News With Navya

28/07/2026

The salt on your plate could be carrying a tradition that's over a century old.

Team News With Navya travelled to Uttarakhand to uncover the story of Pisyu Loon, a mountain salt that's much more than a seasoning.

The salt is still hand-ground on a silbatta, using recipes that grandmothers have passed down from one generation to the next. But as packaged spices and modern kitchens became the norm, this age-old tradition slowly began to disappear.

Until one woman decided to bring it back.

Through Namakwali, Shashi Bahuguna Raturi preserving Uttarakhand's food culture while creating livelihoods for local women and farmers, ensuring that every pinch of Pisyu Loon carries the taste of home.

Have you ever tasted Uttarakhand's famous Pisyu Loon?

14/07/2026

Thirty years after the Uphaar Cinema fire, Neelam Krishnamoorthy says India's justice system still makes victims fight while the accused often remain at the centre.

She speaks about decades of court battles, threats, humiliation, and the promise that keeps her going: the one she made to her children, Unnati and Ujjawal.

On 13 June 1997, the Uphaar Cinema fire in Delhi killed 59 people and injured more than 100. The tragedy exposed serious fire safety failures that were entirely preventable.

Yet, nearly three decades later, similar disasters continue across India.

In this conversation with News with Navya, Neelam reflects on her 30-year fight for justice and why India still hasn't learned the lessons of 1997.

This interview is part of KAVACH: Why India Keeps Burning, a special investigative series by News with Navya in collaboration with our knowledge partner, Kavach Infra Solutions LLP, exploring why preventable fires continue to claim lives across the country.

Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0t_ueYWzRM

30/06/2026

Can a bumper jamun season actually be a warning of drought?

This year, India has seen an unusually large jamun harvest.

While an old belief links it to an upcoming drought, modern science suggests there may be some truth behind it.

Experts say this year’s dry weather may have helped trigger the bumper crop through a natural phenomenon called “masting,” where trees produce unusually large amounts of fruit in certain years.

Have you seen more jamuns than usual in your city this year?

26/06/2026

What if India’s next steel mine is your old car?

Or in an old building waiting to be torn down.

Or in a pile of scrap metal that most people would call ‘waste’.

Because around the world, countries are hunting for scrap steel.

Why?
Because steel is one of the few materials that can be recycled again and again without losing its strength.

And India is going to need a lot of it.

As we build more roads, bridges, railways, homes, factories, and cities, demand for steel will keep rising.

The problem is that making new steel from iron ore and coal produces huge amounts of carbon emissions.

That’s why scrap steel is becoming so valuable.

Every old car, broken machine, and demolished building contains steel that can be melted, recycled, and turned into something new.

The less steel we make from scratch, the lower the emissions.

The challenge is that much of India’s scrap metal still doesn’t make it into formal recycling systems.

That’s why initiatives like the India Green Steel Coalition (IGSC) are working to improve scrap collection and recycling so more steel can be recovered and reused.

Watch this video to know more.

WWF-India Confederation of Indian Industry

What if what you throw away is actually useful to an entire country...

21/06/2026

Human composting is exactly what it sounds like: turning a human body into soil.

Instead of being buried or cremated, the body is placed with natural materials like wood chips and straw. Over a few weeks, nature takes over and everything breaks down into nutrient-rich soil.

That soil can be used to grow trees and help restore the land.

Some people see it as a simpler, more eco-friendly way to return to the Earth.

Would you consider it?

12/06/2026

Are we ready to stay around AI data centers?

Behind every ChatGPT prompt, AI image, or chatbot response are massive data centres running 24/7. They need land, electricity, and huge amounts of water for cooling.

As India rapidly expands its AI infrastructure, an important question remains: Can a country already facing groundwater depletion and water shortages support the resource demands of an AI boom?

Watch till the end.

11/06/2026

Is Uttarakhand paying the price for India's tourism boom?

Every long weekend, thousands of people leave Delhi, NCR, and other cities and head to Uttarakhand in search of clean air, rivers, forests, mountains, and peace.

But while tourists return home, the Himalayas are left behind to deal with the consequences.

Rising traffic in Uttarakhand, increasing waste and plastic pollution, water scarcity in mountain villages, overcrowded hill stations, disappearing forests, and growing pressure on fragile ecosystems are becoming a serious concern across Devbhoomi.

In this powerful conversation, Padma Bhushan awardee Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi, one of India's most respected environmentalists and the founder of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), shares ground realities from Uttarakhand and the Indian Himalayas.

Is Uttarakhand paying the price for India's tourism boom?Every lo...

28/05/2026

Your “clean” cotton shirt has a dirty secret!

Before it reached you, it used huge amounts of water and created pollution across farms, factories, and transport.

And here’s the worrying part: Most brands still don’t fully know the true environmental cost of what they sell.

That’s where Switch Climate Tech helps. They help companies track the hidden emissions across their products and supply chains.

Because you can’t reduce what you don’t measure.

For more details, visit https://switchclimatetech.com/
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Makers of New Bharat, a flagship show by News With Navya, celebrates the companies, startups, and innovators reshaping India’s future.

If your organisation is creating impact across climate, health, mobility, manufacturing, or beyond, we’d love to tell your story.

📩 Write to us at [email protected]

Let’s show the world what New Bharat is truly made of! 🇮🇳

24/05/2026

What if your flour was not made by electricity… but by a river?

In Uttarakhand’s hills, gharats or traditional water mills use flowing streams to slowly grind grain between stone wheels.

A gharat is a simple system where running water turns a wheel, which then moves heavy stones to crush grains into flour without electricity.

We visited a gharat in Uttarakhand’s Maldevta, maintained by the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO), to understand this system that once supported entire villages.

Locals told us that the slow grinding makes the flour more natural and nutritious.

But most gharats have now disappeared as canals closed and electric mills replaced them.

Once, these were also spaces of community, where people gathered and talked while waiting their turn.

Today, only a few are left, quietly keeping this old mountain tradition alive.

Watch our ground report.

12/05/2026

Can we dim the Sun to cool the Earth?

That’s the idea behind Solar Geoengineering, or Solar Radiation Management (SRM).

It is a set of techniques designed to temporarily slow global warming by reflecting a small percentage of sunlight back into space.

Methods such as injecting aerosols into the stratosphere aim to rapidly cool the Earth.

Some scientists see it as a possible emergency backup for extreme heat and climate change.But there are serious concerns. It could change rainfall patterns, making monsoons in countries like India less predictable.

Should humans try to control nature’s systems like this?

Last year, I attended a Workshop on Solar Geoengineering Scenario Development, organized by TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute, The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering (DSG), and the University of California, San Diego, where I learned how solar geoengineering works, what scientists are studying, and its possible risks and benefits.

Watch this video to learn more.