Farmer Suicides and Loan Waivers: How Long Will We Band-Aid the Problem?
Recently, a large scale protest was organized at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. This protest saw farmers from various states like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Telangana come together to show solidarity with the five farmers who lost their lives in a police agitation in Mandsaur. The …
Climate Change: Why It’s Important and What We Can Do
Why? Lately there has been an increasing trend of farmers resorting to suicide. These incidents have started a seemingly endless squabble over how the government has failed to do its job and how the farmers must be compensated. The conversation hasn’t derived a conclusion yet. Why, you ask? Because we …
Crop Insurance Scheme: An Assured Appetizer for the Farming Community
From a relatively new government which has toppled a decades’ worth political organisation from its throne, comes great expectations. And the pressure on BJP could not be ignored anymore after the Bihar elections. With an initial honeymoon of its victorious celebrations having subsided, senior leaders realised they were now being …
A Verdant Vista and Tourist Attraction?
The Village of Mawlynnong India is known for its hidden gems of beauty, for its modest realms of serenity. Mawlynnong is a village located in the East Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya; it is a minute village, with only about 500 residents. However, despite its locational obscurity and minuscule population, …
A Disastrous Disaster Management Authority: Northeastern Earthquakes
An earthquake, with its epicentre 29 kilometers from Imphal, ravaged the city of Manipur on January 3rd. Its tremors were felt in states as far as Orissa and Jharkhand. With a magnitude of 6.7 this has undoubtedly been the second strongest earthquake in a history of 60 years in Manipur, …
Sikkim Will House Research Institute to Expand Its Organic Farming
Introduction Radha Mohan Singh approved the creation of the National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI) in Gangtok, Sikkim. Sikkim is a fully organic state, which means all agriculture in the state is chemical fertilizer/pesticide-free through state legislation. This makes the state an ideal location for further research on this practice. …
The Tremor’s Terror: The Increase in the Frequency of Disasters is Our Own Doing
Earthquakes have often been quoted as “nature unleashing its fury”. There have been plenty of speculations on how it is human influence that has led to the increasing frequency of natural disasters; how these natural disasters are nature’s way to reduce the increasing pressure of human population. It is indeed …
Bullet Trains in India: Boon or Bane?
Introduction In December of 2015, headlines were made when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Japan would be introducing its world famous bullet trains in India, in an attempt to improve on the current rail system. The bullet trains, known as Shinkansen, are built to reduce transit times as much …
An Enigma of Nature or Not?
Introduction The enigmatic natural world around us constantly poses questions, and sometimes these questions are left unanswered for eons together. When I read the article on the incident that took place in Tuticorin on Monday, I was faced with one such image: the beaching of one of the greatest mammals on …
Basic Design Considerations for the Roof Skin
Introduction Ours is a tropical country. Nature bestows on us vast amounts of sunlight almost every day. In fact, all the energy stored in the fossil fuels world-over equates the amount of sunlight received by earth for a span of just three days! One of the easiest and best ways …
