Auris Serenity, Malad contributed significantly to the environment with a Tree Plantation Drive in association with NGO Project Crayons.

The celebration observed NGO children from PROJECT CRAYONS, planting diverse saplings and spreading the message of Save Environment.  With the theme PLANT A TREE, PLANT A NEW LIFE, the NGO kids came together with Auris Serenity to promote an understanding that communities play a pivotal role in changing attitudes towards environmental issues.

To encourage environment friendly practices amongst themselves, the children along with the Auris Serenity management made a promise towards creating a greener environment, and share their ideas of going green. The event played as a pivotal catalyst to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth.

Speaking about this initiative, Hiral Sheth, Director- Marketing & Sales, Sheth Creators, “We are pleased to be associated with NGO Project Crayon to conduct the tree-plantation drive and the awareness campaign. We wish to encourage our customers and partners to make eco-friendly choices, and join us in our attempt to contribute to a greener world.  We thank all the volunteers who are a part of this initiative, and are trying to improve and sustain the environment in their surroundings.

Sending out a signal to the developed world on the issue of climate change, India on Tuesday said developing countries like it have “a right to grow” and in the process “our net emission may increase.”

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar underlined that the problem of carbon emission has not been created by the developing nations and hence responsibility for addressing it should not be solely put on them.

“We have to reduce our carbon emissions. But I have not created the carbon emisssion problems, which have been done by others. But I am not into any blame game.

The issue is that I have a right to grow. India and developing countries have right to grow. These are the emerging economies,” the Minister said while addressing a function in New Delhi.

His statement assumes significance in the light of a meeting of ‘governments, leaders from finance, business, local government and civil society’ in New York in September this year to “bring bold and new announcements and action” to keep the earth below the globally agreed two degree temperature rise.

Noting that poverty is an “environmental disaster”, Javadekar said “unless we tackle poverty, unless we eradicate poverty, we cannot really address the climate change.”

“To that end, we need to grow. Our net emission may increase,” he said while speaking as the chief guest on the occasion of “World Day to Combat Desertification” organised by the Environment Ministry and Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education.
The statement is expected to further strengthen the BASIC group of nations on climate — a bloc of four biggest emerging countries Brazil, South Africa, India and China formed in November 2009.

In an attempt to address the issue of pollution in the Yamuna, Delhi government has undertaken a comprehensive project through which all the polluting drains shall be cleaned before they merge into the river.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) will set up an interceptor sewer with a length of 59 kms along the three major drains (supplementary, Najafgarh and Shahdara) to intercept sewerage from around 190 subsidiary small drains and transport it to the nearest Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to ensure that only treated effluent is discharged into these major drains.

“Around 70 per cent of pollution load in the river shall be reduced by this effort,” said a statement issued by the Lt Governor’s office today.

The already existing interceptor sewer between Aruna Nagar JJ Cluster up to the outfall of Khyber Pass drain, which intercepts untreated sewage from Sweeper Colony, Magazine Road and Khyber Pass drain, will be made fully-functional by June 2015.

The discharge intercepted from these drains shall be pumped to Nigam Bodh SPS and taken to the existing Okhla STP, which has a total treatment capacity of 170 MGD.

Metcalf House, Qudsia, Mori Gate, Tonga Stand, Civil Military drain shall be intercepted into the existing Ring Road trunk sewer which has recently been rehabilitated under Yamuna Action Plan-II.

The sewage collected from these drains shall be pumped to Okhla STP through Ring Road SPS and this work shall be completed by June next year.

The capacity of the STP at the mouth of the Delhi Gate drain can be augmented from existing 2.2 to 17.2 MGD by constructing an additional 15 MGD STP, said Delhi government officials.

The move comes after a team of Delhi government officials visited Gujarat earlier this month to study Ahmedabads Sabarmati riverfront project.

Concurrently, to utilize all the STPs at their treated capacity, around 100 kms of Trunk Sewer has been rehabilitated and the rehabilitation of peripheral sewer in a length of 168 kms is under process, which will take another 3 years.

All the new STPs at Pappankalan, Nilothi, Delhi Gate, Chilla and Kapashera have been designed for achieving high standards of treated effluent — Bio Oxygen Demand (BOD) below 10 and Suspended Solids (SS) below 10 PPM.

The DJB is also in the process of laying of sewerage system in unsewered area for which Sewerage Master Plan 2031 has been prepared.

Till date, 541 out of total 567 unauthorized colonies, 129 out of 135 Urban villages, 44 Resettlement colonies out of 44, 34 out of 189 Rural villages and 104 out of 1639 unauthorized or regularized colonies have been provided with sewerage facility.

