-Down to Earth Locusts around 500 km away from districts. Experts say little possibility of them entering state The Bihar government’s agriculture department has begun mock drills in villages and launched an awareness campaign, over fears that locust swarms may enter the state. Ten of the state’s districts that border Uttar Pradesh were put high alert. The districts include Aurangabad, Bhojpur, Buxar, Gaya, Gopalganj, Kaimur, Rohtas, Saran, Siwan and West Champaran. The locusts...

-Down to Earth Less availability of meat, long-term unemployment increased instances of hunting in Tamil Nadu Wildlife hunters — seizing the opportunity provided by the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) — have targeted animals in Tamil Nadu’s biodiversity-rich areas. The state has a lot of biodiversity: From deciduous forests to the Western Ghats that are home to rare animals and plants. Restricted movement of transport and human...

-Down to Earth Central environment ministry reports diversion of 11,467 hectares forest land in 2019 (up to first week of November) The diversion of forest land for other purposes continued throughout India. A total 11,467.83 hectares (114.68 square kilometre) forest lands were diverted in 22 states between January 1 and November 6, 2019, the Union government admitted. This diversion was for 932 non-forestry projects under the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980, according to...

-Down to Earth India imports around 90 per cent of APIs used to make antibiotics, says an expert The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed India’s overdependence on China for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) — also known as bulk drugs — defined by the World Health Organization as any substances used in finished pharmaceutical products. India’s pharmaceutical industry is the third-largest in the world in terms of volume. Two-thirds of the total imports...

-Down to Earth National Green Tribunal’s 2019 order asking states to identify, protect and restore water bodies underlines the urgency to save them The nationwide lockdown imposed to break the spread of the novel coronavirus disease spread in India brought into light a new, pleasant discovery — improvement in quality of several water bodies and their catchments as a host of industrial activities halted. There is a need to restore and create more...