Can a city’s bird count impact its health? Well, if ornithologists are to be believed, it can. Jamshedpur has shown two clear trends in terms of its avian population. One, the number of crows has dwindled to less than 5,000 now from 20,000 in the recent past. Two, the number of pigeons (also called rock dove) has increased to 10,000 from4,000 to 5,000. And this, a city ornithologist says, can be dangerous...

The Andhra Pradesh biodiversity board wants to claim royalty for the Brahma or Brahman bull, a species taken from Ongole and bred widely in Brazil, the United States and Australia for over 100 years. The bull, scientifically known as Bos indicus, is in great demand as it is known to be resistant to foot and mouth disease and for its flavourful meat. Biodiversity board chairman R. Hampaiah, back recently from a...

Justice Markandey Katju's prescription for a regulated media regime is a misplaced step that can actually de-democratise the fourth estate. IT is open season on the political class and the news media. But then, again, it's more like a chase of one's own tail. A self-righteous, delusional, Anna-Baba NGO-ised fringe sets out to stigmatise politics and Members of Parliament; the news media salivate at the prospect and rush to provide...

Veteran agricultural scientist and alumnus of Harvard and Berkeley Universities, Dr Peter Kenmore was in Mumbai for NABARD’s 30th anniversary lecture on ‘Future of Global Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities for India.’ This United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization India representative spoke to Yogesh Pawar on the current scenario in agriculture. Some excerpts: There’s a lot of churn over GM technology in India. At a time when the country is grappling with...

-The Times of India The CBI must prosecute the Pathribal case The Supreme Court's ruling in the Pathribal case, giving military autho-rities eight weeks to court martial the army officials allegedly responsible for the extrajudicial killings of five Kashmiri civilians 12 years ago, is unfortunate. It would be all too easy for the matter to be quietly swept under the carpet if left in the hands of the military authorities, as has...