-The Hindu   MARAYUR (IDUKKI, Kerala): Raja is a traditional farmer in Kanthallur village who makes a living out of vegetable cultivation in his three-acre land. Disaster struck him on Monday in the form of cloud burst. Seeds of cabbage, carrot, garlic and beans were washed away and the land on which he and his wife toiled to sow the seeds after the summer rain was turned in a slush of accumulated garbage. Raja...

-FAO FAO publishes first global study of Forest genetic resources Rome - FAO today urged countries to improve data gathering and research to promote the conservation and sustainable management of the world's Forest genetic resources, which are coming under increasing pressure. According to the first-ever edition of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources report, half of the Forest species reported as regularly utilized by countries are threatened by the conversion of...

-Down to Earth   Reason: development projects and encroachments   In the past three decades, the Maharashtra state has lost a whopping 1,610 sq km of Forests, says the annual administrative report of the Maharashtra Forest department. Most of this loss, says the report, is due to either development projects or encroachment.   According to the report, the Forest area in the state totalled 62,971 sq km in 1984-85, which included 42,610 sq km of reserve...

-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 Times of India   NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday kicked off online environment clearances for industrial and infrastructure projects which have for long been hobbled by the slow pace of green approvals. As part of the transition to an e-window mechanism, for the next three weeks, project developers will be required to submit a hard copy of the application besides filing it online. From July 1, the system will be fully...