STAFF REPORTER

CLIMATE CHANGE Ramsar Sites in India

<p>World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on 2 February. India currently has 39 sites (updated October 2020) designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 689,131 hectares including Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir.</p>

Read more
LIFE Changing perspectives of child sex ratio in Haryana

<p>It took Haryana twenty long years to bring up the child sex ratio (in the age group of 0 to 6 years) to 900 as per the Civil Registration System, January 2016 though it still remains lower than the generally accepted national norm of 950 girls to 1000 boys. Nevertheless, it is a significant improvement [&hellip;]</p>

Read more
LIFE Mine Tourism in India for the first time

<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>

Read more
POLICY Diversifying India’s Food Basket: NBA outlines the critical role of biodiversity

<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>

Read more
FISHERIES Suckerfish: Darling of aquariums, terror of open waters

<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>

Read more
POLLUTION Cleaning Up Delhi air

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.

Read more
POLITICS Paris Climate Agreement Comes Into Force

<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>

Read more
URBANIZATION Urban Space Theories

<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>

Read more
URBANIZATION Living Spaces | A Succinct Settlement Story

<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>

Read more
URBANIZATION The City Scape: Understanding the Urban Settlement

<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>

Read more