-The Hindu     Aberrations in monsoon behaviour are not uncommon. What is new is the difficulty in forecasting caused by factors coming under the generic title, ‘Climate change.' Forecasts by the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum and the India Meteorological Department indicate that the south-west monsoon rainfall may be deficient. Also, there is a possibility of the evolution of an El Niño event during June to September. There is a 45 per cent...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: Hundreds of acres of precious forest land have been lost to illegal farmhouses. The forest department has found at least 15 sprawling farmhouses and other such structures inside south Delhi's Asola-Bhatti wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to more than 250 species of plants, 200 species of birds, 150 species of butterflies and 10 species each of animals including nilgai, mongoose, fox, porcupine, hyena and jackal. The...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: A Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions has urged the government to review meat export policy and recommended not to grant permission for any new slaughter house until a critical analysis by a dedicated commission is complete. It also advocated a review of policy of giving subsidies to meat exporters. The report was submitted on February 13 by a 10-member committee headed by Bhagat Singh Koshyari. MP from...

-DNA Maharashtra: To stop the destruction of forests and increase its green cover to 33% as laid down in the national policy, the state forests department has launched a campaign to rope in villagers to voluntarily enable regeneration of forests. It has distributed subsidised LPG cylinders and grants for biogas plants and stall fed and high value milch animals (as against scrub fed cattle) to around 40,000 families living on the periphery...

-Down to Earth Four-day world congress on agroforestry in Delhi pushes for accelerating growing trees on farms for sustainable agriculture and mitigating climate change impacts In what is seen as a ground-breaking move, India has become the first nation in the world to adopt an agroforestry policy. The National Agroforestry Policy, which deals with the practice of integrating trees, crops and livestock on the same plot of land, was launched February 10,...