Keep off the grass
Rohit Roy

Of false starts and disappointments

Last month, the world was abuzz with expectations from Rio +20. This column too saw its fair share of speculation and discussion on the subject. Throughout the world, environmentalists were again daring to hope for a fresh lease of life

Keep off the grass
Rohit Roy

Of Broken Memories and Trodden Paths

Twenty years ago, the world saw the birth of a prominent sustainable development document – Agenda 21. Drafted in 1992 during the then Rio Earth Summit, it was envisaged as a ‘blueprint’ for economic growth, considering social equity and environmental

Keep off the grass
Rohit Roy

Cat on a hot Tin Roof

The reintroduction of the cheetah into India has once again hit a roadblock, this time in the form of the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court recently stayed the government’s (and our oft -mentioned friend Jairam Ramesh’s) pet

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Rohit Roy

Tribal Dance

Last month, we were all waiting with bated breath for the Supreme Court decision on the Vedanta Mining issue in the Niyamgiri Hills. The plight of the DongriaKondh tribe due to Vedanta’s plans to mine Bauxite in their lands was

Keep off the grass
Rohit Roy

The Asbestos Shame

A slow and painful death is creeping through the nation. Asbestos – the essential roofing of the poor – is a silent and deadly killer. It causes lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis through a slow filling of the lungs with

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Subir Ghosh

Slow Poisoning

Baiju Gupta of Chilika Dand gram panchayat on Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh has seen a lot. He must have. After all, he is 105 years old. “When I came here in 1978, displaced by NTPC’s (‘National Thermal Power Corporation’)

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Rohit Roy

For Your Eyes Only

Ever noticed how, in the last decade the view outside our windows has gone progressively downhill? Beautiful green trees and open skies have been replaced by concrete monstrosities and garish billboards – a constant reminder of the commercial hangover that

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Rohit Roy

Burning Embers

There used to be a time when English decorum made the world English (or so they claimed at least). Even now, living in Britain feels like filling an overzealous tax form, where everything is neatly ticked and grouped into boxes.