In our coronavirus-tainted world, we’re realizing that we depend a lot on our laptop webcams… and they’re not good. WSJ’s Joanna Stern compared the new MacBook Air to the Dell XPS 13, Google’s Pixelbook Go and Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3.

By bringing the benefits and the knowledge of science to their people, Haseena and Tajunnisa have helped secure the future for the resources on which their families depend. Their home, Agatti, has, now become a model, writes Papri Sri Raman.

'I run up to every neta who campaigns on the roads and tell him about our problem. It is not only me but the rest too have not been paid. It is not as though we don't work. I work from 8 am to 6 pm.'

Safety and criminality in society must be assessed directly from the people themselves. The government is deluding itself and citizens by conflating law enforcement statistics with crime data, writes Tara Krishnaswamy.

Kanchi Kohli reports from the public meetings on a Hydro Electric Project that involves diverting a river tributary near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

Recent guidelines from the Ministry of Power encourage private sector participation in the development of large hydro projects. But there is little attention paid to past failures, or the possibility that many of those will recur in new projects too, notes Himanshu Thakkar.

Most hydropower projects don't need the Clean Development Mechanism credits to be built. But a gross mockery is being made of the basic principles and understanding of the Kyoto Protocol, with no real cuts in emissions. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

The Electricity Act, 2003 requires each hydel project to be considered in light of other projects in the same river basin, but investigation of one project shows that this is not really enforced, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

Our personal choices directly impact the pressure on managing infrastructure support that we all need for energy, water, and waste management, writes Chandrashekar Hariharan.

In the energy heartland of India, countless projects have wreaked havoc on the environment and displaced people extensively, sometimes more than once. With more projects planned, the future is just as bleak. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The National Green Tribunal orders a study of the threat of radiation near thermal power plants, potentially putting the brakes on a spate of project approvals by the Government. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Will the Kudankulam nuclear power plant finally become operational this month as assured by the Prime Minister? Krithika Ramalingam takes an in-depth look at the long history of delays and conflicts that has plagued the project since its inception.

Based on data collected from 92 coal power plants in India, a 2012 study that went largely unreported estimated the mortality impact of electricity generated from coal at 650 deaths per plant per year! Shiva Prasad Susarla analyses the key findings of the report and the remediation measures suggested.

It is often believed that coal-based power plants near the coast, by virtue of their proximity to the sea, do not create any pressure on water resources. Shripad Dharmadhikary’s visit to Krishnapattanam in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu exposes the fallacy in that.

The Sikkim government’s irregular allocation of hydropower projects to a New Delhi-based power producer and the eventual turn of events have cost the state more than Rs 2400 crore, according to a CAG report. Soumik Dutta reports on the details of the case and other related discrepancies that have surfaced since.

In yet another contested environmental approval decision, a 300-MW power plant in Gujarat has been granted changes in technology, relaxing certain original conditions, without any public consultation. Kanchi Kohli reports on the grievances of the local people.

Pune-based NGO Prayas Energy’s ESMI programme provides easily comprehensible data on the extent and quality of power supply in regions across the country, which can be used to demand accountability as well as enable social research. Manasi Mathkar reports.

Commenting on the dress sense and looks of women in power is only one aspect of the tendency to run down their success. And women are expected to laugh this off, writes Kalpana Sharma.

High rhetoric and token gestures abound on International Women’s Day. Yet, a brave woman of the soil was threatened, attacked and prevented from holding a rally that would have voiced the real issues faced by many women. Freny Manecksha met Soni Sori days before she was attacked, and recounts her story.

Mahasweta Devi remains a writer whose work was almost impossible to express through cinema, writes Shoma Chatterji paying a tribute to the legendary writer and social activist.

Community engagement should be born out of respect for the participating community members and their capacities rather than as tokenism needed to fulfill a program requirement, writes R Balasubramaniam.

The imminent Panchayat elections in Karnataka will see 50 percent reservation for women at all tiers, but how can one ensure real authority for them? Proposed amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act may hold some answers.

While the West has abandoned the realism of the past century and has now turned to cooperation in pursuing common goals, South Asia remains trapped in this old paradigm, says Firdaus Ahmed.

The success of Operation Sarp Vinash must be understood from independent scrutiny of the Army's claims, as well as analysis of new military strategy, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Until women are provided adequate access to information, both about their rights and available budgetary resources, Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes will only lead to more disempowerment for them, says Madhu Sarin.

Limited, quick-fix solutions that do not address the underlying causes of the deep-rooted problem of rape have clearly not worked in the country, writes Ammu Joseph in the first of a two-part article examining the many layers of the issue.

