Feature Article

To assess the relationship between individual-based exposure to traffic-related air pollutants and allergic disease outcomes in a prospective birth cohort study during the first 6 years of life.

"Engineers like me can't help marvel at the Agaria's skills,' says Vinay Mahajan of the Ahmedabad-based independent research institute Sandarbh Development Studies. Mahajan has co-authored a paper,

While the Agarias wage a constant struggle with the forest department, the government has allegedly turned a blind eye to pollution by two soda ash-making units run by major industrial groups. At

At the Tata plant in Mithapur, effluent is taken to huge mud trenches, effluent-settlement ponds, which cover about 243 ha. The liquid is supposed to go to the sea from here after suspended solids in

A recent survey, Greendex 2008, carried out among 14,000 people in 14 countries, studied how environment friendly the behaviour of consumers was

National Sample Survey data in Income, Expenditure and Productive Assests of Farmer Households, 2003 showed that 96 per cent of farmer households are in deficit and half of the households are indebted. Debt waiver can only be welcomed in such a situation. Once indebted, marginal and small farmers will hardly be in a position to repay the debt even if it is from institutional sources where interest rates are much lower than the rates charged by private moneylenders. (Letters)

Many aspects of the Indian scientific development are extremely unsatisfactory, lacking in both quality and quantity. Although the outreach of teaching and research programmes has increased considerably, populist political themes are favoured and special institutions have been created where research is undertaken independent of the university system. This article reviews the present scene in science education, and identifies the major problems and the challenges confronting the institutions involved in education and research.

The development agenda of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development has undergone modifications that are unfavourable for developing nations. Can the recent Accra Accord change this? How can UNCTAD be better enabled to address critical development issues?

With lobbying going on to replace cooked meals in the mid-day meal programme with processed foods like biscuits, this article reports on a consultation earlier this year that saw academicians, medical professionals, and nutrition and public health experts discuss the impact of providing dry rations versus cooked foods.