The northern part of India, adjoining the Himalaya, is considered as one of the global hot spots of pollution because of various natural and anthropogenic factors.

Vegetation of Indian Thar region is ecologically important, though fragile. Any change in its composition and trait will ultimately impact the productivity and sustainability of the system and the region. This region has 682 species belonging to 352 genera and 87 families of flowering plants. Among them, Prosopis cineraria, locally called as Khejri or Jandi is an indigenous tree, which effectively stabilizes sand dunes and can withstand periodic burial. 

Original Source

Tharparkar peafowl are under threat as the Newcastle disease has returned to the district and killed 22 peafowl within two weeks while many others are inflicted with the disease, Dawn has learnt.

The Thar desert is rich in biodiversity of flora and fauna. In this region, despite of harsh climatic conditions several plants of medicinal and other importance occurs. In recent past due to various regions several plants have either completely lost their habitat or left in few patches only. Some of the threatened plants of medicinal importance with their uses and detais are presented in this paper.

Barren land glares at you from either side of the national highway from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. A few dry wild bushes and cacti line the tough terrain.

Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences to submit paper

Why did the Harappan civilisation, which flourished for hundreds of years and once extended across a vast area from northwestern India and across Pakistan, suddenly go into a terminal decline some 4,000 years ago and wither away? Like their script that has remained indecipherable, the question what caused a sophisticated urban culture, capable of great feats of town planning and which had established a trading network that extended across the Middle East, to suddenly collapse is one that has aroused much scholarly debate and writing.

In northern desert states, farmers are scrambling to harvest as much as they can of a bean with the power to lift them out of poverty. In the United States, the multi-billion dollar shale energy industry is banking on their success.

US companies drilling for oil and gas in shale formations have developed a voracious appetite for the powder-like gum made from seeds of guar, or cluster bean, and the boom in their business has created a bonanza for thousands of small-scale farmers in India who produce 80% of the world's beans.

For long, widely divergent views (based on isolated pieces of historical evidence or broad geological evolution of the subcontinent, notably the rise of the Himalayas in mid-late Miocene), had prevailed regarding origin and antiquity of the Thar Desert. Studies of the past few decades have since provided a wealth of new information on landform styles, evolutionary processes and palaeoclimate history with chronometric and isotopic constraints. Salt lakes, dunes and calcrete-bearing alluvial aggradations have been the focus of interest.

River Saraswati is believed to have flown through the Thar Desert, as reconstructed by several experts based on critical data gathered by them. A careful observation of the channel shows that in most of the places these are fault-controlled. Studies of palaeochannels in many parts of the world proved successful in identifying high-yielding freshwater zones. Presence of fault system accelerates the recharge process and down-flow of water gets maximized through fault planes during the wet period.

Driven by perpetually rising demand for energy, more than 100 countries including India have enacted policies and programmes for harnessing solar energy. The achievements, however, have been mixed so far. This review provides the

Pages