IN NEWS

22 NOV, 2010, 02.54PM IST,IANS 

Navi Mumbai airport gets green signal finally

NEW DELHI: India's commercial capital Mumbai will finally get its second airport, some 35 km from the existing one, with the environment and forests ministry giving its nod on Monday after all "green" concerns were amicably addressed.
"Formally, the environmental clearance for this project (Navi Mumbai) has been accorded. The provisions of building the airport can start today," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told a press conference here, with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan by his side.
The green ministry and the aviation ministry had been at loggerheads……………………..

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/Navi-Mumbai-airport-gets-green-signal-finally/articleshow/6969475.cms

MoEF panel okays withdrawal of Posco forest clearance

Nageshwar Patnaik & Rakhi Mazumdar
BHUBANESWAR /KOLKATA
KOREAN steelmaker Posco's troubles seem to have further deepened with the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) reportedly signing on the minutes of a report recommending temporary withdrawal of forest clearance to the company's Rs 51,000 crore steel project in the country. The developments come even as Posco's board announced plans on Friday to put up a cold rolling mill in India and a 3.3 million tonne hot-rolled coil mill at its South Jeolla plant in Korea at an investment of $1.4 billion.
On Friday, Orissa government officials and Posco India spokesperson feigned ignorance about the development. "We have no idea about such a development. The Posco project is a national project not a mere Odisha project as it constituted the single-largest FDI project. ……………

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/content/moef-panel-okays-withdrawal-posco-forest-clearance

Green India Programme

Under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) announced by the Government of India, a "National Mission for a Green India" has been mooted as one of the eight missions. The mission document is under formulation.
As on 30.09.2010, about 12.86 lakh hectare of land including 7.22 lakh hectare of degraded forest land and 5.64 lakh hectare of non-forest land has been identified for raising Compensatory Afforestation in lieu of diversion of 11.10 lakh hectare of forest land for non-forest purposes. So far, Compensatory Afforestation has been achieved over 4.22 lakh hectare area only.
During the period from January 2005 to December 2008, about 2.42 lakh hectare of forest land was identified for Compensatory Afforestation in lieu of diversion of 1.12 lakh hectare of forest land for non forest purpose. Only 1,177 hectare Compensatory Afforestation has been undertaken during this period and no Compensatory Afforestation…………………

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=67366

Can global summit save the tiger

Rebecca McQuillan

22 Nov 2010

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

from The Tyger by William Blake, 1794

It wasn’t quite the scene I had pictured when I imagined seeing a wild tiger. There were a dozen people in our vehicle, an open-topped 4x4 which chugged and clanked through the dusty foliage of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve with the delicacy of a mechanical bull. We sat without speaking, exchanging alarmed looks. Unless the nearest tiger had an iPod and was listening to Survivor, someone muttered, we didn’t have a hope.

But we hadn’t allowed for the fact that this was Ranthambore, Rajasthan, one of India’s most visited tiger reserves. The animals here are wild, but remarkably – and rather sadly – inured to gawping, shrieking humankind, as we were about to find out.Over the radio, the driver received a message that a tiger had been spotted in undergrowth a short distance away; after a few more moments, …………………………

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/can-global-summit-save-the-tiger-1.1070075

Kingpin of poaching gang held

TNN, Nov 22, 2010, 05.13am IST

CHANDRAPUR: Mul police have finally nabbed the long absconding kingpin of the poachers gang busted by forest officials around one-and-half years back in Bhadrawati tehsil. Accused Shalik Gedam was picked up from Doni village in Mul tehsil and has been sent into MCR. Forest officials are likely to seek his custody after cops produce him before Bhadrawati court on Monday. Notably, sleuths of Bhadrawati forest range had busted a poachers gang in March 2009. The first breakthrough came thanks to the tip-off given by Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI)………………………………………

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Kingpin-of-poaching-gang-held/articleshow/6966486.cms

Nov 21, 2010

The Chipko Movement: Hugging And Saving India's Trees Since 1730

"We have arisen, we are awake

No longer will thieves rule our destiny

It is our home, our forests

No longer will the others decide for us"

- Chipko protest chant 

The Himalayan region of northern India is a stunning land rich in natural resources. A wide diversity of forests cover regions from flat, low plains to the tree line in alpine areas of the highest mountain range in the world. This is also the land of the original tree huggers, the brave women of the Chipko Movement.

In India, as here in B.C., the forests have been under assault for a long time. The Chipko Movement is a decades old initiative of the people to address the serious problems of deforestation and corporate control. Chipko means 'to stick' or 'to hug' in Hindi.Although the first recorded use of tree hugging to protect forests in India was in 1730, …………………………

 http://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2010/11/chipko-movement-hugging-and-saving.html

History Of Jim Corbett National Park India

November 22, 2010 | Author: Rahul Ranjan | Posted in Travel & Leisure

A lot has been written about Jim Corbett National Park. Just google, you will get to know how popular is this mesmerizing national park—one of the biggest in India. Jim Corbett National Park is an amazing place. Known for its ravishing beauty and tiger reserve, the park is considered as the finest creation of mother nature. Corbett has a glorious past, which includes how the park was identified, settled and expanded.

During early 18th century, India was governed by the British. Before 1815-20, the forests of Corbett were the private property of the local administrators/rulers. Even the British had full control on India, they barely paid attention to upkeep of the Jim Corbett National Park. They only focused on harnessing the natural resources and make profit from the jungle.

In the year 1858, Major Ramsay became the first one to draw a comprehensive ………………….

http://smarticledirectory.com/history-of-jim-corbett-national-park-india