The work of laying of sewerage system in 162 colonies is under progress and for another 142 tenders have been invited.

The cost of all the projects is estimated to be more than Rs 25,000 crores.

The United States has named a mountain in Antarctia in honour of an eminent Indian-American scientist whose pioneering biological research expedition has provided critical data about animal populations.

Akhouri Sinha, adjunct professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota, was recognised by the US Geological Survey, which named the mountain Mt Sinha, for his work he did as an explorer in 1971-72

. Sinha was a member of a team that catalogued population studies of seals, whales and birds in the pack ice of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas using US Coast Guard Cutters Southwind and Glaciers in 1972 and 1974.

The mountain was named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) and the US Geological Survey.

Mt Sinha, a mountain (990 m) at the southeast extremity of Erickson Bluffs in the south part of McDonald Heights, overlooks lower Kirkpatrick Glacier from the north in Marie Byrd Land.

“Anyone can see the Mt Sinha, Antarctica on Google.com or Bing.com,” Sinha said in an interview.

“Show to the world that you are capable, don’t be afraid to contact people out in the field today, and grab every opportunity,” he said.

Sinha, who graduated with a BSc degree from the Allahabad University in 1954 and MSc degree in Zoology from the Patna University in 1956, said he was invited to conduct research on reproduction of Antarctic seals by the National Science Foundation Antarctic Program.

He also taught in the Department of Zoology at the Ranchi College from November 1956 to July 1961, before coming to the US.

“I went to Antarctica on two expeditions lasting for about 22 weeks on the US Coast Guard cutters, Southwind and Glacier, during 1972 and 1974, respectively,” said Sinha, who has published over 100 papers and has been teaching graduate level courses for almost 25 years.

Sinha says his forefathers migrated to Buxar in Bihar from Delhi after Nadir Shah of Iran invaded Delhi in 1739.

“I go to my village (Churamanpur) almost every year, preferably in February to escape Minnesota winter and to visit relatives and village friends and others.”

Ahead of the UN Climate Change conference, India on Tuesday said it will play a proactive role to battle global warming but it expected the developed world to “walk the talk” on this crucial issue.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who discussed climate change issues with visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, also said he “welcomed” France’s announcement of one billion Euro credit line over next three years to India to take initiatives in climate control. France will host the World Climate Conference next year.

“We emphasised that India will play a proactive role because climate change is real and we have decided on our national action plan. We will strengthen it further. But we expect the developed world to walk the talk,” Javadekar told the news agency.

Javadekar said the developed world must give finances and ensure technology transfer to developing countries.

“I had already suggested at the Nairobi platform and that was well received that technology transfer can happen if the Green Fund, which is supposed to be given by the developed world, can be used for IPR purchases of critical technologies”.

“If those critical technologies are purchased by that fund, the technology will be available free of cost and then every country will have its own plan. That idea is well received by the world and I also emphasised that (during the meeting with France Foreign Minister),” Javadekar said.

Fabius, meanwhile, urged nations to reach an agreement to limit global warming to an average global temperature increase to below two degrees Celsius when they meet in Paris.

He described climate change as a “climate disaster” and said objective of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference is “crucial” as the temperature could increase by five degrees Celsius by 2100.

“The objective is crucial….To reach a global climate agreement that will involve all countries in an effort to limit global warming under 2 degrees Celsius and provide vulnerable countries with means to adapt to ongoing climate destruction,” Fabius said.

He was addressing the conference on “Sustainable Growth in Response to Climate Change: Indo-French Perspective” jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industries, TERI and Embassy of France.

Javadekar, who had earlier said that the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC was “very important”, also said the outcome of the previous conferences should be “discussed and negotiated” much earlier and it should not be a last minute affair

Mumbai: Allcargo Logistics, through its in-house NGO Avashya Foundation has successfully executed an extensive tree plantation drive in Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Gorai village of Mumbai. In collaboration with NGO Jaag, the team has planted over 200 trees in Sanjay Gandhi National Park and 250 trees in Gorai in the first phase of their environment sustainability plan.

This conservation project of planting 450 fruit bearing plants is likely to benefit 180 families across Patachepani, Aakrachebhati, Kalmacha Fonda, Devipada, Barikpayri, Appapada, Babarpada, Jamzadpada, Dongripada, Borkhadapada and Mundapada hamlets. Voluntary engagement of 14 senior employees of Allcargo Logistics including Chief Operating Officer, HR Head, Legal Head, Vice President, Sr. General Manager among others was the highlight of the event, who were personally doing the ground-level work.

In addition to addressing the problem of soil erosion in the region through green plantations, one of the underlying motives of this drive was to provide supplementary source of income to the beneficiary tribal families. Allcargo Logistics is also supporting pre-school & education support programmes in Sanjay Gandhi National Park and distribution of solar lamps to provide access to light to tribal students and create conducive study environment.

