Scared to leap

The Himalayan newt, also called the Indian salamander, takes shelter among bamboo stumps in and around the hills of Darjeeling. It lives close to calm and still waters. During the monsoons, it feeds on algae, water beetles and bugs. After the showers, it leaps down on insect larvae, snails, slugs and earthworms. During the dry period of the year, it manages just as well by eating termites, wood lice and insects infesting rotting bamboo stumps.

Weeding out corruption

A bushful of medicine

seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) grows in the cold desert regions in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Scientists value it for its medicinal properties.

Shahtoosh trade banned

in accordance with the central government's policy on wildlife protection the Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the shahtoosh shawl trade. The trade is posing a threat to the existence of the Tibetan antelope. Economically, the ban will result in a huge revenue loss for the state, as each shahtoosh shawl sells for Rs 1,00,000 and above.

J&K against shahtoosh ban

the Jammu and Kashmir government severely criticised the worldwide ban on shahtoosh shawls saying it is "a deliberate attempt at discrimination against over 2,000 people of the state whose livelihood is totally dependent on this trade."

Justice at last

for the 3,000 residents of Athwajan, the closing down of nine stone-crushing units was justice at last. For decades, the residents were forced to breathe air laden with fine particles carried from the crushers set up near their colonies.

A question of survival

the 600-year-old Shahtoosh shawl industry in Kashmir is on its last legs. Although not banned by the Jammu and Kashmir (j&k) government, trade in Shahtoosh was banned by the Indian government in 1991. Instances of Shahtoosh shawls being seized by police outside the state are common.

Hit by pesticides

the use of cheap pesticides and fungicides have affected fruit production in the Kashmir Valley. Instead of halting the premature loss of foliage and fruit fall, use of these pesticides have led to the spread of many diseases in apple orchards. Farmers in the Baramulla district say that a large number of apple trees have been chopped down as they had dried up.

Funds for J&K park

the Jammu and Kashmir government has formulated a Rs 1.36-crore project for the Hemis National Park, situated 40 km south-east of Leh. The national park derives its name from Hemis Gorpa -- a holy place for the Buddhists. This sanctuary is situated in one of the coldest regions of the country and the proposed project plans to provide a better habitat for its rare mammalian species. On the right flank flows the Indus river.

Clean drive

to check timber smuggling in Jammu and Kashmir, the state government has launched a drive to retrieve forest area in the state. M Ramzan, the state environment and forest minister, has said that around 8,000 hectares of forest land has been reclaimed from encroaches.