Feature Article

It’s afternoon and wisps of clouds have already enveloped the Sora Muni shrine that keeps watch over Sri Lanka’s Horton Plains massif. Here, Tamil workers of the Thotulagalla tea estate in Haputale offer a sacrificial goat to the deity following the annual pruning of tea bushes.

DROUGHT is the worst enemy of crops like chickpea which requires moderate rainfall for growth. Studies till date have focused on how dehydration changes expression of genes that code for proteins vital for the plant’s survival. But there is a dearth of studies that look at the activity of proteins during dehydration.

PLATINUM is a precious metal used as a catalyst in fuel cells. But the high cost of platinum restricts fuel cells’ contribution to global energy solution.

STEM rust that ruined wheat crops in several Asian countries last year is still invincible. Scientists say it has established itself on nearly all resistant wheat varieties developed in the last 50 years. There is no way to control this highly adaptive pathogen, dubbed Ug99.

A LAB study shows global warming that increases sea-surface temperatures would make cold-blooded creatures of the sea vulnerable.

AN animal’s ability to acclimatise to urban surroundings is believed to depend on its brain size. Evolutionary biologists have for the first time provided evidence of it.

The violence in Bhatta-Parsaul villages is a reminder of smaller clashes in western Uttar Pradesh since 2007 over land acquisition. In August 2010, Tappal block in Aligarh saw similar protests, leading to a clash between farmers and the police. The compensation given to these farmers against land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway and a high-tech city was a fraction of the profits made by the private developer to whom the land was transferred. To placate the agitating farmers, the Uttar Pradesh government announced a new land acquisition and rehabilitation policy on September 3, 2010. It also promised to stop the construction of the township.

Energy efficiency is often called the low hanging fruit of climate change. Each unit of electricity saved is considered a unit less generated, which means less greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Under the 11th Five Year Plan, programmes promoting energy efficiency aim to save five per cent of energy consumption, or avoiding 10,000 MW addition in generation capacity.

In what could set a precedent for forest rights struggles, six villages in Madhya Pradesh have stalled a government plan to notify their forest as wildlife sanctuary. Gram sabhas of these villages have passed resolutions against the proposed Katthiwada wildlife sanctuary in Alirajpur district. While the government is yet to come to a decision, forest officials say the project may never see the light of the day.