Unfortunate though it may seem, many Indians only identify with Ladakh because of the popularity of Three Idiots and the progressive school there which Aamir Khan has now gone to assist. We tend to forget that it is part of Jammu and Kashmir because the unrest in the valley obscures everything else. Ladakh is often described as a cold desert, with scanty rainfall, which is why Leh and its environs were...

Belief in the north-east that it brings drought, famine  Phenomenon occurred in 1960s in Mizoram, leading to an increase in the rodent population Timing of flowering a mystery even to scientists; cycle varies from seven years to 120 years HYDERABAD: Reports about the flowering of bamboo at the Nehru Zoological Park, a phenomenon said to occur once in the life cycle of bamboo plant, have brought into focus the popular belief in...

Spiralling prices of pulses have shown India’s dependence on imports. Pulses are integral to India’s diet but not its food policy. As a result, supply cannot meet demand. What are the consequences and solutions? Surendra Nath has switched to eating grass-pea, though he knows it is not good for health. But so is tobacco, he argues. He cannot do without pulses and pigeon-pea selling at Rs 100 a kg is beyond...

Are the world and human society in general ready and willing to take action on critical issues that require a major change in the manner in which we produce and consume goods and services?  The science of climate change is now well established. This is the result of painstaking work of over two decades carried out by thousands of scientists drawn from across the globe to assess every aspect of...

Like an avalanche, the groundswell of scepticism regarding the melting of Himalayan glaciers threatens to demolish conventional wisdom to the contrary. To be sure, the deadline of 2035 by which these glaciers would be severely threatened has now been proved wrong. It could be a typographical error, as the Russian scientist whose paper has been used mentioned 2305. Or it could have been licence on the part of some scientists,...