Commenting on the successful execution of the first phase of this initiative, Executive Director of Allcargo Logistics Mr. Adarsh Hegde said, “As we are aware that the tribal community and nature are very closely linked with each other and any positive effort directed towards one has its spillover benefits on the other. Over 75% of the tribal population still depends on the forest resources for their various requirements and unfortunately have very limited fertile land which can be useful for their livelihood.

This is the reason why under the Avashya Foundation initiative we partnered with Jaag to plan tree in the reqion which will benefit the tribal community as a whole over a period of time. I would like to congratulate the entire team of Allcargo who made this possible along with our partners at Jaag. We shall continue our support in spreading more green in the phase II of this programme and other such social initiatives.”

Source: Lokesh Shastri

Super typhoon Neoguri was barrelling toward Japan’s Okinawa islands on Monday, packing violent winds and torrential rains as officials warned residents to stay indoors, while the biggest US Air Force base in the Pacific evacuated some of its aircraft.

The storm could be one of the worst in decades, with gusts of up to 270 kilometres per hour expected to slam into the southernmost subtropical island chain early Tuesday, and possibly reaching mainland Japan by Wednesday, the national weather agency said.

The typhoon was located some 600 kilometres south of Okinawa’s main island at 0300 GMT and was moving north northwest at 25 kilometres per hour.

“Please be vigilant, stay inside buildings and avoid working outside and making unnecessary trips,” a meteorological agency official said at a press briefing on Monday.

The official warned that the storm could pack “record level” winds and stir up high waves.

“It is likely to arrive in Okinawa Tuesday morning, generating violent gales and high waves… and, in some areas, violent rains,” he said. “Please be ready to evacuate,” the official added.

The meteorological agency forecast Neoguri, whose name means racoon in Korean, would dump up to 80 millimetres of rain an hour on Okinawa as it pounds the archipelago.

The storm, which could affect an area with a 500 kilometre radius, was expected to be downgraded by the time it hit the Japanese mainland.

However, Kyushu region — next to the main island of Honshu where major cities including Tokyo and Osaka are located — was already seeing heavy rains and officials warned over possible floods and landslides.

“I’m calling on the heads of municipalities not to hesitate in issuing evacuation warnings and don’t be afraid of being overcautious,” Keiji Furuya, the state minister in charge of disaster management, told a government meeting.

The US Kadena Air Force base in Okinawa, the largest US airbase in the Pacific, began evacuating some of its aircraft in preparation for the typhoon.

“I can’t stress enough how dangerous this typhoon may be when it hits Okinawa,” Commander James Hecker of the 18th Wing stationed in Kadena said in a statement posted online.

“This is the most powerful typhoon forecast to hit the island in 15 years; we expect damaging winds to arrive by early Tuesday morning.

“So be prepared!…Tie down your outdoor items and work with your neighbours to help them.”

“During the typhoon, do not go outside… Anything not tied down, even small items, could become deadly projectiles,” the statement said.

Okinawa is regularly hit by typhoons but islanders were taking no chances with fishermen on Miyako island bringing boats back to port and tying them down with ropes.

“It’s rare that we brace for a typhoon (as early as) July,” a Miyako fisherman said in television footage from public broadcaster NHK.

Scientists have identified the largest flying bird known to have ever lived – an extinct giant with a wingspan of up to 24 foot, more than twice the size of the largest living flying bird.

The creature surpassed size estimates based on wing bones from the previous record holder – a long-extinct bird named Argentavis magnificens – and was twice as big as the Royal Albatross, the largest flying bird today. The findings show that the creature was an extremely efficient glider, with long slender wings that helped it stay aloft despite its enormous size.

The fossil was first unearthed in 1983 near Charleston, South Carolina. The specimen was so big they had to dig it out with a backhoe.

“The upper wing bone alone was longer than my arm,” said author Dan Ksepka of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina.

Now in the collections at the Charleston Museum, the strikingly well-preserved specimen consisted of multiple wing and leg bones and a complete skull.

Its sheer size and telltale beak allowed Ksepka to identify the find as a previously unknown species of pelagornithid, an extinct group of giant seabirds known for bony tooth-like spikes that lined their upper and lower jaws.

Named ‘Pelagornis sandersi’, the bird lived 25 to 28 million years ago – after the dinosaurs died out but long before the first humans arrived in the area. Researchers have no doubt that P sandersi flew.

It’s paper-thin hollow bones, stumpy legs and giant wings would have made it at home in the air but awkward on land.

