This week’s environment and conservation news stories rolled into one.
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Lesser florican: just 11 in Madhya Pradesh, a ray of hope in Rajasthan
Smallest of India’s three resident bustards, the lesser florican occurs in dry grasslands with scattered bushes, scrub, and in agricultural fields where cereals are grown.
Joe Biden’s presidency offers a return to Indo-US climate change dialogue
Data sharing, Indian Ocean monitoring, renewables, clean energy, phasing out HFCs, technology could be some areas of cooperation.
New bioluminescent mushroom glows in the forests of Meghalaya
This mushroom was only found growing on dead bamboo. Local residents used the glowing bamboo sticks as natural torches at night.
[Video] Rampant sand mining damaging Yamuna’s ecology
During the COVID-19 lockdown, legal and illegal mining continued in Yamuna river in several areas in Haryana.
A microbial spray could be the game changer against crop residue burning
Pusa Decomposer, a microbial spray developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), can cause the decomposition of the harvested stubble.
Saving the world’s largest mountain goat in Jammu and Kashmir
A project involving wildlife department, herders, local communities and the Indian Army has been working on conservation of the world’s largest goat, the markhor.
Digging for soapstone in vulnerable Himalayas
Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand has large deposits of soapstone, a mineral used in the paper, paint and cosmetic industry.
India wants its thermal power plants to use domestic coal
The decision is in line with the central government’s push for increasing the country’s coal production.
Govt, NGO, citizens join hands in Maharashtra to conserve heritage trees
Maharashtra is preparing a database of heritage trees in which trees will be identified and assessed on multiple criteria such as medicinal use and oxygen production.
[Interview] Turning to science to find innovative solutions
Plant genetics, identifying disaster victims, DNA fingerprinting of Kerala’s captive elephants. E. V. Soniya from RGCB uses basic science principles in applied research.
