To Be Caged

To Be Caged

When a free bird is trapped in a cage, it writhes in pain and pines. My uncle had a parrot who used to roam around the house even though it had a cage to live in. That parrot is the representation of our lives before the pandemic. We used to live in our houses just the same but we had freedom too. However, during these two years, it feels as if our gates are shut with a huge lock called‘Covid-19’.

What is Green Fungus and How is it Affecting COVID-19 Patients?

The first case of Green fungus infection in a COVID-19 patient was reported in India on June 15, 2021. The infected patient, a 34-year-old man in Indore, was shifted to Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital by air ambulance. He was diagnosed with a fungal infection called Aspergillosis this week. The patient had battled COVID-19 for two months with a severe lung infection, the doctors said.

Aspergillosis is caused by Aspergillus, a common mold fungus that lives indoors and outdoors. 

Thank God for this Lockdown!

Thank God for this Lockdown!

A highly-polluting factory, the Sterlite Copper, shuts down after years of inspiring community effort by the suffering villagers of Thoothukudi.

When the entire world is suffering from the pandemic and lockdowns, one tiny village in our country is certainly thrilled. This place is Thoothukudi in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu where a highly-polluting factory is locked down after years of inspiring community effort by its villagers. This factory, called the Sterlite Copper, is a subsidiary of the Vedanta Limited...

The Right vs the Might!

The Right vs the Might!

A native Amazonian tribe, the Waorani, successfully defends its sacred homeland from destruction posed by an oil conglomerate.

The Amazon is the world’s largest and densest rainforest, truly priced as the ‘lungs of the world’. This jungle conquers over nine nationalities and houses a bewildering variety of plants and animal species seen nowhere else on the globe. All such detail might be already well-known to you along with the news about its constant destruction, which is also much lamented by everyone. However, off late, there has been some hustle within the woods.

A multi-billion dollar company had earmarked half a million acres of forestland for oil drilling in the Amazon. This would have required installation of some mining machinery and huge logging activities in turn. All of this would have fetched oil for the company but after causing humongous loss to the surrounding biodiversity, the cost of which is inestimable. 

Sunderlal Bahuguna
It'll Catch Me... It'll Catch Me Not
Ecology and Environment

Post COVID-19 Complication Among Children Worries Pediatricians

The spread of Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) has raised concerns among pediatricians. Children manifest this syndrome which usually involves multiple organs about four to six weeks after a COVID-19 infection.

Health experts say that MIS-C happens due to an antigen produced by the body to fight the COVID-19 infection. The lower number of COVID-19 tests conducted on children is the reason for the late detection of post-Covid complications among them.

Geeli Mitti: Busting the Myths About Mud Houses

Why is mud construction sustainable then using cement? Why are mud houses more comfortable to live in? What are the advantages of mud over cement for building and construction? Shagun Singh, the founder of GeeliMitti farms and educational research center talks about the common myths that are associated with mud houses. Most believe that mud houses are not strong enough, it's expensive to build and maintain and not suited to regions which have high rainfall. 

The Science of Hand Sanitisers

The Science of Hand Sanitisers

Can a sanitiser kill 99.99 per cent of germs? Read to find out.

When Did the World Start Receiving Weather Updates?
How to Tame a Monster
L Narayan Reddy: Remembering Bengaluru's Green Farmer

L Narayan Reddy: Remembering Bengaluru's Green Farmer

A legendary organic farmer from Karnataka’s Sorahonase village, L Narayan Reddy breathed his last on January 14, 2019.

Reddy’s tryst with agriculture began late in life, after he had spent several years as a hotel menial, a lorry cleaner, an office attendant, and a manager.

Taking inspiration from a book titled One Straw Revolution by a Japanese organic pioneer, Masanobu Fukuoka, he switched to organic farming in 1979.

 

Once There was a Tribe

Once There was a Tribe

Tribal people are often potrayed as underdeveloped. But history actually shows something else. For the past few months, an uneasy calm is prevailing over the lives of Huaoranis—an Ecuadorian tribe living in the deep and dark forests of Amazon. Recently, they spot some outsiders in the forest. Not only that, the other day they saw a big bird with a deafening sound hovering over their village. This big bird was in fact a helicopter, which for us is as familiar as birds flying in the vast, blue sky. But for the Huaoranis, it only meant one thing...

Measuring the world in 'foot'
Personal Hygiene

Personal Hygiene

Lack of personal hygiene is the reason behind the spread of many of our diseases. Even sneezing and coughing can spread germs from one person to another. From common cold to the fatal Nipah disease, all can be transmitted like this.

New-Age Climate Leaders

New-Age Climate Leaders

21 young people have sued the US government for causing climate change

The Second Chipko Movement

The Second Chipko Movement

A group of students raise awareness to preserve the beauty of wetlands

I have always enjoyed the trips and picnics our school takes us for. They are a good break from studies and a time to refresh our minds. This year, our school decided to take us to the Ropar wetlands in Punjab. But, we were not excited. We were hoping for a trip to Jaipur or some other historical place.

Degrade Your Ears: Make Them Numb
Like Man, Like Machine

Like Man, Like Machine

Millions of years of evolution . . . replicated in an instant!

Advantage David

Advantage David

The story of David and Goliath retold in a farmer’s legal battle for climate justice

Saving Lanka

Saving Lanka

It is an early morning for 18-year old B C Kaushalya Kumari and her friends. Residents of Kandy, a city surrounded by mountains in Sri Lanka, the students are on a mission. They are in a nearby village, making a list of areas where dengue mosquitoes breed. The plan is to clean up these areas and put up wastebins everywhere...