E-India
• When is a coconut tree no longer a tree?
When the government says so: An order of the Goa government has sought to have the coconut tree de-notified as a tree and reclassified as a palm. The move has been strongly protested.
• New amendments to power policy unveiled:
The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the national power policy. The amendments include efforts to boost renewable energy use.
E-Mage
• Closure notices to 150 units along the Ganga:
The government has issued notices to 150 industrial units along the river for violating pollution norms despite previous warnings to clean up their act.
E-Video
• Know your plastic: If you’ve ever wondered what the triangles on your plastic bottles mean, watch this video here:
E-Renewables
• More funds for solar:
The government has approved Rs 5,050 crore as viability gap funding for setting up 5,000 MW of grid-connected solar projects. In related solar news, the government expects to exceed its solar targets for 2016.
E-Nature
• More plastic than fish:
A World Economic Forum study has reported that if the current rate at which plastic is being dumped into the earth’s oceans continues, there will be more plastic than fish in the waters by 2050.
E-Tech
• Blooming in space:
While it may not be the first flower to bloom in space, NASA has been successful in growing a flower in space from seed to bloom. The experiment in space gardening is likely to provide fascinating insights.
E-Law
• “Not merely a tribunal adjudicating disputes”:
In recent comments, the National Green Tribunal Chairperson has highlighted the NGT’s “progressive” approach towards environmental disputes.
E-International
• 2015 is the hottest year on record:
The data is in and 2015 is the hottest recorded year since temperature reporting began in 1850. 2014 also broke climate records and scientists believe that 2016 is likely to also be hotter than the years preceding it.
E-Quiz
• Which state is Pench Tiger Reserve located in?
(a) Uttarakhand
(b) West Bengal
(c) Madhya Pradesh
(d) Kerala
(Shalini Iyengar is a lawyer and Research Associate at the International University College, Turin.)
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