For local residents, most Himalayan peaks from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh are divine — their might flowing in the form of rivers capable of sustaining life and washing away their ills. One such river is Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh, where Parashuram, an incarnation of Vishnu, was believed to have cleansed himself after beheading his mother. Today, however, the Himalayas seem to be fighting a losing battle against India's hunger for electricity....

A comprehensive study of Isro satellite images reveals 75% of Himalayan Glaciers are on the retreat, with the average shrinkage being 3.75km during the 15 years under study. The grim findings come after raging controversy over claims in the 2007 IPCC report of Himalayan Glaciers disappearing by 2035, which were later retracted. The project, which studied 2,190 glaciers, was commissioned by the ministry of environment and forests and department of space...

During protests against the WTO (World Trade Organization) meetings in Cancún, Mexico in September 2003, Lee Kyung Hae, a South Korean farmer and La Via Campesina member, martyred himself by plunging a knife into his heart while standing atop the barricades at Kilometer Zero. Around his neck was a sign that read, "WTO Kills Farmers." At that time, activists around the world were rallying under the umbrella of the global justice...

Even as the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment — dubbed “the Indian Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)” — released its first report on the impact of climate change in four regions of the country, it admitted that significant research gaps and lack of extensive databases were hampering Indian climate science. Long-term localised data was not available on vegetation and forest cover, socio-economic trends, farm inputs, pests and crop diseases,...

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...