankton steer major carbon cycling and food webs in aquatic ecosystems. Bacterioplankton are the bacterial component of plankton that live in water bodies,…
Millions of people residing in the lower reaches of the Ganga basin in India may face food shortage in the next three decades, if the iconic river continues to lose…
While air pollution in metropolitan cities like Delhi has hogged the headlines over the past few years, we don’t know much about how our emissions from various activities are affecting…
Researchers have documented the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in the microbial milieu of the Sundarbans mangroves in a new study that sheds light on the potential influence of…
At the crack of dawn, Lipi Basak and her sisters Smriti and Mamti are already out of their home, with a group of quacking ducks ahead of them. It is…
Twenty-eight year old Madhu Das is a computer professional from Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal. After completing his studies, unlike other youth around him, he did not migrate to…
Shale oil or gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could intensify pressure on water resources in some of the shale reservoirs in India that are located in water-stressed and groundwater-depleted areas,…
This is the second article in a two-part series on poaching in Jaldapara National Park. In Part One, interviews with former poachers revealed the inner workings of wildlife trafficking in…
This is the first article in a two-part series on poaching in Jaldapara National Park. Part Two (published on 28-May) looks at prevention and enforcement efforts. JALDAPARA NATIONAL PARK, India…
The coasts are in turmoil again. It is neither storms nor monsoonal winds that are affecting the coast at present. The turbulence is because the Ministry of Environment, Forest and…
Tajen Das’s voice is full of foreboding. It mirrors the choppy waters of the Bay of Bengal as he spruces up his fishing boat and gear for the upcoming hilsa…
Spiti Valley, located in the remote Trans-Himalayas is one of the least populated places in India and home to several rare and endangered wild animals. Here, to see wild herbivores…
A royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) that had “strayed” into a highly fragmented forest in the Indian state of West Bengal and had reportedly mauled members of a tribal hunting-party…
Some of West Bengal’s most-loved fish may go off the menu, thanks to climate change in the Sundarbans. A team of researchers that is mapping biological sensitivity of certain fish…
Architecturally discordant high-rises and garish billboards screaming their products mask a placid blue-green expanse to the east of the Indian metropolis of Kolkata. Rushing through a busy day, commuters are…
Diprupa Bhaktiari is a change-maker in Assam’s arsenic-hit Mazgaon village along the north bank of the Brahmaputra. For over a year, she has been operating a humble filtration unit that…
At an event in New Delhi recently, New & Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar announced that India would achieve its target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of installed renewable energy capacity…
Nearly 6000 pangolins were poached in India between 2009 and 2017, despite a ban, with Manipur and Tamil Nadu emerging as hotspots for pangolin smuggling, says a report released by…
In the Sundarbans, the largest expanse of contiguous mangrove forests in the world, researchers have stumbled upon two bacterial species in the soil clinging to roots of the Goran tree.…
For the tough, weather-beaten farmers in the rural heartland of West Bengal, agroforestry is an age-old tradition that even finds mention in their folklore. In the remote village of Bhattadighi,…