Feature Article

The chairperson of the Committee for Evolution of the New Education Policy writes on the committee's findings and what ails education in India today.

Groundwater samples from alluvial aquifers of Bathinda district, southwest Punjab were measured for physicochemical parameters as well as major ion chemistry to evaluate the groundwater suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes and to present the current hydrochemical status of groundwater of this district.

Original Source

The evolution of industrial-era warming across the continents and oceans provides a context for future climate change and is important for determining climate sensitivity and the processes that control regional warming. Here we use post-AD 1500 palaeoclimate records to show that sustained industrial-era warming of the tropical oceans first developed during the mid-nineteenth century and was nearly synchronous with Northern Hemisphere continental warming.

In a longitudinal, multi-country study, parents of 24 168 offspring aged 2–51 years provided information on their life-course smoking habits, occupational exposure to welding and metal fumes, and offspring’s asthma before/after age 10 years and hay fever. Logistic regressions investigated the relevant associations controlled for age, study centre, parental characteristics (age, asthma, education) and clustering by family.

Original Source

Yield stability is fundamental to global food security in the face of climate change, and better strategies are needed for buffering crop yields against increased weather variability. Regional- scale analyses of yield stability can support robust inferences about buffering strategies for widely-grown staple crops, but have not been accomplished.

Earth's surface gained 115,000 km2 of water and 173,000 km2 of land over the past 30 years, including 20,135 km2 of water and 33,700 km2 of land in coastal areas. Here, we analyse the gains and losses through the Deltares Aqua Monitor — an open tool that detects land and water changes around the globe.

Recent findings of paradoxically high endemicity of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) among populations living in the Group of 20 (G20) countries could portend high rates of these diseases among patients with underlying non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with resultant co-morbidities.

Original Source

Viruses are generally considered to be amongst the smallest bioactive particles; dating back to the original observations, including those of luminaries such as Ivanosky and Beijerinck, size has always been at issue within the definition, a tradition that continued for many years. It was thus a surprise to the scientific community in the early 2000s when French scientists demonstrated that a particle, previously thought to be a bacterium, was indeed a virus.

The impact of the booming Chinese economy on the quality of the nation’s air and water has garnered a lot of attention recently. Now, focus is turning to another polluted realm: the very ground beneath China’s feet.

Original Source

Manhattan skyscrapers, rather than rustic rural towns, are quickly becoming the picture of sustainable living in the twenty-first century. San Francisco, Copenhagen and Singapore each top their regions in the Green City Index. As sites of innovation and economic dynamism, these places exemplify a blend of density and livability that large, prosperous cities in the 'global south', such as Mumbai in India and São Paulo in Brazil, increasingly emulate.