Now metal traps and snares, and not fire arms are latest threats to tigers and wildlife from poachers. The two-day meet of wildlife officials that concluded on Thursday has sounded red alert in all tiger reserves of the country stressing on armed patrolling as the need of the hour.

On the lines of e-monitoring in Corbett, certain tiger reserves as the Sunderbans in West-Bengal have called for installation of similar systems. The meeting also took a review of the status of Phase-4 monitoring that began in November last year.

The statistics pertaining to income and expenditures of the citizens presented by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) on Thursday has revealed that food accounted for about 57 per cent of the value of the average rural Indian household consumption during 2009-10 whereas it was 44 per cent in cities. And this, when 60 per cent of India’s rural population lives on less than Rs 35 a day and an identical percentage in several cities lives on Rs 66 per day.

The UPA Government, which had earlier faced a major embarrassment from its ally Trinamool Congress on the Teesta water agreement, has renewed efforts to convince Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sign the pact with Bangladesh on grounds that it is beneficial to both countries.

This has reference to the article, “Beware the biotech Bill” (March 5) by Avik Roy. This was a much needed comprehensive article on genetically modified crops and the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill. The questions raised are the ones that people regularly get to hear. There is this basic assumption that GM crops will increase yields.

Depletion of bamboo clusters in Kerala’s Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is threatening to make the coming summer hard for several species of wildlife there and in the adjoining forests that constitute the Nilgiris biosphere. Experts say that the phenomenon could even lead to a famine as far as Wayanad jungles’ herbivores are concerned.

Riding high on the success on the city’s first construction waste recycling plant in Burari, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has proposed three more such units to produce tiles, kerbstones and pavement blocks after reprocessing of malba or debris. With the proposal, the civic body is hopeful that once these facilities start functioning, it will reduce burden on Sanitary Landfill Sites, which are full to their capacity.

For the first time, a wildlife area in the state will have solar power units. A proposal of Rs 3.10 crore has been sent by the Tourism department to the Central Government for the development of the Dudhwa Tourism Complex and Compound Wall.

An article commissioned by the Government to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Goa’s liberation from the Portuguese, has hit out at the Government itself for its inaction on illegal and other forms of corruption in the State.

Delhiites may soon need to pay for driving into a congested area in the city during peak-hour traffic with the city Government seriously considering introduction of such fee to discourage people from using private vehicles. “It is under consideration,” Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said when asked about the long-debated proposal. Senior officials, however, said no concrete decision has been taken on the issue and it is still in the discussion stage. If introduced, Delhi will become the first city in the country to impose congestion tax on motorists.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that compensation in death category should also be given to those who died of partial effect in Bhopal gas tragedy. Rest of 20 wards of Bhopal should also be declared as gas-affected. CM in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 24, 2010, drew attention of the Prime Minister towards several issues pertaining to recommendations made for gas-affected people by Group of Ministers.