The recent simplifications to the Central environmental clearance process may endup pushing peoples’ participation and transparency to fringes, says Sunita Dubey.

Political parties have displayed moral outrage over the recent expose of misuse in MPLADS funds. The scheme itself violates the Constitution, and second, MPs have had a free hand in doling out contracts to build and sustain patronage. The decision to retain the scheme is shortsighted, points out Sudhirendar Sharma.

Political parties have displayed moral outrage over the recent expose of misuse in MPLADS funds. The scheme itself violates the Constitution, and second, MPs have had a free hand in doling out contracts to build and sustain patronage. The decision to retain the scheme is shortsighted, points out Sudhirendar Sharma.

When river restoration translates merely into cosmetic beautification of its ‘front’, real estate and urban elite are the only ones to gain at the cost of the larger river ecology. Amruta Pradhan discusses the Sabarmati Riverfront Development project and others inspired by it to highlight the risks in the model.

Even a badly made film becomes a learning experience for the viewers because it sheds light on issues not known widely otherwise, says Shoma Chatterji as she reviews the movie Saankal.

The Government of India's draft community radio (CR) policy proposes to allow NGOs and other non-profit organisations to run low power radio stations with limited advertising. The policy is expected to go to the Cabinet for approval soon, but CR advocates and broadcasters are keeping their fingers crossed, notes Surekha Sule.

In Bilaspur's Saturday vegetable market, loaders complain of interminable waits each day to receive payments as low as Rs 5 from traders and vendors. In this fourth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that a plethora of labour laws are being flouted, with Chhatisgarh's minimum wages schedule not helping.

Found abundantly along the coasts of the country, seaweeds offer the potential to help meet nutrition and food security needs, and also hold other advantages in medicine and farming. But technology, labour and quality issues impede the realisation of this potential. Prayukth K V reports.

While some of the handloom sector's troubles come from the relentless march of mechanisation, modernisation and sophistication, there's more to the troubled weavers' plight, says Narasimha Reddy.

A new policy framework for hydro-electric power seems to have given confidence to private corporations to enter the sector, with a large number of mega projects lined up. But the same policies raise critical questions in relation to equity and access, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

India has made cotton fabrics for 20 centuries, and its scale in India was unimaginable. But modern market structures have pushed millions to the edge, and a few intense efforts, such as those of Dastakar Andhra, are not enough to reverse this. Darryl D'Monte reports.

The benefits of providing access to energy and lighting to increasing numbers of the populace are indisputable, but many of the current initiatives to provide cleaner energy rely on corporate partnerships. Darryl D'Monte examines its pros and cons vis-à-vis an alternative model.

It is certainly not because of mere demand-supply mismatch. Kannan Kasturi deconstructs the supply chain dynamics and credit linkages in the vegetable markets to show how these, coupled with government impotence, have led to uncontrolled, spiralling inflation.

Narendra Modi’s attention to the woes and plight of farmers during election campaigning has raised a lot of hope for improvement among members of the beleaguered community, but can he deliver? Devinder Sharma presents an 11-point prescription for turning the agricultural sector around.

As the country eagerly awaits the new government’s maiden budget, Shankar Jaganathan evokes the realities of the Indian economy to provide a reference framework within which to judge the Jaitley budget.

The Southern region of India is expected to face high energy deficit this year while the Western and Eastern regions will have a surplus of energy generation. Kannan Kasturi explains why this regional skew in energy generation and energy consumption exists and what it will take to resolve it.

The Skill India Mission aims to provide skills training to around 402 million people by the year 2022. In the first of a two-part series, Shambhu Ghatak upholds estimates of skilled workforce from various reports to highlight the yawning gap that needs to be bridged.

Pradeep Baisakh looks at the effects of the economic reforms started 25 years ago.

Despite two high-level recommendations to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the law remains in place. The Army is right to insist on its view, but there are things that can be done to improve matters, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Security hawks are expanding the list of terror suspects to include not just the illiterate poor, but also the well-to-do educated Muslims. Who does that leave out, asks Firdaus Ahmed.

Firdaus Ahmed ponders if India’s nuclear weapons are in safer hands or not.

Pokhran-II  happened on May 1998, Firdaus Ahmed writes if nuclear weapons have made us more secure in these last twenty years.

Compressed Natural Gas is by no means a clear cut winner in the race to find a clean burning fuel for our vehicles. The real solution is in promoting public transport, and better design of our cities, writes Madhav Pai.

Numerous species of Indian birds are critically endangered. Only strict conservation laws can help them survive. Experts fear that many will be wiped off as the environment deteriorates. Unless we have emergency measures, it will be too late says Ramesh Menon.