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What: Envithon Where: Six cities of India When: 3 June-2018 In the run-up to the World Environment Day on June 5, ‘Envithon’ – a mini-marathon was organised by the Ministry of Environment on June 3, 2018 in six cities of the country including New Delhi. Similar “Envithons” have also been organised in five other cities of the country on June 3, 2018. Dr. Vardhan flagged off the ‘Envithon’ run at Vinay Read More …
By S Suresh Ramanan Jammu, May 30 : For long-term conservation of the critically endangered red deer or hangul in Kashmir, it is necessary to take up conservation efforts beyond protected areas, a new study has suggested. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has only about 200 hanguls in the wild. Systematic efforts are underway to conserve them at Dachigam National park on the outskirts of Srinagar. However, continuous Read More …
By Dr Aditi Jain New Delhi, May 24: Degrading air quality in metro cities is a matter of concern for public health. Massive tree plantation drives are often conducted in order to provide oxygen to choking cities. But trees, much like humans, also are severely affected by pollutants in the air. In such a situation,knowledge about trees capable of withstanding heavily polluted environment is needed, particularly while designing green belts Read More …
What: International Day for Biodiversity When: May 22 Theme: Celebrating 25 years of action on biodiversity The International Day for Biodiversity (IBD) 2018 was celebrated all over the country on May 22, 2018. The theme of the IBD 2018 was “Celebrating 25 years of action on biodiversity”. The celebration of the IDB under above theme – provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of and threats to biodiversity, while highlighting Read More …
The scientist has found a new frog species in Mangaluru (Karnataka). It has been named ‘Microhyla kodial’ after the city of Mangaluru from where it was spotted two years ago. Mangaluru is called kodial in the Konkani language. The new frog species is the Mangaluru narrow-mouthed frog. It was found in a small industrial region in coastal Karnataka. It is greyish-brown frog which is just 2 cm long. A thick Read More …
What: SAWEN Conference Where: Kolkata When: 8-10 May, 2018 South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) in it’s two days (8-10 May 2018) conference in Kolkata, India adopted many proposals to curb wildlife crime in the South Asian Region. Network’s seven members out of eight agreed on having an operational framework for strengthening the regional body to combat wildlife crime. Pakistan skipped the fourth conference of SAWEN held in the Read More …
What: Bhupathy’s shieldtail Where: Tamilnadu (Western Ghats) Who: Jins V.J Researchers have discovered a new shieldtail snake species in the forests of the Anaikatty hills in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district. The brownish and 40 cm long new snake species have been named as Uropeltis bhupathyi, after the late herpetologist S. Bhupathy, for his contributions to the field. This new snake species is the latest addition to the snake fauna of the Read More …
India hosted four day (April 24-27, 2018) Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in New Delhi. Emphasising the importance of land as a resource and the need to protect and harness its resources in a manner that does not adversely affect its health, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has underlined the critical need to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Read More …
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018. The Ministry has notified the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018 on March 27, 2018. The amended Rules lay down that the phasing out of Multilayered Plastic (MLP) is now applicable to MLP, which are “non-recyclable, or non-energy recoverable, or with no alternate use.” The amended Rules also prescribe a central registration system Read More …
What: Baobab tree When: April 3, 2018 Where: Rashtrapati Bhawan The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, planted a Baobab sapling in the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 3, 2018. This sapling was gifted by the University of Madagascar as a gesture of goodwill in return for the Neem tree that the President planted at the University campus in Antananarivo during his State visit to Madagascar in March. The exchange Read More …
What: Earth Hour When: March 24, 2018 Who: WWF Earth Hour was observed from 8:30 to 9:30 PM on March 24, 2018. This year, WWF-India launched the “Give Up to Give Back” initiative to inspire organisations, institutions and individuals to make the choice to curb some habits, practices and lifestyles that burden lives and environment. The campaign includes taking steps like giving up single-use plastics, fossil fuels and e-waste among Read More …
What: Water Strider new species Where: Nagaland Who: Zoological Survey of India A new species of water strider was discovered in the river Intanki, Peren district in Nagaland. The species, named Ptilomera nagalanda Jehamalar and Chandra, was discovered by the scientists from Zoological Survey of India. Features: The species is Orange with black stripes on the dorsal side and a pale yellowish brown ventral part of the body, which has long slender legs Read More …
The Maharashtra government on March 15 decided to banned all kinds of plastic bags, irrespective of its thickness across the state. Besides plastic bags other items made of plastic and thermocol and all kinds of cutlery items will also be banned. The ban doesn’t include plastic bottles in government offices and starred hotels. The ban is likely to come in force from March 18. The proposed order bans sale, use, distribution, Read More …
Some experts have raised concern over the increase in the import of alien fishes like ornamental fishes to the country. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) even has urged the government to come up with quarantine facilities at major seaports and airports so that its expansion could be controlled. Not only the alien fishes but other invasive alien species are posing a threat to country’s native species threat include fishes too. Ornamental Read More …
In an effort to transform environment protection into a peoples’ movement, a digital mobile application was launched by the Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change on 28 February 2018. The App, named “Dr Harsh Vardhan”, focuses on his social & public activities and involvement of citizens in “Green Good Deeds” movement, which urges people to perform at least one Green Good Deed every day. Some of the 500 Read More …