But because it exceeded what some mathematical models say is the maximum body size possible for flying birds, what was less clear was how it managed to take off and stay aloft despite its massive size.

To find out, Ksepka fed the fossil data into a computer programme designed to predict flight performance given various estimates of mass, wingspan and wing shape.

P sandersi was probably too big to take off simply by flapping its wings and launching itself into the air from a standstill.

Like Argentavis, P sandersi may have gotten off the ground by running downhill into a headwind or taking advantage of air gusts to get aloft, much like a hang glider.

Once airborne, Ksepka’s simulations suggest the bird’s long, slender wings made it an incredibly efficient glider.

By riding on air currents that rise up from the ocean’s surface, P sandersi was able to soar for miles over the open ocean without flapping its wings, occasionally swooping down to the water to feed on soft-bodied prey like squid and eels.

“That’s important in the ocean, where food is patchy,” said Ksepka, now Curator at the Bruce Museum in Connecticut.

Researchers hope the find will help shed light on why the family of birds that P sandersi belonged to eventually died out. The finding was published in the journal PNAS.

Directions have been issued to about 48 industrial units polluting River Ganga to close down, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

The Ministry of Environment & Forests has identified 764 grossly polluting industries discharging 501 million litres per day of waste water into Ganga and its major tributaries, Minister of State for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in his written reply “704 industries have been inspected under National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) programme by NGRBA Cell, CPCB till May, 2014. Directions have been issued to 165 industries, of which 48 are closure directions under Section-5 of E(P) Act, 1986,” he said.

The State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) are required to implement effluent discharge standards by the industries.

Gangwar said action has to be taken against defaulting industries by SPCBs under powers delegated to them by the Central Government under relevant provisions of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

To another question on jurisdiction of NGRBA, he said, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has informed that on the recommendations of NGRBA, three power projects – Loharinag Pala, Pala Maneri and Bhaironghati hydro power projects were halted in 2010.

“Further, stage 1B project was also halted in 2010, after National Environment Appellate Authority quashed environmental clearance for the project. In the last three years, no hydro power project has been halted by the Government,” Gangwar said.

Replying to a related question, the Minister said “A comprehensive River Basin Management Plan for Ganga is being prepared by a consortium of seven IITs (Kanpur, Delhi, Madras, Bombay, Kharagpur, Guwahati and Roorkee).

“The objective of the plan is to suggest comprehensive measures for restoration of wholesomeness of Ganga system and improvement of its ecological health, with due regard to the issue of competing water uses in the river basin.”

“The plan would take into consideration requirements of water and energy in the Ganga Basin, while ensuring that fundamental aspects of the river system are protected. The IIT consortium is proposing to submit its report by the end of August,” he said.

Paleontologists have found about six crore-year-old rare fossilised feces of dinosaurs in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmada valley which may unravel some facts about the food habits of this extinct animal, say experts.

“We have recently found fossilised feces of dinosaurs along with its bones during excavation in Umarban area near famous tourist spot Mandu in Dhar district. These fossils are about six crore years old,” paleontologist Vishal Verma, who has been working in the Narmada valley for last two decades, said.

Though dinosaur’s bones and eggs have earlier also been discovered in the Narmada valley, but its fossilised feces have been found for the first time in this geographical region, Verma said.

The fossilised feces are scientifically termed as ‘coprolite’, he said. As per estimates, the fossilised feces discovered in the area are of the last generation of this extinct animal in India, he said.

“This was the last generation of the dinosaurs, which, while battling the adverse geographical changes, was able to survive for a long time. The severe volcanic explosions which occurred around six crore years back had led to the extinction of the last generation of dinosaurs in India,” Verma said.

These fossilised feces would be preserved in the National Dinosaur Fossil Park, situated in Bagh area of Dhar district, he said.

Noted paleontologist Ashok Sahni, who has been helping the Madhya Pradesh government in the setting up of this park, said, “This discovery is of great significance at the global level for paleontological study.”

An extensive study of these fossils could throw light upon the food habits of the dinosaurs and their digestive system, Sahni said.

The Pisdura village in Maharashtra has already attracted the attention of scientists the world over for the discovery of a large quantity of fossilised feces of dinosaurs in that area, he added.

On the occasion of Earth Hour in Ludhiana, Jain Amar Clothing Pvt Ltd (JACPL), promoter of brands — Madame, Nyciti & GQ, contributed to the social cause by planting 501 samplings in Ludhiana on 20th July 2014. These shall be taken care for lifetime by the management as a commitment to their corporate social responsibility programme. Over 60 volunteers along with the senior management from Jain Amar Clothing visited the city-based NGO, Sambhav to participate towards saving the environment by planting and watering the plants.

