DownToEarth The Aral Sea, the world’s fourth-largest lake until the early 1960s, dried up after that decade in Soviet Central Asia and became a byword for environmental disaster later, almost on the lines of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Now, a new study has found that the desert which emerged due to the drying up of the lake, has made Central Asia a much dustier place. Not only is the dust more hazardous...

The Moving Upstream: Luni program is a continuation of Veditum’s Moving Upstream fellowship program which we co-host with the Out of Eden Walk. For the Luni program, we are partnering with the School of Pubic Policy at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, and this effort is supported by A4Store & Out of Eden Walk. The aim is to document the river and life in and around it, the impact of man-made...

Centre for Economic Data and Analysis, Ashoka University Retail prices of Tur (Arhar) dal jumped from INR 110.5 per kg on average across the country at the beginning of the year to INR 135.7 per kg by July 31, 2023. Prices of this dal have risen faster than the overall food prices. Even as the sharp surge in tomato prices in recent weeks has caught everybody’s attention, another essential kitchen staple –...

Down to Earth Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla city has been battered following three days of heavy rainfall — there have been three major landslides in the last four days and the bodies of over 22 people have been recovered so far. Over two dozen people are missing and suspected to be buried under the debris. According to experts, the city has long crossed its carrying capacity, which is leading to regular landslides...

The recently concluded Parliament session saw the passage of the highly controversial “Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023” amid wide protests and without much discussion. The bill is aimed to amend the erstwhile Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Among the changes suggested, the below preamble was inserted into the act, and the “Forest (Conservation) Act” is substituted by “Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam” in the principal Act. While the Environment Ministry claims that...