Feature Article

Gut microflora co-evolved with the human evolution, performing health-promoting functions and protection from the enteric pathogens. The long association of the microflora sustained through ages, which in the light of new research, needs specific nutrients that are not required by the humans.

Deconstructing the work of famous scientists, many years after their passing, is a task that has been undertaken by many historians of science and writers of great distinction. A recent editorial in Nature (2011, 474, 419) notes that ‘it is impossible to libel the dead, but equally impossible for them to defend themselves’. There is a certain

Vijayan summarizes the problems faced with respect to funding of research. He suggests how grant system could be improved to achieve better quality in research. The manner in which grant
applications are handled and funds are released is only one dimension (albeit a major one); there are other aspects to the
problem. (Correspondence)

In the past, India has made great progress in providing food security for its people. However, the growth rate of agriculture
is consistently decreasing. There has also been a decline in the growth rate of foodgrain production. The challenge facing

Much has been written about the 11 March 2011, Mw 9.1 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, that occurred off the northern Japanese coast owing to the unprecedented fury of the tsunami it generated and the destructive impact it had on a coastal nuclear power plant in northern Japan. In any case, the Japanese earthquake is a watershed event in the history of natural disasters, as it

On the basis of a climate modelling study, Lal et al. predicted that during the winter months there will be 5–25% less rainfall and in the summer season the monsoon rainfall will be not only 10–15% more than the normal, but also quite variable and specially irregular in Central India.

Recognizing the need for mathematical modelling-enabled, forecast-centred research in dynamical long-range forecasting in India, the CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation

With wind energy being the most realistic large-scale renewable energy source in the near future, we examine the target for wind energy penetration in India for 2020.