Mr. Bipan Jain, Managing Director- Jain Amar Clothing Pvt Ltd. kick-started the event by sampling the first plant followed by the active participation from the rest of the JACPL members.

Creative Director- Madame, Mr. Akhil Jain thanked NGO Sambhav for inspiring the participation in this noble cause. He commented, “As per the news around, the record of 100,000 plantation looks very near and we as an organization would always love to be a part of such a noble cause every time.”

Extreme weather caused by Typhoon Rammasun has killed 27 people in Vietnam, with the storm unleashing flash floods, landslides and lightning strikes, authorities said.

Heavy rain flooded 7,200 houses and 4,200 hectares (10,300 acres) of cropland, with the north of the country worst hit, the national flood and storm control committee said. The cost of the damage was estimated at around USD 6 million.

“Rammasun”, meaning “Thunder God” in Thai, had earlier barrelled through the Philippines and then hit southern China, killing more than 100 people and wrecking over 111,000 homes.

It was the most powerful storm to strike China’s southern areas since 1973, the country’s National Meteorological Centre said, and brought torrential rains.

The typhoon then weakened into a low-pressure area as it tracked along the China-Vietnam border.

In 2013 Vietnam was hit by 15 storms including Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 313 people and caused an estimated USD 1.4 billion worth of damage, according to the authorities.

New Delhi: India’s government faces a daunting challenge: how to meet the constitutional right of citizens to a clean environment without compromising economic growth. To drive the creation of new environmental policy to meet both goals, leading regulators, industrialists, environmental lawyers and researchers today met at the University of Chicago Delhi Center at Baba Kharak Singh Marg.

Central Pollution Control Board figures indicate that the respirable particulate matter concentration across 180 monitored Indian cities was six times what the World Health Organization considers safe and twice India’s own national standards. India now has the highest rate of death caused by chronic respiratory diseases anywhere in the world. The need of the hour must therefore be innovation in the use of both technology and regulation. It is also essential that we enhance the use of evidence based policy making in environment. Regulatory reform including market based regulation may hold the potential to solve our environmental challenges, while retaining vibrant economic growth.

These ideas formed the basis for discussions during a conference on ‘Economic Growth and Environmental Protection through Evidence-Based Policy’, hosted by Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC) at the University of Chicago, in association with the Evidence for Policy Design at Harvard University.

In her opening remarks, Harvard Professor of Public Policy, Rohini Pande highlighted the role of research evidence in Indian policy. Research suggests that particulate air pollution in India may result in life expectancy reductions of over 3 years. At the same time, evidence from the United States suggests that market based regulation can successfully be used to combat air pollution, in settings where command and control style approaches have failed.

Jairam Ramesh, MP, Andhra Pradesh and former Minister of Environment and Forests, reinforced the need for compliance. “A Substantial chunk of projects fall into the ‘yes but’ category,” he said, referring to conditions placed on an environmental clearance. But, he said, “compliance is the real issue. We need to have penalties for non-compliances. If there are 36 conditions, each of them should be monitored to ensure compliance.” He also stated the need to explore regulatory options beyond the current command and control system. “We need to have regulations that don’t require regulators… It’s important to explore non bureaucratic ways for giving permits.”

Other sessions focused on Data Driven innovations. Panellists D. Saha (Central Pollution Control Board); V.M. Motghare (Maharashtra Pollution Control Board); and others, introduced their work on regulatory innovations. Two key ideas state pollution control boards have experimented with include (i) the use of continuous emissions monitoring to radically transform how industrial emissions are monitored (ii) the use of so called ‘third-way’ regulation built around transparency and public disclosure of data.

Dr V.P. Joy (Joint Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat); Seema Arora, (CII); Anant Sudarshan, (EPIC); shared their views of the future direction of environmental regulation. In an indication of how seriously industry views the need for regulatory reform, CII has taken the step of producing a detailed white paper on innovative new regulation.

This policy dialogue initiative was the first in a series co-hosted by EPIC’s new India office, housed in the University of Chicago Center in Delhi. EPIC India aims to become a leading research center and a ‘think and do’ tank for energy, environment and water policy in India.

Support for the event: IFMR LEAD, The British Department for International Development’s Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence Program (BCURE), and Harvard University’s Sustainability Science Program.

Hyderabad: Building on its commitment towards the cause of tiger conservation in India, Aircel, to commemorate ‘World Tiger Day’ organized a fun filled event for children at the Aircel office in Hyderabad on Sunday. With an aim to raise awareness amongst the young minds on the importance and significance of tiger conservation, the event witnessed an active participation from over a 100 children and for the first time included children of Aircel trade partners and also of employees.

