Century-old teak plantation business loses ground in India because of poor management and short-sighted policies.

Geoscientist Harsh Gupta speaks to Dinsa Sachan on the need for an early warning system for earthquakes.

Karma Tshiteem is the secretary of the Gross National Happiness Commission, the novel name of Bhutan’s Planning Commission. He tells Aditya Batra how the concept has fared in the new democracy.

Natural gas is a clean, cheap and efficient fossil fuel, giving India hopes of reducing its carbon intensity. But its shortage has left critical sectors in the lurch. Can India overcome the crisis?

Warns US of retaliatory measures. China has reacted sharply to the inquiry launched by the US Department of Commerce into the alleged unfair trade practices adopted by China in the United States for selling solar cells and panels. The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) had filed a petition with department, saying China is selling heavily subsidised solar panels and cells below market price in the US, which is severely affecting domestic business. The department launched the inquiry on November 9.

Cost escalation made Maharashtra's power generation company reconsider present site in Dhule district. The Sakri solar power plant in Maharashtra's Dhule district is touted as the world's largest solar power plant till date. Sometime ago there was a proposal to shift the plant to Chandrapur district in Vidarbha region following dispute over the land where the project will be developed. The move triggered protests in the tribal district where people see the 125 MW project as a lifeline that would usher in industrialisation and employment.

Wildlife board worried over the impact of public-private project on wildlife habitats. The standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has put the Demwe Lower Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh on hold till an expert committee asseses its impact on the flora fauna downstream. The 1,750 MW project is being executed jointly by Athena Demwe Power Ltd, promoted by the India-based Athena Energy Ventures Pvt Ltd, and the Government of Arunachal Pradesh in Lohit district and is sheduled to be commissioned during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

Gifting of land, or bhoodan in Hindi, is the current obsession of the government. It is on a spree of acquiring land. This is often termed as bhoodan to corporate houses. There is another kind of bhoodan that is being talked about. For a country that is demographically young, this bhoodan took place as a movement when India was just four years old.

Number of people who can benefit from government’s welfare programmes is going to swell. Currently, the Central government caps the entitlements under most welfare programmes to those below the poverty line, which is as low as Rs 12/day/person for rural areas and Rs 18/day/person for urban areas.

The forest officials of Panna Tiger Reserve worked in close nexus with poachers for over a decade, says an internal report prepared by the Intelligence Cell of the tiger reserve, which had lost all its tigers by 2008.