A LEAFY VILLAGE in Kerala, Pathanpara, never found access to India’s electricity grid. That is why for the last several years, this village has been generating its own electricity. Raju, a dhoti-clad cashew nut farmer, operates Pathanpara’s five kilowatt (KW) micro hydropower plant. He lives in the village and earns a salary of Rs 2,250, paid by the People’s Electricity Committee (PEC). The power generated is shared equally by the village,...

Why has the incidence of tuberculosis in India remained around 170 per 100,000 people for the last 20 years despite DOTS, the directly observed treatment strategy, being in place? Answer: DOTS is a passive system that kicks in only after a person takes the initiative and gets tested for the disease. Despite the high prevalence and mortality rate, researchers are yet to figure out a system that works proactively, identifying...

A group of over 80 eminent personalities, including the former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman, A. Gopalakrishnan, has expressed shock at the Centre's announcement on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in Russia that it would go ahead with the Jaitapur nuclear power plant. Terming it “sheer insensitivity” on the part of the government, the citizens' group said the decision meant disregarding the “overwhelming” opposition to the project by 40,000...

The Madhya Pradesh government has banned genetically modified (GM) seeds in the state with agriculture minister Ramkrishna Kusmariya saying that scientifically re-engineered foodgrain and vegetables will become "non-vegetarian" and "end" Indian culture. The same minister had blamed crop destruction because of heavy winter rains three months ago on the "sins of the farmers". Kusmariya told reporters in Damoh on Thursday that his department won't permit use of GM seeds in the state...

No decision was taken at the first meeting of experts that deliberated on issues relating to the moratorium on the commercial release of Genetically Modified Bt Brinjal. The experts were invited by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for their views on the controversial issue. Noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan, however, recused himself from the meeting. He told The Hindu that being a member of a Parliamentary Committee that was looking into the...