-Down to Earth Improved access to new markets, better yields and higher income need to safeguard environmental sustainability and farmers’ indebtedness The ongoing agitation by farmers on the borders of Delhi provides an opportunity to flag concerns about various aspects in the agriculture sector, including the environment, society, economy, food security and risk coverage for farmers. Several commentators have already spoken about the 2020 farm laws, supported by statistics, and experience. Many of...

-Down to Earth By 2080, greenhouse gases are expected to raise the risk of extreme wildfire by 50%, according to the study Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution caused by human activities had distinct regional impacts on extreme outbreaks of wildfire, according to a new study conducted by the University of California Santa Barbara in the United States. The study examined the weather under various combinations of human influences since 1920, isolating...

-Down to Earth Mining and disposal of these elements add to the environmental damages and ecological burden Naturally abundant wind, geothermal, solar, tidal and electric energy are being hastened as the future of the planet's energy needs. And rare earth elements are used in a bevy of technolgies to generate this cleaner, renewable energy. These include wind turbine magnets, solar cells, smartphone components, cells used in electric vehicles, among others. Also called rare earth...

-Down to Earth Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest coverage but a decrease since last survey Health insurance coverage increased in the past five years in a majority of the Indian states and union territories but still remained well below half the population in most of them, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). As many as 15 of the 22 states and UTs surveyed showed an increase in the health coverage....

-Down to Earth Bihar reported the highest prevalence of the disease   A higher proportion of children under the age of five in the villages had diarrhoea than their counterparts in the cities in 17 of the 22 Indian states and Union territories (UT) covered by the 2019-2020 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). This urban-rural gap was significant in Maharastra — in the two weeks prior to the survey, 6.6 per cent children...