Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...

-Hindustan Times A garden can provide a context to students for understanding seasonality and life cycles of food; it can provide an opportunity to work cooperatively on real tasks; students can learn about where food comes from; and they can observe all of the principles of ecology in practice The Union human resource development (MHRD) ministry recently asked all schools (rural and urban) in the country to set up kitchen gardens. The...

-The Hindu Business Line The RCEP agreement, if implemented, will allow other countries to dump excess seeds in the Indian market. The current 100% FDI policy also threatens seed sovereignty With a confirmed Brexit, the days of liberal globalisation are numbered. Open borders, FTAs and multilateral agreements find no takers in the White House either. Leaders Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have heralded a clear and blunt message of tariffs, conservative economics...

-The Hindu Business Line Noted Gandhian economist Dr Sudarshan Iyengar surveys the distressed agricultural landscape, pinpoints its weaknesses, and prescribes solutions with their roots in Gandhian agronomics. Edited excerpts from an interview to BusinessLine: * Given the agrarian crisis in India today, how relevant are Gandhi's economic principles based on the village economy, and equitable distribution of resources? They are relevant in the context of Gandhi's view of gram swaraj (village self-rule), which...

-The Indian Express Mental illness often stems from early-life trauma. It’s happening in Kashmir. When we think of childhood adversity, we imagine the kind of truly horrible stuff which happened to the character of Bobby in the film Judgementall Hai Kya. While I found the film somewhat cringe-worthy, I thought there was at least one figment of a fact which was credible. The protagonist’s mental illness was seeded by the trauma...