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- Man-made reasons for Uttarakhand disaster 4
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- Dhari Devi idol goes missing 2
- Pedestrian questions 16
- Odisha's waterman 6
- Man-made reasons for Uttarakhand disaster 4
- Banking on mothers 4
- Farmer’s pod luck 2
- Dhari Devi idol goes missing 2
- Transition failure 2
- Forest panel clears Jindal's mining projects in Saranda forest 2
- Protests continue at lower Suktel dam site 1
- Rains in Uttarakhand extreme weather event: scientists 1
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Birds
Egg colouration helps trace DDT contamination
Issue Date: Jan 15, 2008
red - brown speckles on bird-eggs can reveal presence of the insecticide ddt in the environment. A study from the Oxford and Cardiff universities on the eggs of raptors -- a group of carnivorous
birds -- has found a link between the speckles, the presence of ddt and calcium deficiency. The insecticide acts as
Range size has a clue for threatened species
Issue Date: Jan 15, 2008
there is a new approach to find out if bird species are threatened. Usually, a bird is classified as endangered or
critically endangered on the basis of its range size--the minimum space a species needs to survive. Range size in birds is among the several criteria
used by the World Conservation Union (iucn) to determine the threat level.
Why are vultures dying?
Issue Date: Dec 31, 2007
The anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac has been incriminated as the main cause for decline in vulture numbers in South Asia. The birds, it is said, perish after feeding on carcasses that have residues of the drug. The argument seems logical but is not based on scientific evidence. The diclofenac-toxicity argument, in fact, obscures a deeper malaise in vulture conservation: a shortage of skilled hands and a lack of seriousness.
Are all environment lovers environmentalists?
Issue Date: Oct 15, 2007
Around three years ago, I got an opportunity to meet Chandi Prasad Bhat. He was lecturing on how poor villagers in Uttaranchal hugged trees and
prevented them from being cut down. The lecture on the Chipko movement got me thinking on environmental activism in my home state, West
Bengal.
Environmental activism doesn't mean merely raising a debate in the media. But that's what a lot of people, claiming to be environmental activists, do.
Malaysia's bird numbers dwindling
Issue Date: Oct 15, 2007
Malaysia will tighten its environmental rules for coastal development projects, after a study showed a significant drop in bird numbers in the country following reclamation.
Proposed Tata plant in Tanzania threat to flamingo habitat
Issue Date: Sep 30, 2007
Tata Chemicals is getting considerable stick from conservation groups and environmentalists in Africa over its plan to set up a soda ash facility jointly with
the Tanzanian government. It is being feared that the venture, for which a memorandum of understanding has been signed, may drive the world's
rarest bird--the lesser flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor)--to extinction.
Protest against plant near Tanzania's Lake Natron
Issue Date: Aug 31, 2007
Plans to establish a soda-ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is facing strong opposition. Conservationists fear harm to the rare flamingo. The plant is to be set up by the Indian company Tata Chemicals Limited, which manufactures inorganic chemicals.
Swamphen vanishing from Bakhira lake
Issue Date: Aug 31, 2007
It was a bright sunny morning when I reached the Bakhira lake. Bakhira is reputed to be the biggest natural wetland in Uttar Pradesh and is known for its purple swamphens. The birds are known to be shy. I nurtured hopes of spotting them, nevertheless. They were soon belied.
First Indian study on species discovery pattern
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2007
there is little chance for a new bird or butterfly being discovered in the Western Ghats now, says a recent study. It
has, however, not ruled out the discovery of frogs and grasses.
First time in India, a team of researchers including scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore have classified the patterns of
US town compensated for wildlife conservation
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2007
compensating people for conservation is happening at a regional scale. Local residents of Jamestown in Rhode Island,
us, are paying farmers to delay haying their fields until after birds have completed nesting.
