As outbreaks of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) or ‘monkey fever’ rapidly expand across the Western Ghats, a study finds that in landscapes undergoing forest loss, a lower number of mammalian…
City parks and residential gardens have a unique functional microbiome with more potential human and plant pathogens, and fewer plant-symbionts than neighbouring natural ecosystems, according to a study that unpacks…
Growing conversations on climate change in the context of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have sparked more meaningful conversations on dietary diversity, ethical consumption and planetary health in recent years…
In the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, I was working with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in its global headquarters at…
Sunita Shashi Gawade is a 46-year-old woman living in Dhatwada, a sub-ward of Pissurlem, a mining-affected village in North Goa district. She lives with her husband and two children. Gawade…
As avian flu swept through India towards the end of 2020 and early 2021, states scrambled to step up vigil and measures to control the spread of the disease. The…
Since the past few weeks, avian influenza (bird flu) cases have been reported from several states of India. Several thousands of ducks and chickens have been culled to contain the…
“What is the alternative? Where is it? Four of my sons work in the stone mines even as they know they will contract silicosis. But what is the alternative to…
Mosquito-like aquatic insects called chironomids are natural reservoirs of epidemic and pandemic-causing strains of cholera bacterium, a study by Indian and Israeli researchers has found. Monitoring and controlling the hardy…
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in December 2020 released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) document to tackle feral and stray dogs in tiger reserves (TRs) across the country. It…
Was it pesticide poisoning? Was it heavy metals contamination? Or a combination of both? The sudden, mini-epidemic that saw around 600 confirmed cases with one reported fatality in Eluru, an…
Raigarh is one of the crucial places for coal mining in Chhattisgarh, the central-eastern state which accounts for over 18 percent of the country's coal production. The massive mining is…
Pusa Decomposer, a microbial spray, developed by the Microbiology Division of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Delhi, is the harbinger of hope for an end to paddy residue burning…
Everyone calls Sujata Adhikari “the activist” at Diwali parties. She gets strange looks and sighs from friends and family when she articulates why she wouldn’t accept unsustainable gifts -- wouldn’t…
Almost 40 years ago, India passed a law to control air pollution. However, as northern India suffers another air pollution emergency, it is yet another year of reckoning for the…
“Yeh toh bhagwan ki marzi hai, sahab. Pichhle janam ke kuch paap honge jo iss janam main saamne aa rahe hain (It’s all god’s will. Maybe we had sinned in…
After effectively handling COVID-19 for about five months since the pandemic was first reported in India and winning praise from the international community, Kerala's pandemic curve is now defying all…
Enforcing air pollution controls can prevent premature deaths from air pollution exposure, even in scenarios dominated by continued coal-fired power generation, a study has said. The study quantified the importance…
Stubble burning in Punjab has annually been cited as the main contributor to the smog in Delhi and parts of northern India in pre-winter months. Delhi’s air quality levels in…
In Tisra village of Jharkhand's mineral-rich Giridih district, about 180 kilometres north of state capital Ranchi, Shyam (name changed), a Dalit boy in his early adolescence, hustles his way through…