All the children and parents who gathered were encouraged to pledge to create awareness of Save Our Tigers by Putting their thumb impressions.  Tigers are getting extinct. Down from 40,000 to only 1706. We are loosing them informed the organizers.

Young children were introduced about Tiger. They were explained how it is the biggest CAT in the world. They were also introduced to five different species of Tigers namely 1.  Amur (Siberian) tigers   2. Royal Bengal tigers  3. Indo-chinese tigers 4. South China tigers  5. Sumatran tigers .  TIGERS live in hot jungles as well as in cold forests. All wild tigers live in Asia.  Some of them also live in the snowy forests.  Others live in the humid jungles.  And some live in the dry grasslands and there told.

Whildren were aksed why Tiger is sad?  The tiger is sad because people have killed many of their friends & relatives.  Kids were told that 100 years ago, there were 50,000 to 80,000 tigers lived  in India alone.. Today there are only about 5,000 to 7,400 tigers left in the world.  Young boys and girls were told that there are two reasons why tigers are in danger! Habitat loss:  People cut forests where tigers live, to do farming, build houses & buildings. This leads to tiger becoming homeless and          foodless.  Animals which the tiger eats also die when forests are cut. This leads to tigers becoming weak and ultimately they die. Illegal killing was cited as the second reason for them to be in danger. Tigers are killed to make rugs and coats out of their skins, and  also because in many Asian cultures medicines made from tiger parts are believed to cure diseases.

Why we should save tigers?  Children were asked.  We should save tigers because it like saving us.  Tiger a “Beautiful animal” is an indicator of the forest’s health and they were explained how. Children patiently listened to the awareness presentation made by Aircel team. Children were asked how they can save tigers?  And explained. Kids were given few suggestions such as to start a Save Tiger Club, Visit Tiger Reserves and learn about Tiger Conservation and told to start a “Letter Writing Campaign to Save Tiger.”

Apart from art competition, the event also included engaging and fun filled activities like card making, skit, tiger puzzle, clay modeling, and thumb impressions amongst others.

Speaking at the occasion, Hamir Bakshi, Regional Business Head – South II, Aircel said, “Tigers are one of the most endangered species and awareness about tiger conservation in the country is one of the integral strides of Aircel’s “Save Our Tigers” campaign. We are delighted to organize this engaging fun filled event for the children of our Aircel Family. The cause of ‘Save Our Tigers’ is one that is  deeply embedded in our ethos and whether it is our trade partners or our employees, we all join hands together to champion this cause. Aircel will continue to be a strong proponent of Tiger conservation with various initiatives that help creating awareness amongst the future of this nation, our children and youth”.

Poachers killed an estimated 100,000 elephants across Africa between 2010 and 2012, a huge spike in the continent’s death rate of the world’s largest mammals because of an increased demand for ivory in China and other Asian nations, according to a new study published on Tuesday.

Warnings about massive elephant slaughters have been ringing for years, but the study is the first to scientifically quantify the number of deaths across the continent by measuring deaths in one closely monitored park in Kenya and using other published data to extrapolate fatality tolls across the continent.

The study which was carried out by the world’s leading elephant experts found that the proportion of illegally killed elephants has climbed from 25 percent of all elephant deaths a decade ago to roughly 65 percent of all elephant deaths today, a percentage that, if continued, will lead to the extinction of the species.

China’s rising middle class and the demand for ivory in that country of 1.3 billion people is driving the black market price of ivory up, leading to more impoverished people in Africa “willing to take the criminal risk on and kill elephants.

The causation in my mind is clear,” said the study’s lead author, George Wittemyer of Colorado State University.

The peer-review study was published on Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It was co-authored by experts from Save the Elephants, the Kenya Wildlife Service, an international group called MIKE responsible for monitoring the illegal killings of elephants, and two international universities.

“The current demand for ivory is unsustainable. That is our overarching conclusion. It must come down. Otherwise the elephants will continue to decrease,” said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants.

Elephant deaths are not happening at the same rate across Africa.

The highest death rate is in central Africa, with East Africa Tanzania and Kenya not far behind.

Botswana is a bright spot, with a population that is holding steady or growing.

South Africa’s rhinos are being killed, but poachers have not yet begun attacking elephants. Some individual elephant death numbers are shocking.

The elephant population in Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve dropped from 40,000 to 13,000 over the last three years.

China is aware of its image problem concerning the ivory trade. The embassy in Kenya this month donated anti-poaching equipment to four wildlife conservancies.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Xianfa said at the handover ceremony that China is increasing publicity and education of its people to increase understanding of the illegal ivory trade.

Arunachal Pradesh may get its third tiger reserve after the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India conducts a detailed survey at Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary bordering China to confirm presence of tigers.

