-Down to Earth Document emphasises on importance of a ‘One-Health’ approach to manage and prevent zoonotic disease outbreaks and pandemics About 60 per cent of known infectious diseases in humans and 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, according to a new report published recently by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Preventing the Next Pandemic:Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain...

-The Indian Express June 5 was World Environment Day. We must strive to preserve our environment better if we want to prevent pandemics like COVID-19 This year’s celebration of World Environment Day — on June 5 — has been different compared to all the previous years, as human civilisation faces one of its biggest crises. The COVID-19 pandemic is larger than the environmental crisis of the 1960s and ’70s, which prompted the...

-Down to Earth To start work, the Sustainable Development Goals first need to be popularised by the new government The new government has to ensure that each one in the country is able to enjoy freedom and practices tolerance without fear. National security is no doubt significant, but it cannot be the country’s political narrative. India is riddled with problems such as extreme poverty, exploitation and inequalities, and does not need to...

-Scroll.in The government’s choice of partners has raised concerns. In June 2018, the Andhra Pradesh government announced an ambitious programme to bring all 80 lakh hectares of its cultivable land under agroecological farming by 2024. Agroecology emphasises minimising external, artificial inputs by using resources available in the local ecosystem so as to make farming sustainable and environment-friendly. Called Andhra Pradesh Climate Resilient Zero Budget Natural Farming, the programme seeks to wean away 60...

-The Hindu Ill fares the land where wealth accumulates, and the social and natural environment suffer As the general elections approach, it would be politic to take stock of the progress made by the incumbent party and look out for the areas that call for particular attention by the one that gains power. Without anticipating complete agreement on the indicators that ought to be used, I look at the changes since 2014...