When Wildlife Comes to the Farm, Perhaps We Should Ask Who Came First The nilgai problem is real. But before blaming the animal, perhaps we should look in the mirror. A recent report from Una in Himachal Pradesh describes a problem that farmers have been struggling with for years: the growing presence of blue bulls, or nilgai, in agricultural fields. For a farmer, there is nothing theoretical about this problem. A crop is not merely a crop. It represents months of labour, money borrowed or invested, expectations about the harvest and, ultimately, a family's livelihood. When herds of nilgai enter fields and eat or trample crops, the economic loss can be devastating. Studies and reports from different parts of India have documented significant crop damage caused by nilgai, and farmers in several states have demanded government intervention. So yes, the farmer's concern is legitimate. But while reading such a story, another question inevitably comes to mind: Where are ...
What if a technology designed to save lives quietly became a tool to collect money? Louisiana has just taken a stand—and the rest of the aviation world should be paying attention. For years, ADS-B has been promoted as one of the biggest advances in aviation safety. It allows aircraft to broadcast their precise position, altitude, speed, and direction, giving pilots and air traffic controllers far better situational awareness. It is a safety tool—not a luxury. Now, there is some encouraging news from the United States. Louisiana has officially become the third U.S. state to ban the use of ADS-B flight data for billing aircraft owners. The move follows similar legislation in North Dakota and Montana. The concern is simple: ADS-B was introduced to improve safety, but in some places the same data has started being used to generate landing or airport fees. Many pilots and aviation organizations, including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), have argued that this creates the w...