Archive by category | Environment

Nature India Photo Contest 2020: Finalist #2

Nature India Photo Contest 2020: Finalist #2

“The annual Durga Puja festivities end with the immersion of the gods’ idols in river Hooghly, a tributary of the Ganges. Every year thousands of people take part in the idol immersion processions. Following COVID-19 restrictions, the West Bengal government created temporary water bodies to ‘immerse’ the clay-made idols by dissolving them with high power water jets, like in this picture taken at the Tridhara Sanmilani Puja Pandal, Kolkata on 26 October 2020. The benefits were two-fold – no processions, and no pollution of the Ganges’ waters.” — Amitava Chandra  … Read more

Nature India Photo Contest 2019 now open

Say ‘food’ and everyone has a story to share. These stories could be as diverse as ‘I love pasta’ to ‘the cyclone ruined our paddy yield this year’ to ‘half my country is malnourished and the other half obese’.  Read more

Water charity: What the drinking fountains of Mumbai tell us

Water charity: What the drinking fountains of Mumbai tell us

The pyaavs of Mumbai aren’t just public fountains but a repository of memories, architectural history and an important lesson in water philanthropy. Swapna Joshi, a PhD Student at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, studies them closely to find new meaning in the old.  Read more

Nature India Special Issue on ‘Grand Challenges’

Nature India Special Issue on 'Grand Challenges'

As part of Nature India’s 10th anniversary celebrations, we produced a special issue on ‘Grand Challenges’. (Download your free copy here.)  … Read more

Pollution woes: Is methanol a solution?

Pollution woes: Is methanol a solution?

Every winter, the northern plains of India are engulfed in toxic fumes, emanating from crop stubble burnt by farmers in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western UP. Coupled with that, air pollutants from power plants, and vehicles choke the mega cities.   … Read more

A scientist who can cut your electricity bill

A scientist who can cut your electricity bill

Mumbai-born Aaswath Raman, who grew up in Canada and is now a Canadian citizen, researches unique new ways of harnessing a largely unexploited renewable source of energy — the cold of the universe. Raman moved to the USA for his bachelor’s degree in 2002 and is currently a research associate with the Ginzton Laboratory at Stanford University, where he investigates “radiative or sky cooling” to develop prototype systems for cooling, refrigeration and beyond.  Read more