-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:...
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Junk games and schoolchildren-Sunita Narain
-The Business Standard There is nothing called junk food. The problem with obesity lies with children who do not exercise enough. What is needed is for them to run and jump, and to do this they need to consume high-calorie food. So, food high in salt, sugar and fat is good for them." This is what was argued vehemently and rudely by representatives of the food industry in the committee set...
More »Wheat rust: The fungal disease that threatens to destroy the world crop -Christy Chamy
-The Independent Scientists are warning that wheat is facing a serious threat from a fungal disease that could wipe out the world's crop if not quickly contained. Wheat rust, a devastating disease known as the "polio of agriculture", has spread from Africa to South and Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, with calamitous losses for the world's second most important grain crop, after rice. There is mounting concern at the...
More »GM crops: PM revealed his assertive self to push for trials -Nitin Sethi
-The Business Standard Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can be assertive when he chooses to. He has certainly imposed his will on the government to push the case for the controversial genetically-modified (GM) food crops. Documents reviewed by Business Standard show, for almost two years, Singh and his office have been the moving force behind the decision to go ahead with field trials of GM crops, including food crops, without awaiting regulatory reforms...
More »Madhya Pradesh’s forest cover shrinking -P Naveen
-The Times of India BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh is fast losing its dense forest and the loss has been alarming in the last two years. As per latest estimates of Forest Survey of India (FSI), the state among those having the largest forest covers, has recorded a considerable decrease in its forest cover including very dense forest (VDF) and moderately dense forest (MDF), said sources in ministry of environment and forest...
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