-Down to Earth Russian invasion of Ukraine sharply altered the dynamics of coal trade, prices, supply and demand patterns  India, along with China, is the world’s largest coal producer, consumer and importer. Its own coal production will surpass a billion tonnes by 2025, the annual report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), predicted December 16, 2022. Also, India’s coal consumption has doubled since 2007 at an annual growth rate of 6 per cent....

-Down to Earth In 41% of the cases, communities allege that authorities or project proponents did not follow proper procedures for the takeover of land Disputes concerning commons land accounted for 75.94 per cent of all the existing and resolved land-related conflicts, according to a new report. The report titled Land Locked: Investments and Lives in Land Conflicts, released by Land Conflict Watch (LCW), a Delhi-based research agency, arrived at this conclusion after...

-Down to Earth In this decade, 231 more crops have been removed from the protection of piracy provided in Section 3 of the Biodiversity Act, bringing the total to 421  The Supreme Court, in a November 22 order, has ordered the Karnataka High Court to continue hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on biopiracy which it had sent to the National Green Tribunal in 2013. Biopiracy refers to the practice of commercially exploiting...

-Down to Earth Poor, marginalised to be worst hit; Economic productivity to be jeopardised too A new report by the World Bank suggests India could soon become one of the first places in the world to experience heatwaves that break the human survivability limit. Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector said the country is experiencing higher temperatures that arrive earlier and stay far longer. India has witnessed a concurrent increase in meteorological...

-Down to Earth Over 100 doctors across India submit letter to PM Modi warning of health concerns Doctors across India have come together to express their concern against the plantation of genetically modified (GM) mustard crops, which recently received the Centre’s go-ahead for its environmental clearance. A letter has been submitted by 111 doctors across various fields to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding immediate uprooting of the trial plantations of the genetically modified...