<p>Ever fancied climbing down sooty black tunnels with dank, dark walls flanking you on all sides? Well, face your fears, as &#8216;extreme tourism&#8217; comes of age. From November 2016 onward, one can hop into a man riding system and travel down into live coalmines of Saoner, 500 m below the surface.</p>

<p>Our food basket is increasingly being confined to a few select crops and cereals. Yet, our nation is endowed with a huge variety - a rich biodiversity, which provides of a complex stock of animals, plant and micro-organisms at genetic, species and eco-system levels. India needs to look beyond performance and diversify with biodiversity as the as a key functionary of the agro-ecosystem. Policies are thus urgently needed to promote a robust and sustainable agro-process through the biodiversity route.</p>

<p>Pterygoplichthys or commonly known as Janitor fish or sailfin armoured catfish and popular in India as suckerfish have severely invaded inland water bodies in India.</p>

Wintry smog has been plaguing Delhi for years, yet it hardly attracted much attention from the authorities. This year, as the capital ended up akin to a gas chamber, the government was shaken off its somnolence. But results will depend on strict enforcement of norms.

<p>The Paris Climate Agreement  became operational from November 4, 2016. To mark the historic occasion, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris were lit up in celebration. And the celebration was indeed justified, given the fact that it has entered into into force in about one eighth of the time it took [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The growth in towns and cities across the world be it developed or developing, industrialist or pre-industrial, has fueled man&#8217;s appetite to be informed about the spatial aspects of cities-their location, growth and relationship both one with another and with their surrounding regions.</p>

<p>Settlement Geography Man, needs shelter! It is one of his earliest demands from the environment that he constantly struggles with. No wonder each and every traditional house type reflects this bond.</p>

<p>The word urban underlies a basic theme. One that its population size is larger than its rural counterpart, two that its size is definitely larger and three that its functions are varied. Function is probably the most important criterion to define a town. The other criteria are population size and population density. Different countries have [&hellip;]</p>

In conversation with Dr. G. A. Ramadass, Group Head, Scientist-G, Deep Sea Technologies Group, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). In an exclusive interview, Dr. Ramadass talks about India’s plans to mine polymetallic nodules in the Indian Ocean. Major nations are looking to the oceans for mineral and fuel reserves as reserves on land deplete fast.

<p>Since the late 1970s, the term ‘empowerment’ has been liberally applied by academics and aid workers in the English-speaking world, including in social services, social psychology, public health, adult literacy and community development.</p>