Dr. Shailesh Nayak’s calm aura, ease and lucidity spoke of an authority that complemented his tall frame. Self effacing about being the pioneering scientist in shaping the recent Tsunami Warning System, Dr Nayak was happy to have placed the best possible technology worldwide, which would send real time warnings and protect the coastal populace of our subcontinent. Strengthening the technological base he asserted was his foremost concern, as it would assist a better understanding of earth processes as well as create a service base for data dissemination to user groups in the sectors of agriculture, disaster management, sports and more. Worried about the empirical nature of monsoon models, he believes that monsoon predictions would improve dramatically with enhanced observation systems. In about three years, he emphatically adds, the systems would be in place and by 2012 accurate predictions would make it easier to manage extreme events of rainfall.

The intensity of use of coastal areas is growing under current developmental trends. The protection of coastal zones is vital as it supports more than hundred million people of our nation. In the light of warming impacts, coastal zones are likely to be the first to be threatened.

Climate change will bring about slow but a definite modification in the way the world thinks with myriad new business opportunities offering to rebuild production, consumption and expenditure patterns. Companies that can tune their production and business and put in place in house study groups or consultancy related with climate change.

The village of Isapur Sarki, home to 140 Hindu families, boasts of painted pucca houses and brick laid roads – a veritable picture of a prosperous Indian village. About 50 per cent of the farmers have a holding size of 5 to 7 acres and between them own about 30 tractors and 22 motorcycles. With no landlessness in the village, the poorer section too is able to afford basic amenities and own cycles and bullock drawn carts for transportation. Yet, they are a dissatisfied lot.

Even thirty years ago the staple food in Yavatmal, Maharashtra was not grains but vegetables. The complete resurrection of lost wild vegetables is perhaps not possible, but documenting traditional knowhow and reintroducing them into daily meals will help build healthier generations.

Shared among brothers, a Jaunsari woman suffers multiple masters. With gender relations biased against women, single marriage norms need to be encouraged to mitigate the problem.

CFLs are long glass tube filled with mercury vapour and argon or xenon. As CFLs contain toxic mercury, suppliers and manufacturers need to play a pivotal role in setting in place a safe disposal system.

Tharu women, inhabiting the Valley of Don in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, present a unique blend of tradition and progress worth emulating.

A farmer’s child is less likely to turn asthmatic as compared to the child of a white collared employee living in the city. And no, it is not always related to urban pollution.

Young Jalaluddin clambered on to the falling roof, balanced himself on the still firm bamboo pole, first of many that plunged through the clayey soil, braced against the swirling winds, and stretched out his hands to grab the last gourd. Without warning, the soggy walls came crashing down, yielding itself to the relentless surge of the angry oceans. Jalaluddin swung his lithe body to escape unhurt, but the gourd was gone, bobbing in the churning seas. Food had never been a problem in this bountiful little island of Mousuni, deep in Sunderban, yet Jalaluddin fell upon the wet ground and moaned the loss of his gourd - the insignificance of their existence hit him like a bolt. As the salt of his tears fell upon the salty waters, Jalaluddin rose, a black shadow against the grey skies, determined to build again - a home beyond the reach of the dark eddying seas. Jalaluddin is no longer young - a retired school teacher, he lives at the centre of Mousuni, a pretty mud house, a little flower patch, a caked portico at the back, an outhouse toilet and kitchen, plenty of room, it is a appealing gram Bangla picture - only the underlying grim truth is far from happy. Mousuni is an island under siege – just like millions of other islands and coastlines along the Bay of Bengal that are experiencing enhanced erosive action.