Even as microbes -silent and efficient behind-the-screen contributors to the ecosystem -continue to revel under the spotlight abroad, in India, it has yet to acquire its due importance. Indian germplasm, aided by non-existence of biodiversity conser

Microbes can spelifortunes and not alwaysfor their discoverers

Major fungi collection centres in India, include the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, Punjab University, Chandigarh, Madras University, Chennai, Lucknow University, Uttar

FROM now on, training and education would be imparted in preserving biodiversity, say experts. In a recently-concluded workshop on taxonomy in Jaipur, Rajasthan, participants said that knowledge

the mountain kingdom of Bhutan plans to have its first biodiversity action plan by mid-June. This will provide a framework for its nature conservation section (ncs), informed an official recently.

The Centre gets absolute authority over the country s rich biodiversity under an MEF draft

The Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd), which came into force in December 1993, is a global treaty aimed at protecting the

rare species of plants in China came under legal protection recently. The wild plants protection regulations, which had been ratified by the country in September 1996, took effect from January 1