Many captive populations of birds and mammals are not likely to reach sustainability due mostly to breeding problems. Identifying the conditions under which breeding problems and poor population growth are likely to occur and establishing more appropriate conditions, therefore, will be a necessary prerequisite for future successful conservation breeding and the long-term survival of captive populations. This article analyses the basic approaches and concepts of management programmes for captive mammals.

Drought stress is a serious constraint, especially in rainfed rice production, and breeding for drought tolerance by selection based on yield under stress, though effective, is slow. Mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield and its components under drought stress predominant in rainfed target populations of environment (TPE) will help overcome this limitation.

Nature has created excellent technologies around us, and as such, it is the chief mentor to humans on creativity and technology development. Nature uses fibre as a building block – natural structures like wood, bamboo, bone, muscle, etc. all have fibrous structure. Fibre spinning and weaving technologies are available in nature since time immemorial. Nature has also demonstrated sophisticated technologies useful in the development of technical textiles like functional surfaces, camouflage, structural colour, thermal insulation, dry-adhesion, etc.

The main objective of the air quality index (AQI) system is to interpret air quality in a standardized indicator to enable the public to understand the likely health and environmental impacts of air pollutant concentration levels monitored on any given day. The daily averaged concentration data of air pollutants of monitoring sites under the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme of Delhi were analysed for the period 2001–2010 using the AQI system.

Pollen analysis of 1.75 m deep sediment core from Tula-Jalda (Amarkantak) in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh shows that around 4500–3600 cal years BP, this region supported open mixed tropical deciduous forests comprising chiefly Madhuca indica followed by Terminalia, Mitragyna parvifolia, Haldina cordifolia, Emblica officinalis and Acacia, under a warm and relatively less humid climate. The retrieval of Cerealia and other cultural plants, viz. Artemisia, Cheno/Am and Caryophyllaceae signifies that the region was under cereal-based agricultural practice.

Introduction of catalytic converter in our automobiles played a vital role in the reduction of harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen. The three-way catalytic converter which consists of platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd) and rhodium (Rh; Pt–Pd–Rh), while reducing harmful emissions also increases the concentration of platinum group elements (PGEs) into the environment.

The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) is a large, even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. They are mainly found in cold deserts of China, Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan1 . A small population of C. bactrianus also exists in India, distributed largely in the Nubra valley of Ladakh region (a cold arid desert in Trans-Himalayas), Jammu and Kashmir.

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Two natural dyes containing anthocyanin are extracted from sour and sweet pomegranate from Iran. Spectrophotometric evaluation of the natural dyes in solution and on a TiO2 substrate was carried out to assess changes in the status of the natural dyes. The results show that the natural dyes indicate buthochromic shift on the TiO2 substrates. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are fabricated to determine the photovoltaic behaviour of each dye and the mixture of extracts.

Clean development mechanism (CDM) was included in the Kyoto protocol to support sustainable development in developing countries through technology transfer from developed countries along with the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. More than 1000 projects which were registered under CDM from India in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have been reviewed. Through a CDM project, India as a developing country has enhanced the development of renewable energy projects with financial support through the sale of carbon credit.

Assurance of quality energy is the most important input for development. Though India is the fifth largest producer of electricity globally, it remains a power-deficit state. It is poorly endowed with traditional fuel resources such as hydrocarbons, but blessed reasonably with renewable energy sources. Every step in harnessing them will make India energy self-sufficient. An attempt is made in this article to illustrate the initiatives of Karnataka State Women’s University to reduce load on national grid.