Don't become couch potatoes and gadget slaves this summer. Make the best of your summer holidays, move around the house, and assess how you consume resources with the help of some interesting activities.
A science fairytale:
The home of the Butbut tribe is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Every morning, when the first rays of sunlight shower upon the steep mountains of Buscalan and its lush green rice fields, the village looks nothing less than a paradise. The Butbut is one of the 110 odd tribes which resides in Philippines, an island country made up of more than 70,000 islands.
But their home is not the only thing the Butbut are proud of...
This year (2016), there has been a renewed focus on children’s health. The WHO has launched a global strategy on health for women, children and adolescents. New challenges keep cropping up as increase in travel and people-to-people contact creates a globalization of microbes. Degrading environment has its own set of problems.
Festivals have two dimensions, one religious and the other celebratory. Festivals origianally gave thanks to natural forces. But with time, an evil eye was, as it were, cast on our natural resources. People burst firecrackers, made idols with nonbiodegradable materials and toxic paints and played with colours that pollute the air, land and water. But some tribes whose livelihoods depend directly on natural resources celebrate their tribal festivals while maintaining an ecological balance.
While in India it is unthinkable to see beloved elephants as a source of crop damage, their rising population in African countries is a huge problem. Elephant herds can cause substantial losses if they enter farms.
In fact, in 2008, the South African government lifted the moratorium on the culling of elephants. At the time, the environment minister, Martinus van Schalkwyk, said that culling would be considered only as a management option of the last resort...
Monkeys, wild pig and rhesus macaque are being culled in Bihar, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. What is driving this culling? Is it necessary? What is at the heart of the conflict between animal and farmer?
With her hair neatly oiled and braided, wearing her green-and-white school uniform, Selvi sat on the mat waiting for Amma to get her favourite tiffin of idlis and carrot sambar.
But today, as she waited she couldn’t smell the usual aroma from the kitchen. 'Here you go, Selvi, finish your tiffin and go to school!' Amma placed a plate with idlis and coconut chutney. 'Before you ask me, let me tell you, no carrot sambar...
