-Down to Earth Latest state of forests report shows increase of green cover by 5,871 sq km; most of the increase is owing to plantations India's green cover is increasing, but this increase is taking place mostly outside the traditional boundaries of the forests, says the latest forest survey findings. As per the State of Forests Report (SFR) 2013, released by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on July 8,...

-The Hindu Country still has large swathes of contiguous forests accounting for 40% of the forest cover There has been an increase of 5,871 sq km of the country's forest area since 2011, even as moderately dense forest areas have depleted due to population increase, grazing and encroachments, says the biennial "India State of Forest Report 2013," which was released on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar, who...

-IANS   Bangalore: A study by an international team using satellite and ground-based instruments has shown that crop residue burning, a common practice in northern India and particularly in Punjab, is contributing to atmospheric pollution over the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) that may have climate and health implications. "Every year, during the post-monsoon season (October-November), extensive agricultural crop residue burning takes place mainly in the northwestern Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and western...

-Live Mint   Prakash Javadekar's environment ministry proposes reduction in parameters defining forests as inviolate New Delhi: On a day it took the environment approval process online, the new government proposed diluting the norms for allowing industrial units in forest areas, moving to clear a logjam in project mandates that industry groups allege has contributed to declining economic growth. Not only will it make the process of environment clearances easier, the norms, once changed,...

-The Hindu   Forest cover loss has occurred at a period when area under jhum cultivation is declining, suggesting that the land use policy has been counterproductive to forests Two spectacular bamboo dances, one celebrated, the other reviled, enliven the mountains of Mizoram. In the colourful Cheraw, Mizo girls dance as boys clap bamboo culms at their feet during the annual Chapchar Kut festival. The festival itself is linked to the other dance:...