E-India
• The Centre has announced its plans to use INR 38,000 crore from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund to finance several biodiversity projects. These include urban forestry, school nurseries, monitoring coral and mangrove health and a special conservation programme for the Gangetic Dolphin, Manipuri deer (Sangai), Great Indian Bustard, Dugong and Wild Water Buffalo.
• Consumer preferences, climate change resilience and low input costs are driving a return to indigenous varieties of rice in West Bengal. Reports suggest that local rice variants like Gobindobhog, Radhatilak and Tulsimukun are gaining in popularity after losing ground to high-yielding varieties since the 196os and 1970s.
E-Mage
• Here’s what happens when the public and wildlife experts find themselves on opposite sides of the conservation debate. Many people have objected to the removal of the tiger ‘Ustad’ from the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve after he apparently killed a forest guard in May.
E-Video
Watch this amusing video of a giant panda entertaining crowds at a zoo in Taiwan.
Why You Should Care
• Citizen action works! A recent example from Coimbatore saw residents forcing a private company which was dumping waste into the local river to clean up the mess. The residents tracked the pollution to its source and the company is now cleaning up the river from the point where it dumped its waste.
Resource & Waste
• Indian scientists have developed an eco-friendly plastic substitute using seaweed as raw material. Their invention could become a game-changer if it becomes commercially viable. Plastic pollution is getting worse by the day but restricting its use has proved difficult in practice.
E-Law
• The National Green Tribunal’s Eastern Zone Bench in Kolkata indicated its intention to direct petrol pumps not to sell fuel to vehicles without a “Pollution Under Control” certificate and asked the West Bengal government to respond to this issue. Such steps are already in place in cities like Bengaluru.
E-International
• The International Atomic Agency’s new chief warned global fossil fuel companies that they risked wasting “billions of dollars of investment” by underestimating the impact of climate change mitigation policies on their businesses.
E-Quiz
What is your state animal? Elephant or Blackbuck or Squirrel or Wild Buffalo or any other species? Tell us in the comments section below.
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