-Down to Earth The United Nations declared 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration In this Anthropocene era, human interference can be seen in every component of Earth’s ecosystem. Due to such human-mediated changes, the loss of freshwater habitats such as lakes, ponds and wetlands, as well as their aquatic biodiversity and water quality are becoming a major concern.  Freshwater ecosystems are of enormous ecological importance and human need (such as drinking water and...

-The Hindu The actions plans come under the Swachh Bharat Mission Action plans for remediating around 1,000 legacy landfill sites that contain a total of 12.8 crore metric tonnes of waste have been approved under the Swachh Bharat Mission, said Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday. Inaugurating the ‘Swachh Shehar Samvad’ and a tech exhibition here, Mr. Puri said under the ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsite Challenge’ all legacy landfills,...

-The Hindu How is this initiative different from the MGNREGA for villagers? What are some of the similar schemes being implemented in other States? The story so far: The Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme has rolled out in Rajasthan with the objective of providing economic support to the poor and needy families living in the cities through work to be provided on demand for 100 days in a year. The Congress...

-Outlook India Experts say flooding in urban and peri-urban areas are happening due to unplanned waste dumping and continuous disregard for natural recharge structures like ponds, wetlands, and tanks. The Safdarjung Observatory, one of Delhi's primary weather stations, recorded 189.6 mm of rainfall between June 1 and July 22, which is less than normal (201 mm). But it didn’t change the picture. Every time it rains, water-logging and subsequent traffic snarl for...

-The Hindu Classes 1-5 to benefit; this is among 5 schemes announced Chennai: On the occasion of the DMK government of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin stepping into its second year on Saturday, the State was richer by five new development schemes. Mr. Stalin made the announcements in the Assembly. The schemes are a free morning breakfast scheme for government school students, a scheme to eradicate nutrition deficiency, establishment of schools of excellence...