NGOs in Agra honor green journalists

Wildlife SOS, International Animal Rescue and Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society got together to honor Agra’s green journalists on World Environment Day.

Chief Guest Dr R S Pareek, famous Homoeopath and President of the Agra Citizens’ Council, said, "Every small effort counts. If each one of us on a daily basis thinks of doing one small deed to save the environment, be it saving a drop of water from being wasted or reusing a polybag or a waste piece of paper, we can all contribute to saving our planet from extinction".

Certificates of appreciation and mementos were given to the following journalists:

• Hindi print media

Rajeev Saxena (Dainik Jagran)
Ram Kumar Sharma, Sanmay Prakash and Anshu Pareek ( all from Hindustan Times)
Dr Surendra Singh (Amar Ujala) and
Raj Kumar Sharma (DLA)

Special focus on Agra city’s cultural and historical heritage

Mahesh Dhakar (Hindustan Times) Adarsh Nandan Gupta (Dainik Jagran) and Kumar Lalit Bansal (DLA)

• Photo journalism
  Brajesh Kumar Singh (DLA)
  Aslam Salimi (Dainik Jagran) and
  Vishal Khandelwal (Agra Plus)

• Television
  Rishi Dixit (Sahara TV)
  Jasvir Singh Jassi (Moon Cable Network) and
  Shashi Kant Upadhyaya (Sea Cable Network).
  
  
  Source: http://www.iar.org.uk/news/2007/jun07.shtml

Three major forest fires blaze through Himachal Pradesh in June, 2007

Places affected:

• 2000 hectares of reserve forests in Shimla and Solan districts of Himachal Pradesh
  
• A Large forest fire that lasted for a week was reported from Bogria forest near Nahan

• Another fire was reported from Cant and Ram Kundi districts of Himachal Pradesh.

Forest fire in at the LOC in Kashmir

• A forest fire that extended for 25-29 km on both side of the Line of Control (LOC) was reported from Kashmir. Critically affected areas were Compartment numbers 130,131,144,145, 205 and 206 at Balnoi, Malikpur, Gollat, Sona Wali Gali in the Mendhar sector.

Sources: http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/media/2007/06/news_20070611_ind.htm
http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/media/2007/06/news_20070605_in.htm
http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/media/2007/06/news_20070612_in.htm

Punjab and Haryana's green initiatives

Three new protected areas in Punjab

The Forest and Wildlife Preservation Minister of Punjab, Tikshan Sood outlined the bondaries and location of the three new protected areas as below:

Kathlaur-Kushlian Wildlife Sanctuary – that includes forests of 346 acres in Kushlian, 1550 acres in Kathlaur and adjoining area of villages Raipur, Bahadurpur and Jaswa in Tehsil Pathankot, District Gurdaspur.

Keshopur Miani Wetland Community Reserve - of 850 acres of Panchayat area of Miani, Keshopur, Matwa, Dalla and Magarmudian in Tehsil and Gurdaspur district.

Lalwan Community Reserve – that covers 3167 acres of village Lalwan, Tehsil Garhshankar, District Hoshiarpur.

Source: http://news.oneindia.in/2007/06/14/three-more-protected-forest-areas-in-punjab-1181833558.html


Punjab and Haryana go organic

The Haryana government has sanctioned a budget of Rs 3 crores to promote vermiculture while Punjab is focusing on neem as an organic pesticide.

Haryana plans to set up vermi-hatcheries in 25 centres at a cost of Rs 1.5 lakh / hatchery and offer earthworms free to farmers. The government is offering incentives like organic farming certification.

With 12 lakh neem trees, the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) is all set to start pilot trials using 70 tonnes of neem. The initiative in Punjab has been supported by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

Sources: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=241696
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=166657


Chandigarh to become India’s first eco-friendly, smoke free city

The Tourism Department of Chandigarh and the Chandigarh Administration are working hard to transform Chandigarh into an eco-friendly, smoke free city.

Eco-friendly projects in the pipeline include greening Sukhna Lake, increasing green spaces, restricting entry to Nepli and Kansal forests that envelope the city and lots of other green steps.

For a city that is already well known as India’s greenest, cleanest and well designed city, doing the eco-friendly, smoke free makeover will be just that small step that Chandigarh needs to take, to lead India’s urban eco-friendly initiatives.

Sources : The Pioneer, Saturday, 16 June 2007
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newsid=45431&newstype=local

Plants can spot family members and are more hospitable to family than strangers

Dr Susan Dudley, Associate Professor of Biology at McMaster University has made an amazing discovery. Plants happily share space and resources with family members. On the other hand with strangers of the same species, the plants turn fiercely competitive.

Dr Dudley and her research student Amanda File observed the behavior in a species of sea rocket whose Latin name is Cakile edentula.

Says Dr Dudley, "The ability to recognize and favor kin is common in animals, but this is the first time it has been shown in plants. When plants share their pots, they get competitive and start growing more roots, which allows them to grab water and mineral nutrients before their neighbors get them.

It appears, though, that they only do this when sharing a pot with unrelated plants; when they share a pot with family, they don't increase their root growth. Because differences between groups of strangers and groups of siblings only occurred when they shared a pot, the root interactions may provide a cue for kin recognition."

The team have published their findings in the current issue of Biology Letters

source : http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=4754

Palakkad district's rainforests are disappearing...

The forest department of Palakkad district has lost more than 15 000 acres of forest land due to encroachment.

Some areas that have been encroached upon include:

Corridors of Silent Valley National Park in the Mannarkkad Forest Division

Nelliampathy Hills adjacent to the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary

Akamalavaram in Malampuzha

Kinnakkara Sholayur in Attappady

Palakuzhy in the Alathur Forest Range

Mangalam Dam in Vadakkumcherry

River beds of the Bharathapuzha, Bhavani, Kalpathy, Korayar, Walayar too have been encroached.

Source : www.thehindu.com/2007/06/18/stories/2007061850590300.htm


Silent Valley National Park to be protected by buffer zone

Kerala State Cabinet has marked out a buffer zone of 148 sq km around Silent Valley National Park.

The buffer zone will be a sandwich made from three forest ranges : Mannarkkad, Attappady and Kalikavu regions

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/09/stories/2007060908770300.htm

Low cost check dam fills up tank in Tajpur village after ten year gap

A small check-dam that cost Rs 4 lakhs to set up across Bandi Halla rivulet on the border of Tajpur village and a 850-metre long diversion channel have helped fill up the Tajpur village tank in Bijapur after a gap of ten years.

All that was needed to fill up the tank that extends to 3.5 acres was just one shower of heavy rain.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/17/stories/2007061751960300.htm

110 villages in Andhra Pradesh to get water

The AP Government has cleared a Rs 699 crore lift-irrigation project on Udayasamudram that will cover 1 lakh acres in 110 villages.

The five constituencies include :
Nalgonda
Ramannapet
Bhongir
Nakrekal and
Munugode

source: http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun172007/scroll200706177954.asp?section=frontpagenews

ATREE researcher's poster gets recognition at international symposium

ATREE Coastal Programme researcher and doctoral student Nibedita Mukherjee's poster was judged the best poster presentation at the International Symposium on Integrated Coastal Zone Management hosted by the Institute of Marine Research and held at Arendal, Norway, 11-14 June 2007.

source: email communication from Dr Ravi Chellam, Director & Senior Fellow, ATREE