The massive Mw = 7.8 earthquake which rocked the Nepal Himalaya on 25 April 2015 is the largest to have occurred in this region in the past 81 years. This event occurred by slip on a ~150 km long and 55 km wide, shallow dipping (~5) segment of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), causing the Himalaya to lurch southwestward by 4.8  1.2 m over the Indian plate. The main shock ruptured the frictionally locked segment of the MHT, initiating near the locking line and rupturing all the way updip close to its surface expression near the foothills of the Himalaya.

Northeast Microbial Database (NEMiD) is a first of its kind digital database on microbial diversity from North East (NE) India, which provides information on culturable microbes (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes) isolated from soils of the region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and parts of North Bengal) distributed across landscape elements (LSE) spread in various ecosystems. The database is based on the primary data through survey, isolation and
characterization of the microbes during 2008–2012.

The northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, i.e. the Bay of Bengal (BoB) is located near some of the most complicated tectonic zones on the Earth. An earthquake of magnitude ~6.0 occurred on 21 May 2014 near the coast of Odisha. Occasional moderate to large earthquakes in BoB highlight the need to study precise hypocentre locations, and focal mechanisms to understand the cause of intraplate seismicity in BoB.

Original Source

A remote sensing and GIS based landslide susceptibility zonation (LSZ) of the Tehri reservoir rim region has been presented here. Landslide causal factors such
as land use/land cover, photo-lineaments, landslide incidences, drainage, slope, aspect, relative relief, topographic wetness index and stream power index were
derived from remote sensing data. Ancillary data included published geological map, soil map and topographic map. Correlation between factor classes and

Conventional energy resources are fast depleting and therefore alternative resources are required to sustain the fast progress and development of any nation. This
situation is more pertinent to India where fast growing population and developmental activities are posing major challenges to the government as the country has
limited resources of energy. Therefore, focused research should be intensified to explore the potential of geothermal energy resources in India. Realizing its

Alkali lands in India occupy about 3.8 m ha. Due to poor physical properties, excessive exchangeable sodium and high pH, most of these lands support a poor vegetative cover. These lands are reclaimed using costly amendments such as gypsum, phospho-gypsum or press mud. In recent times many of the medicinal plants are in great demand for both internal requirements and export. However, as these crops are non conventional in nature, farmers are not convinced to cultivate them on fertile lands.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the prime cause of climate change, to which India is a significant party. International Energy Agency, in its World Energy Outlook report estimates that 70% of the GHGs are produced within the cities. But there is limited empirical evidence to substantiate such claims in the Indian context. India being a developing country with a large rural population base, the general perception is that cities hardly have any carbon footprint. This article is an empirical study of urban contribution of carbon dioxide emissions.

The present study evaluated bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus) based resource conservation in the Yamuna ravines at Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Research Centre, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Ravine lands are highly degraded dry lands and 3.97 m ha area is affected by ravines in India. One ravine micro watershed of 2.8 ha area was planted with two rows of bamboo in staggered manner as vegetative barrier for the analysis of hydrological and economic aspect of bamboo plantation.

Importance of soil organic carbon (SOC) in maintaining soil productivity and natural ecosystem has been a major concern throughout the globe. SOC in the humid tropical climate becomes more important in view of undulating hilly terrain in the north eastern region of India. The major concern in such landscape is soil erosion and the necessary conservation practices. In the present study, we discuss the technique of pedometric mapping to link SOC and soil loss.

Original Source

This paper documents the earth construction techniques used in Ota in order to preserve the earth construction heritage of the Ota people while checking the suitability of the earth materials used, using soil classification tests. Interviews of earth constructors in six villages in Ota were conducted to determine their material selection criteria, material processing and construction techniques.