jumbo amphibians: Over 37 million years ago, elephants used to be semi-aquatic mammals. Researchers have revealed this after investigating the lifestyle of two elephants from the Eocene period. They

When Bijaya Chandra Panda wanted to cut down a few trees on his 8 hectare (ha) plot he thought he was well within his rights to do so. Little did he realize that it would take him 300

In a rare victory to the residents, the BMC's tree authority has backtracked from hacking hundreds of trees for the Powai Lake beautification, settling to move just 30 trees in a new proposal. The authorities have also agreed to plant 300 more trees around the jogging track to make the area lush. In February, the tree authority had put notices on 150 trees that would be uprooted to lay a two km jogging track as part of the Rs 12-crore beautification project. However, after three months of incessant protests by residents, the tree authority last week reconsidered their proposal.

A campaign to plant trees worldwide set a goal on Tuesday of seven billion by late 2009, just over one for each person on the planet, to help protect the environment and slow climate change. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), an organiser of the tree planting drive begun in late 2006 with an initial goal of a billion by the end of 2007, said governments, companies and individuals had already pushed the total above 2 billion.

City blocks boasting plenty of trees aren't only more pleasing to the eye; they may be healthier for children's lungs, according to research conducted in New York City. Four- and five-year-olds living along the city's greenest streets were less likely to have asthma than young children living in sparsely planted neighborhoods, Dr. Gina S. Lovasi and colleagues from Columbia University found.

It will be more greenery for Lalbagh Botanical Gardens as the horticulture department has embarked upon a special tree exchange programme, to add to the parks existing diversity on the lines of animal exchange plans undertaken by zoos of the country. Though the City's lung space is shrinking, the silver lining is that under this programme, the park will get over 3,000 trees from every nook and corner of the world. "We already have about 7,500 trees of 1,854 species. Now another 850 species will arrive,' Dr M Jagadish, Deputy Director, Lalbagh Botanical Gardens told Deccan Herald.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Delhi Development Authority, the Delhi Government and the Commonwealth Games Committee on an application for a direction to them to re-locate the sports stadiums to be constructed near Siri Fort auditorium to some other site as it involved cutting of over 1,000 trees. The application wanted them to ensure that any site selected should be such as to cause minimum disruption to the environment, and if such new sites involved felling of trees, it should be done only after obtaining permission from the Supreme Court.

The technical and expert committee in its report has suggested introduction of a separate and complete rule for preservation and development of hills in Chittagong to avert casualties and damages of properties during landslides. The committee sent the report to cabinet division on April 21 suggesting measures to stop hill cutting and not to allow housing in foothills, said Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Md Zafar Alam, also member secretary of the committee.

Huge machinery including heavy vehicles worth about Tk 100 crore are being damaged on the premises of Bangladesh Forest Industry Development Corporation (BFIDC) office at Bagaihat Bazar under Bagaichhari upazila in hill district Rangamati due to negligence of BFIDC officials. The industry started its operation in 1963 based on a total of 3,59,140 acres of reserved forests in Bagaihat, Machalong , Shisok, Laxmichhari West, Laxmichhari East, Pablakhali and Naraichhari under Bagaichhari upazila in Rangamati hill district, BFIDC sources said.

The Supreme Court will hear this coming Friday an application to restrain the Delhi Development Authority from proceeding with construction of a new sports complex near the Siri Fort auditorium as part of preparations for the Commonwealth Games-2010.