Enron bids for survey license
Enron Corp, the American multinational energy company, has re-submitted a proposal requesting a survey license for the mammoth Karnali-Chispani Project. According to a senior official at the Electricity Development Centre (EDC), Enron submitted a proposal to the Centre on January 25. The EDC serves as a clearing house for all …
Close encounter with a comet
Comets are leftovers from the creation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago; they also delivered organic chemicals and water-the crucial building blocks of life-to the young Earth. Scientists would love to get a bit of comet into the lab for analysis. Now it looks as though they will. …
Student names NASA Earth observing satellite
NASA sets launch date : In a student contest to name the first in its series of Earth Observing System satellites, NASA chose 'Terra' - in honor of our planet's mythical Mother Earth - as the winning name. The Terra spacecraft will enable scientists to study, with unprecedented clarity, global …
MCD's ambitious steps towards green Delhi
The Mayor of Delhi, Mr. Yog Dhyan Ahuja, today informed that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had embarked upon some ambitious schemes to improve aesthetics and enhance the green effect in the Capital.
State stumbles on timber scam
Timber merchants, in connivance with a section of forest officials, have been responsible for felling over a hundred teak trees across the Buxa Tiger Reserve in North Bengal. Forest officials estimate that the value of the teak flattened illegally could be over Rs 1 crore. In one of the biggest …
Himalayan yew drying up
The Himachal Government's decision to allow the collection and export of leaves of Himalayan yew, which is being exploited by pharmaceutical companies to manufacture medicines for treating cancer, has proved fatal for endangered species . Over the past three years, thousands of yew trees have dried up in various parts …
Water in, water out
Hundreds of miles of canals make their way to the Atlantic. Once there they disgorge into the ocean 1.7 billion gallons of fresh water a day. A hundred miles to the south, the parched Everglades National Park struggles to survive. Water levels in the park are half what they were …
Eight sandalwood smugglers arrested
Forest officers arrested eight people for smuggling 50 kg of sandalwood from the forests in Gopalganj area in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh. An official spokesman said forest guards had an encounter with a group of a dozen men who were trying to smuggle sandalwood. Although four of the smugglers …
Panel to probe forest centre's fund fraud
Union Minister for Forest and Environment Suresh Prabhu has instituted a probe into the alleged bunglings of the Bhopal-located Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM).Giving the information, BJP MP Vijay Kumar Khandewal Bharatiya from Betul said on Tuesday that Mr Prabhu had appointed a three-member probe panel. It will be …
Birds sleep with one eye and half a brain
Apart from their ability to fly, birds have another enviable ability - they can sleep with one eye open and half of their brain awake, researchers have said.It's called Unihemispheric Slowwave Sleep (USWs) and it allows birds to detect approaching predators while still getting a bit of shut-eye.Niles Rattenborg neuro-physiologist …
Audit faults forest service on logging damage in U.S. forests
US auditors have found that the Forest Service frequently fails to assess, prevent or correct environmental damage from logging on the national forests. After inspecting 12 timber projects in the field from 1995 to 1998, the Agriculture Department's Inspector General found that all were deficient and that "immediate corrective action …
Popular vehicles may face EPA hitch
Fast selling light duty trucks and sport utility vehicles would face tougher emission standards under a proposal the US Environmental Protection Agency plans to unveil as early as this month. The proposal is expected to call for tough rules similar to those California enacted last year. The plan the agency …
Tribals protest against felling of trees in Thane district
Tribals living near the Vatvad Dongar forest in Mokhada taluka of Thane distrct are protesting against tree-felling allegedly being done by the forest department. According to the Kashtakari Sanghatna, this one of the last vestiges of forest left in Mokhada since much of the hill side and several forests in …
Space-based mirror may light skies tonight
Tonight, a thin beam of light will flash down from outer space to illuminate dark parts of North America, Europe and Asia if a Russian space test succeeds and if clouds don't get in the way. Astronomers are protesting the experiment, saying such developments threaten to produce new kinds of …
Community forest scheme launched
A Rs 10 crore Sanjhi Van Yojna-- a community based afforestation scheme-- has formally been put into operation in Chamba district this week. Giving this information at Chamba today, Mr R K Kappor, Conservator of Forests, Chamba said that a two day workshop on the scheme was conducted here earlier …
Deal saves 2000-yr-old redwood forests in US
Groves of towering redwoods that were saplings when the Roman empire was at its height have been saved in a middle-of-the-night deal with the timber company that owns the tract along California's for-shrouded Pacific coast.The state and US government spent $480 million to buy 31.2 square km of the headwaters …
Workshop on 'conservation of lakes' organised
The Institute of Town Planners , India, the Department of Architecture and Planning, Maulana Azad College of Technology, Institute of Architecture and Bhoj Wetland, EPCO Bhopal have jointly organised a technical workshop on 'Conservation of Lakes of Bhopal' recently. Chairman, Bhopal Municipal Council, Om Yadav was the chief guest of …
Yamuna banks will be developed into green zone
A vast stretch of land on either side of the Yamuna will be converted into a "forest" . Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor has asked the city's forest department to develop it into a "green zone". This department will plant about 40 lakh trees in an area of 3,500 hectares. This, …
Funds crunch may hit Ninth Plan targets
The looming financial crunch at the Centre may affect the ministry of Rural Development's plans of providing drinking water to all rural habitations in the country (except some in Rajasthan) by the end of the Ninth (current) Plan. The scheme's success depends clearly on the availability of funds, officials say.
Lapse cost Forest Department 4 cr
The Forest Department may have been deprived of Rs four crore in compensation due to the ignorance of district forest officials. According to official sources 3761 acres of land was acquired for Ranjit Sagar Dam several years ago. Of this 850 hectares was marked as undemarcated forest. Th award of …
