In a small pastoral vand (hamlet) in Kutch, Gujarat, 10 year old Ramu wakes up at five in the morning. His mother serves him a hasty breakfast of bajra rotis after which he is packed off to the pasturelands surrounding their small hamlet to graze the family's buffaloes. Since his village does not have a working school, grazing the livestock is gainful employment from the point of view of Ramu's...

A bill to put in place the proposed biotechnology regulator is likely to be taken up for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday. The proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) seeks to replace the existing multiple mechanisms that are operating under different administrative ministries. The proposed bill — initially prepared in 2008 — has been now revised substantially. The proposed authority will now deal only with Safety...

The rail track passing through forest areas in different parts of the country, including Walayar on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, have become a death trap for the wildlife, particularly elephants. Though a hue and cry is raised every time a tragedy strikes, the deaths of a large number of wild elephants in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam and West Bengal remain a burning issue. The recent incidents of train hits in these...

The 10,000 MW nuclear power plant that the NPCIL proposes to set up at Jaitapur, Maharashtra, with reactors from French company Areva, was on the agenda of the Union Environment Ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee meeting on Monday. According to some members, the committee plans to recommend a conditional environmental clearance for the plant. However, it is not clear what the final decision of the committee will be. It is then up...

They will be subjected to protocol and verification: Pawar India has an “open mind,” but for now, it has held back permission to the United States for accessing Indian markets for U.S. dairy products, which may be made from the milk of cattle fed with feeds produced from internal organs, blood meal and tissues of ruminant origin or those that may contain animal rennet. In recent bilateral talks during U.S. President Barack...