IN NEWS

27 NOV, 2010, 05.12AM IST, M RAJSHEKHAR & URMI GOSWAMI,ET BUREAU 

SC urged to push govt for setting up a green authority

NEW DELHI: Minister Jairam Ramesh’s plans to strengthen environmental governance could well receive a judicial boost. On Friday, amicus curiae Harish Salve suggested that the Supreme Court direct the Centre to set up one or more statutory authorities to ensure the country's forest policy is implemented "in letter and spirit". As part of its efforts to reform environmental governance, the ministry has put out a discussion paper for the establishment of a national environment assessment and monitoring authority (NEAMA). This is a reworked version of the, National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA). The proposed statutory body will be set up under the Environment Protection Act. …………………………………….

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/SC-urged-to-push-govt-for-setting-up-a-green-authority/articleshow/6998738.cms

27 Nov 2010

India’s Green India Mission – extending bureaucratic control in the name of decentralization?

By Madhu Sarin | 0 Views | 0 Comments

One of the eight Missions under India's National Action Plan on Climate Change, the revised National Mission for a Green India (GIM for short) professes responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures, which would help:

enhancing carbon sinks  in sustainably managed  forests and other ecosystems;

adaptation of vulnerable species/ecosystems  to  the changing climate; and

adaptation of  forest-dependent  communities

These laudable objectives are to be achieved by arbitrarily determined targets of increasing forest/tree cover in 5 m ha of land and improving the quality of forest cover in another 5 million ha during the next 10 years at an astounding cost of Rs.46,000 crores. About 1.5 m ha of ‘moderately dense forest’, 3 m ha of ………………..

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/blog/india%E2%80%99s-green-india-mission-%E2%80%93-extending-bureaucratic-control-name-decentralization

Ramesh strikes again; targets Lavasa, JSPL

BS Reporters / New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar/ Mumbai November 27, 2010, 0:34 IST

The environment ministry has raised the red flag on two-high profile projects: Hindustan Construction Company’s real estate dream, Lavasa, and Jindal Steel & Power’s plant in eastern Orissa……….

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ramesh-strikes-again-targets-lavasa-jspl/416315/

MSPL challenges Karnataka's ban on iron ore exports

TNN, Nov 27, 2010, 12.24am IST
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the B S Yeddyurappa government on a petition by MSPL Ltd challenging Karnataka's decision to ban transportation of iron ore outside the state, which the petitioner said seriously impeded export commitments. In the wake of a controversy over mining in Ballary reserve forest and allegations against the politically influential Reddy brothers, the state government had in July banned transportation of iron ore outside the state. The notice to the state was issued by a Bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik. ……………

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/MSPL-challenges-Karnatakas-ban-on-iron-ore-exports-/articleshow/6996471.cms

Mechanism on anvil to free coal blocks from no-go list

Sudheer Pal Singh / New Delhi November 27, 2010, 0:09 IST

At a time when many coal blocks have come under a ‘no-go’ restriction, the government plans to tweak the approach adopted for calculating the green cover of a block-bearing region to dilute the average affected forest land.While this measure would not reduce the impact of mining on the environment, it will help free around 25 per cent area from the no-go list. …………………

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mechanismanvil-to-free-coal-blocksno-go-list/416326/

Unidentified insect a threat to Sunderbans mangrove

Prithvijit Mitra, TNN, Nov 27, 2010, 01.18am IST
KOLKATA: It's not just unauthorized chopping that threatens the Sunderbans mangroves. The forest could be faced with a new enemy that has been slowly eating into the trees on the edge of the water, reducing them to charred pulps of waste vegetation. Hundreds of black insects, shaped like caterpillars, have been raiding the mangroves for the last three months, causing serious damage to the plants. While experts haven't yet been able to identify the pest, a few specimens have been collected and sent to the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
A team of scientists from Jadavpur University's School of Oceanography chanced upon the insect ………….

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Unidentified-insect-a-threat-to-Sunderbans-mangrove-/articleshow/6997995.cms

Birders generated a business of Rs113 crore in 2009!

Published: Saturday, Nov 27, 2010, 15:59 IST
By Jumana Shah | Place: Jamnagar | Agency: DNA

Has the sudden interest of the department of forest & environment and department of tourism of Gujarat in boosting the avian-tourism and ecotourism in Jamnagar come as a surprise?Here’s one possible simple rationale — around 45,000 birdwatchers in India generated a business worth a whopping Rs113 crore in 2009…………

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_birders-generated-a-business-of-rs113-crore-in-2009_1472935

Charred body of Andhra forest officer found - Yahoo! India News
Sangareddy(AP), Nov 26 (PTI) A charred body of a forest officer was found near a village under the Narayankhed Forest limits, about 90 km from here, ...
in.news.yahoo.com/.../tnl-charred-body-of-andhra-forest-offic...