The US has dragged India to the World Trade Organization for banning poultry products in alleged violation of trade rules, but Indian officials say the country is ready to defend its measures in the formal consultations expected to begin soon.  India claims that the import ban is aimed at preventing avian influenza, but it has not given scientific evidence in line with international standards on avian-influenza control, US Trade Representative Ron...

-The Times of India Wildlife experts and enthusiasts from around the world will congregate in the air-conditioned environs of Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar as part of the Global Bird Watcher's Conference on January 19. But it would make more sense if they met in the marshlands of Kutch and surrounding areas, which have become a graveyard of some of the most endangered winged species in the country - flamingos. Conservation activists have...

Sehal Sagar village in Rajasthan has won the national water award instituted by the water resources ministry Nestled in Rajasthan’s bone-dry Tonk district, Sehal Sagar village boasts of lush green fields, wells full to the brim and healthy cattle. The surprise transformation has been possible because the village follows rainwater harvesting and develops its pasture land. Sehal Sagar has an elaborate network of ponds, canals and chaukas which ensure that every drop...

There are serious concerns over shortages of food and housing as the country's population is expected to reach 1.45bn by 2035 The Madanpur Khadr colony is a tenement slum on the southern outskirts of Delhi, the Indian capital. A decade ago there was nothing here but green fields, buffaloes wallowing, goats grazing and the odd small dwelling. Now an estimated 40,000 people live in ramshackle, five-storey, brick and concrete homes, 10 to...

Floods are vital to Kaziranga; dams on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra could disrupt the balance A few weeks ago, much of the grasslands of Kaziranga National Park were under water. The monsoon floods bring with them their own set of problems—some of the animals, for instance, have to be rehabilitated—but they are required for the very existence of the park. The annual floods of the Brahmaputra creates grasslands, floodplains, and...