The institute in a preliminary survey during February-March had already confirmed the presence of tigers and prey population in the sanctuary.

On the basis of the report, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) recently asked the state Forest Department to submit a proposal to declare the area as a tiger reserve.

Deputy Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife) P Ringu said the WII survey would likely start from next November if the required fund was released by the NTCA.

The survey would take approximately six months to be completed as the sanctuary is very vast covering an area of over 4000 sq kms, Ringu added.

The presence of tigers at Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary was established after state forest officials rescued three tiger cubs from Angrim Valley within the sanctuary in December 2012.

“The department’s officials rescued three cubs from the area after receiving a report of sighting of four cubs. While one died due to malnutrition and disease, the two rescued cubs are presently rehabilitated at Itanagar zoo,” Ringu said.

If Dibang does become a tiger reserve, it will be the third one in the state after Namdapha and Pakke.

Besides Namdapha, the other reserves in the Northeast are Kaziranga, Manas and Nameri.

The WII in its report, “A Rapid Field Survey of Tigers and Prey in Dibang valley district” has confirmed the presence of tigers in the district and have camera trapped the first-ever image of an adult tiger from the sanctuary.

The survey results clearly indicate that the sanctuary holds the highest elevation range for tigers in the country.

“We also observed 10 pug marks and collected 11 scats in and around the wildlife sanctuary,” Ringu said.

Arunachal has two tiger reserves Pakke, covering an 862 sq km area in East Kameng district (declared on April 23, 2002) and Namdapha, covering a 1,850 sq km area in Changlang district (declared tiger reserve and national park in 1983).

Tiger estimations in Arunachal Pradesh have generally been done only in Namdapha and Pakke. Scientists say there is a need to document other source populations as these populations represent historical entry points to the Indian sub-continent and would have high conservation and genetic value.

Though the latest annual census report published in the bi-monthly Outreach Journal of the NTCA say the total count of tigers is 17 in the state, which includes 13 in Pakke tiger reserve and 4 in Namdapha Tiger Reserve, the Forest Department has exuded confidence that the figure will be between 40 and 50.

The Namdapha Tiger Reserve is the only national park in India where all the four varieties of big cats – tiger (Panthera Tigris), leopard (Panthera Pardus), snow leopard (Panthera Uncia) and clouded leopard (Neofelis Nebulosa) have been found.

Archaeologists have unearthed two ancient Maya cities hidden in thick vegetation in the Mexican jungle.

The cities were discovered in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Campeche, in the heart of the Yucatan peninsula.

Expedition leader Ivan Sprajc, of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and his team found the massive remains as they further explored the area around Chactun, a large Maya city discovered by the Slovenian archaeologist in 2013.

One of the newly discovered cities featured an extraordinary facade with an entrance representing the open jaws of an earth monster, ‘Discovery News’ reported.

The site was visited in the 1970s by American archaeologist Eric Von Euw, who documented the facade and other stone monuments with yet unpublished drawings. However, the exact location of the city, referred to as Lagunita by Von Euw, remained lost.

Lagunita was identified only after the archaeologists compared the newly found facade and monuments with Von Euw’s drawings. The monster-mouth facade turned to be one of the best preserved examples of this type of doorways, which are common in the Late-Terminal Classic Rio Bec architectural style, in the nearby region to the south

. Researchers also found remains of a number of massive palace-like buildings arranged around four major plazas. A ball court and a temple pyramid almost 65 ft high also stood in the city, while 10 stelae (tall sculpted stone shafts) and three altars (low circular stones) featured well-preserved reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The other city unearthed by Sprajc was named Tamchen, which means “deep well” in Yucatec Maya. More than 30 chultuns were found at the site. These are bottle-shaped underground chambers, largely intended for collecting rainwater.

Like in Lagunita, plazas were surrounded by large buildings. These include the remains of an acropolis supporting a courtyard with three temples on its sides.

Mumbai: To pledge its commitment towards creating a positive environmental impact, Pepperfry.com India’s No.1 furniture and home products marketplace has announced that it will enable planting of least one lakh trees by December 2014. In its bid to add substantially to India’s green cover the leading ecommerce company extended this initiative to its customers. For which it will run a feature on the website to enable customers to make their contribution. The drive, which is called “Save the Earth-Plant a Tree” comprises planting trees as a part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

Pepperfry.com has commenced this drive by planting 1000 saplings and has made a strong resolve to fulfil this commitment. The objective is to make a positive impact on the environment by planting trees. The company has tied up with Grow-Trees, a social enterprise that plants trees on government and community lands for Rs.60 per tree to ensure success and facilitate tree plantation.

