In a unique initiative that blends hands-on learning with practical skill development and employability, the Government High School at Anji is training its students to identify and use wild edible plants.

Nestled amidst the serene landscape of Anji in Himachal’s Solan district, a government high school stands as a beacon of education and empowerment for its students. In 2023, an innovative initiative has taken root within its grounds, one that not only enriches the curriculum but also cultivates valuable employability skills among its students...

Deepak Dalal’s latest from Andaman Adventure series uncovers and solves mysteries on Barren Island amidst thrilling twists and volcanic wonders.  With an idea to introduce a unique island that has something not seen anywhere else in India—an active volcano—children’s author Deepak Dalal continues his Andaman Adventure series with Barren Island. The book takes teenaged adventurers Vikram and Aditya, protagonists of several Dalal books, to Barren Island in the Andaman as they attempt to find answers to questions raised in the first book of this series, Andaman Adventure—The Jarawa. In this first book, Vikram, Aditya and their friend Chitra cross the deep forests and waterbodies of the Andaman to escape some troublemaking characters. In Barren Island, the three characters have a different agenda; they want to find the bad gu

Day 1: Here We Go! | Drill: Chop, Chat, Chew! | Skill: Learn how to make some cool summer drinks and recipes, using local foods in a cook-long kitchen | Thrill: Serving a cooler and a yummy recipe... 

Day 2: Here We Stay! | Drill: Nature in a Nest | Skill: Learn how to make a bird’s nest by using and recycling waste materials in a build-along workshop | Thrill: Crafting a functional bird’s nest and creating wealth-from-waste...

Simple stories by Shaurya Kabra, an astute high-schooler, who demystifies the scary world of money.

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Shaurya Kabra’s Ek Prayaas takes on a bold journey—giving young individuals financial knowledge through the fairy tales of yore. The book by the 16-year-old presents a short story collection inspired by tales like Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk, but with an Indian context. Named after an initiative by Kabra, the book simplifies concepts like, budgeting, saving, interest, and how money works by creatively using six children’s stories. While the book is a brave attempt at clarifying the complex world of finance, the stories seem a little lacking and could have been better fleshed out.

Have you ever heard of virtual autism? It’s a concern emerging among children who spend an excessive amount of time in front a screen. Its symptoms include hyperactivity, attention deficiency, lack of interest in non-digital games, delay in speech, reluctance in interaction, irritability, mood swings, and difficulty in learning anything new. Virtual autism is not a diagnosis like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but a term encompassing symptoms that resemble ASD. However, the sooner kids move away from screens and become active in the real world, positive changes are visible.

Farmers in India face huge challenges in selling their crops profitably. So, they are demanding that the government should guarantee a Minimum Support Price (MSP) on all 23 crops that it provides for. MSP is the rate at which the government buys crops from farmers no matter what the crop’s prices prevail in the market. This assures an income to the farmers and offers them security. That is why they want that a legal guarantee should be provided for MSP.

Recapitulating the prestigious Green Schools Awards and felicitating the inspiring contribution of all the awardees.

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The much awaited and eagerly anticipated Green Schools Carnival of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi was back on 30th January 2024. Against the backdrop of climate change and environmental degradation, the Carnival underscored the vital role of children and educators in championing sustainability-based initiatives...

Pensive thoughts by a Gen Z on the human civilization, and its past, present, future. As the human civilization has advanced, it has undergone a trial of conscience at every successive step. Simply put, it has been in a court of paradoxes where there were problems, debates, and choices to be made. The Homo Sapiens—modern humans—appeared around 20,00,000 years ago. Gradually, these creatures chose to migrate and sail across the seas to make their own way. In the Neolithic Age, they opted to settle down at different places and brought new civilizations into existence. They invented a language, began keeping records, practiced division of labour, evolved social hierarchies, started trading, set up an administration, and thus developed an economy.

Decoding ‘Anti-Microbial Resistance,’ or simply put, just trying to understand why we should beware of taking a lot of antibiotics.

A path-breaking scientific and technical invention by a student of Amity International, New Delhi to ease agriculture, using solar power.

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"I wanted to create something unique which can contribute to the development of our country.” Suhani Chauhan, a student of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi recently created SO-APT—a visionary agricultural innovation. Stories of students across states are emerging...

Set to introduce young readers to a terrain that is largely believed to be elusive and mysterious, Andaman Adventure—The Jarawa is a work of fiction by children’s author Deepak Dalal, known for his conservation-themed books and particularly his Vikram-Aditya series. The Jarawa, the first of a two part story set in the Andaman, also focuses on the young, adventure-loving duo Vikram and Aditya as they navigate a dangerous situation across the islands...

Sharing fond memories from 25 years back—of ice creams, rookies, cow dung, and some cool environment stuff for kids.

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In the summer of 1992, late at night in the basement of the then rented office space of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the editorial team of the Down To Earth (DTE) magazine had a very long hot and tiring day putting together their very first issue. Anil Agarwal, the founder editor,...

In spite of all the brickbats and rebukes, a tabloid matures into a magazine as it finds its 'beginners' audience and speaks through quirky cartoons. 

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Gobar Times (GT) already had a successful 10-year run before I got on-board. It was always resplendent in a spectacular tabloid avatar, grabbing eyeballs everywhere. But as if this was not intimidating enough, here we were staging the arrival of a new GT. It’s looks? A standard news magazine format. Were we taking a risk?...

Narrating the tale and trajectory of Gobar Times—of how it evolved into a new avatar and gained new characters.

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My association with the Gobar Times will be incomplete without Piu & Pom. We were once working on a comic strip for the magazine.

Piu is the name of my daughter so it was easy to decide the name of one of the characters. But for Pom, there’s an interesting story. 

A thoughtful reflection on the value of Gobar Times with an understanding of what it is about, why so, how...and a little bit more.

Dusting off our archives to showcase some of the best stuff we’d published so far.

An opinion on the public schools vs. private schools debate, arguing what’s wrong with the private schools and why the public schools must be promoted.