-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...

-Down to Earth State-level workshops will be conducted to help users interpret data from the system A new satellite-based drought-monitoring tool will be able to indicate the presence of drought and its level of severity, providing authorities the maximum possible lead time to put mitigation strategies into place in India and across South Asia.  In India, the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS) was developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and...

-Down to Earth The Coalition of GM Free India, an informal network of organiations and individuals campaigning to keep India GM-Free, had specifically requested the Supreme Court to hear the matter November 3 The Supreme Court (SC) November 3, 2022 granted time till November 10 to the Union government to respond to a petition challenging its decision giving the go-ahead to environmental clearance for genetically modified (GM) mustard. The court asked the...

-Down to Earth The Coalition of GM Free India, an informal network of organizations and individuals campaigning to keep India GM-Free, had specifically requested the Supreme Court to hear the matter November 3 The Supreme Court (SC) on November 3, 2022 granted time till November 10 to the Union government to respond to a petition challenging its decision giving the go-ahead to environmental clearance for genetically modified (GM) mustard. The court asked...

-Down to Earth Experts welcome move but call for a complete ban The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare issued a notice October 21, 2022 restricting the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, citing health hazards for humans and animals. Only authorised Pest Control Operators are allowed to use it.  Earlier, state governments of Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh have tried similar steps but failed. Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India...