Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
poplars in India, particularly exotic species, are highly susceptible to pest attacks, both in nurseries and plantations. A number of indigenous species, too, are soft targets to insect attacks. This has often led to serious economic losses, especially when more than half of the foliage is lost. So far, about …
Ministry clueless on diesel quality It came as a surprise when the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas ( mpng ) recently informed the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority ( epca ) that oil companies would be able to supply diesel with 0.05 per cent sulphur content in Delhi …
Scientists at the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) Pune, have developed a state-of-the-art formulation capable of isolating lignin, the hitherto unyielding effluent. Termed 'Econcl' to project its eco-friendly character, the formulation would benefit the paper and pulp industry which produces the bulk of ligning and other organic material which was till …
Tiny bright-blue beads made of silica gel are being used by research scientists to clean harmful organic pollutants from sewage farms and industrial effluent. It is well known that one way to clean contaminated water is to flush it with ozone to turn pollutants into harmless substances such as carbon …
The contamination of ground water due to leaking storage tanks and pipelines has occurred for decades. To combat this problem, experts are using in situ bioremediation. A computer model, an improved Sequential Electron Acceptor Model, 3 Dimensional (SEZM3D), for assisting engineers in cleaning up the polluted ground waters has been …
A single genetically-modified fish is enough to invade and wipe out local populations of fish species. William Muir and Richard Howard of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, injected the human growth hormone gene, hGH , in embryos of fish called the Japanese medaka ( Oryzias latipes ). They …
An alien invader has taken over the cypress trees at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, just north of West Palm Beach in Florida, USA. The state has its share of botanical invaders but Lygodium microphyllum , popularly known as the Old World Climbing Fern, has beaten them all. …
will artificial reefs provide a new ecosystem to the dwindling species of marine lifeforms in the near future? The Loch Linnhe Artificial Reef complex, due to be built in Scotland, may answer this and other important questions about reef ecology. In a unique partnership with the industry, researchers at the …
in semi-arid Africa, the natural floodplains (or wetlands) inundated by seasonal river flows are of strategic economic importance. In many instances, the use of wetlands
A device in your car to provide oxygen when the pollution gets too much for your body to bear, or a compact oxygen cylinder which promises deliverance from choking from the noxious fumes at the Capital's intersections is not the stuff of dreams.The Directorate of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry …
Termites under attack from fungi send out an alarm signal warning the rest of the colony, says James Traniello, who studied the termites along with his colleagues at Boston University, USA. Traniello's team created an artificial nest with the central gallery divided by a wire mesh. The termites could escape …
The people of Himachal Pradesh and the adjoining states have finally got some respite from the weed, Ageratum conyzoids , locally known as "neela phulnu', which had ravaged pastures, forest land and grazing areas. The weed has been infected by the leaf-vein mosaic virus. The infected plants have been sent …
If a team of scientists are to be believed, it will rain even in the desert. A joint project of National Aeronautics and Space Research, USA, and the Israel Space Agency say seeding clouds with silver iodide can enhance precipitation by up to 13-14 per cent. "We can produce giant …
they are called "prairie remnants" by some people. Forgotten strips of land in the corners of farm fields or the rough of some golf courses. These are the few remaining pockets of the once-vast American prairie. They are left to sustain the diversity of life in what was at one …
burning of household waste in one's backyard barrel may release more dioxins, furans and other chlorine-containing pollutants into the atmosphere than tonnes of trash burned by a municipal waste incinerator serving tens of thousands of homes. Furthermore, recycling could only make matters worse. Higher concentration of pollutants containing chlorine were …
during the 1980s, cyclones ravaged Bangladesh, left millions of people homeless and devastated thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land. Remote sensing maps clearly indicated that wherever mangrove forests were destroyed, there were more damages. In India, too, the pressures of increasing population, food production and industrial and urban development …
A division of the Zoology department in Bangalore University has achieved a breakthrough in the conversion of industrial effluents released from distillery units using unique earthworms, known commonly as "African night crawlers".
chokoria Sundarban in the coastal district of Coz's Bazar in southeast Bangladesh, once a reserved and protected mangrove forest, is deserted today. The roots provided a safe shelter to the fish shrimp and aquatic reptiles. But, today, most trees, animals (such as tigers, deer and wild cats), and fish species …
The wide banks of the Huntspill River in England are witnessing a dramatic increase in wildlife population. On the advice of the Hawk and Owl Trust (HOT), the National Rivers Authority (NRA) allowed Chris Sperring, conservation officer of HOT, to conduct trials on grassland management. The NRA, meanwhile, paid for …