To enable customers to contribute towards this initiative Pepperfry.com has incorporated an option button for them on the website. After customers finalize the order, while checking out they can click on the option of contributing Rs.30 towards planting a tree by clicking on the Grow Trees button. While Pepperfry will contribute the balance of Rs.30. Post the completion of checkout, they can view an e-certificate as confirmation and receive the Grow Tree certificate on the registered email address.

Talking about this initiative Mr. Ashish Shah, COO and Founder Pepperfry.com, said, “This is a part of our endeavor to ensure conservation and enhancement of our natural environment. It is a testament to the spirit of our commitment towards promoting best environmental practices within our eco-system. We hope to extend the initiative beyond one lakh and surpass our target of adding additional trees every year to India‘s green cover.”

Grow Trees plants trees through its planting partners in projects across eight states in India namely Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. Grow Trees is also a planting partner for the United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) Billion Tree Campaign, an official partner for UNDB and were official partners for WWF’s Cities for Forest Campaign. Till date Grow Trees has planted over 682,000 trees.

As a responsible business, Pepperfry aims to be environmentally inclined to focus on contributing towards impacting the green cover in India.

Observing that trees are the lungs a city, the National Green Tribunal has directed authorities to complete deconcretisation work in four Delhi colonies within a week.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar appointed Sharan Thakur, an advocate, as local commissioner in the matter and directed him to inspect the colonies — R K Puram, Safdarjung Development Area (SDA), Ashok Vihar and Hauz Khas– on day to-day basis from September 3.

“Fact of the matter remains that trees need to be protected as they are vital part of our environment and ecology. Trees of a city particularly like Delhi, where emission is so high and violate all the parameters, are the lungs of the city.

Need of the hour and statutory obligations of all the concerned authorities is to preserve and protect them,” the bench said.

“All the authorities concerned in relation to the four colonies of Delhi which were subject matter of the pilot project before the tribunal, are directed to complete the remaining work of deconcretisation within one week from today…,” it said.

The tribunal said that all the authorities including the SHOs of the police stations concerned shall assist and provide due protection and assistance to local commissioner for the work of deconcretisation so that the trees do not die and get proper air and water.

It also set up five different committees constituting of officials from different agencies including Delhi Development Authority, PWD and Central Public Works Department to carry out deconcretisation.

The NGT was hearing a plea by Aditya Prasad alleging that despite various orders of the tribunal, deconcretisation of the trees has not been carried out effectively.

According to Prasad, concretisation work in four colonies has not been completed till date, even after specific directions, and authorities must be held responsible for non-compliance of the orders.

The petitioner also submitted that the authorities had misrepresented that 80 per cent of the trees in Delhi under the jurisdiction of the various authorities have been deconcretised.

The Centre will create a Special Rhino Protection Force in Assam to protect the animal from poaching and form a task force to enquire into encroachment of forest land in the state, Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar said today.

“We will have zero tolerance for rhino poaching. With the help of Central funds, a Special Rhino Protection Force will be created in Assam,” Javadekar said.

Primarily local youths would form the Force as they knew both the forests and animals, said the minister, who was on a two-day visit to Assam for discussing the poaching and encroachment issues in Kaziranga National Park (KNP).

The minister said that 22 rhinos had been killed this year, while 24 poachers were arrested and 20 others lost their lives in encounters with security forces.

On encroachment of forest land, Javadekar said “we’ll form a task force which will formulate a mechanism and enquire into the issue of encroachment in forests. It will talk to the state government on the issue.

“I have told the state government that if there is any encroachment, then enquire it and take necessary action. In the next six months, we’ll evaluate the work done by the Centre and the state,” he said.

To a query on allegation of settling illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in KNP by the state government, Javadekar said “a task force will be formed.”

On the ongoing CBI enquiry into two cases of poaching, he said the Centre would request the investigating agency to put it on fast track and consider adding one or two more cases of rhino killing into the probe.

Sympathising with the works done by the forest guards in challenging conditions, the minister said health insurance scheme would be provided to them by the Centre which would consider giving life insurance as well.

“We will also create a group of select people called ‘Friends of Rhino’. This will work for protection of the animal,” he said.

Appreciating the work done in protecting the one-horned animal, Javadekar requested the state government to be “more responsible” and have a “zero tolerance against poaching”.

“We believe in development with protection of environment and both have to go together. We cannot have development without the environment,” he said.

Javadekar also said that the Centre had asked all the eight north eastern states to finalise the boundaries of eco- sensitive zones soon so that these could be recognised.

Appreciating the emotion of people from different segments of the state in protecting rhino, he said the government was considering to increase the area of KNP with the rise in population of the animal.

He said deliberation was on to make the six corridors of animal passage on the National Highway-37 completely safe for them with the help of technology.