Apex court steps in, asks states for afforestation plans THE bill that proposed centralized management of funds, collected in lieu of permission to divert forestland to non-forest uses, was defeated in the Rajya Sabha on February 25. Members of the house objected to the bill saying centralized forest fund management goes against the federal system in India. It takes away financial

New evidence says that all radiations do not lead to cancer RADIATION protection standards say that all doses of radiation, big or small, risk human health and lead to cancers. For example, the entire cycle from extraction of nuclear material to waste disposal, exposes workers to ionising radiation that is harmful to health. A new study, however, asserts that the detrimental effect is

Court committee stops road expansion in sanctuary THE Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (cec) has halted a road expansion project on the periphery of the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The National Highway Authority of India (nhai) had started cutting trees in the sanctuary for upgrading the existing highway into a four-lane one. The trees were being cut

Lok Sabha passes forest fund bill THE Lok Sabha on December 23 passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill without any amendment. The bill has been severely criticized by conservationists who say it institutionalizes diversion of forests to other land uses through a system of monetary compensation and does not protect forests. The Parliamentary committee on environment, to which

Tropical forests can capture carbon FORESTS hold the centrestage in climate change. They can reduce carbon emissions up to 10-20 per cent of what has been projected by 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that the greatest potential for carbon capture exists within tropical forests. Based on this assumption, there are plans to offset the build-up of atmospheric

They are good for pollinators WEEDS have invariably been considered unwanted by modern agriculturists who have always laid emphasis on their removal. They affect crops by competing for nutrients. India loses an estimated 30 per cent of its crop yield every year due to weeds. This is more than the damage wreaked by pathogens like fungi, bacteria and viruses (16 per cent) or by insects

But will that save the tiger reserve from heading the Sariska way? TWO tigresses from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve will be introduced in Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh by February 2009.

Critical tiger habitats made easy identification of critical wildlife habitats, a provision in the Forest Rights Act, 2006, has made little progress since the act was notified on December 31, 2007. The reason, an environment ministry official said, was that state governments had not sent any proposal to identify and notify such habitats. Critical wildlife habitats are created in

Countries like Spain are facing desertification. India is not too far behind, writes Kirtiman Awasthi

Winemakers in Spain could soon find themselves scrambling for juicy red grapes. People may also find olives and cheese missing from their salad plates.

New scheme, old proposal THE Union environment and forests ministry has come up with a new scheme for compensatory afforestation in case of forest land being diverted for non-forest use. Under the scheme the user will identify a piece of land, develop a forest and transfer it to the forest department. Called the Green Credit Scheme, it has got administrative approval and has been