Category: ENVIRONMENT

Ruthless Exploitation Of Rivers Undermining Mountain Ecosystems

ICN WORLD

By: Rakesh Lohumi, Sr. Editor-ICN Group  SHIMLA: The breathtaking sights and the thunder of the fast flowing Sutlej will be lost to the posterity if all the hydroelectric projects are commissioned over the next decade as planned. The river with the highest power potential in the state will virtually vanish like the mythological Saraswati. A dry river bed dotted with manmade reservoirs built to divert water for power generation will be left as the meandering river will flow only through long tunnels bored underneath the towering mountains as and when its…

Read More

Artificial Lighting : Beauty Or Beast

ICN WORLD

By: Poornima Dubey, Sub Editor-ICN Light pollution affects every citizen. It is a serious environmental concern that wastes money, resources and cause different types of pollution also such as air pollution while jeopardizing wildlife, our environment, health and human heritage. As many responsible citizens of this world , you are also  taking several steps to reduce carbon footprint at home, dutifully recycle your wastes each week, replace all the incandescent light bulbs in your home by LEDs or CFLs  but even then also you are burdening our universe with great effect…

Read More

Invasive Weeds Undermining Farm Productivity, Biodiversity

ICN WORLD

By: Rakesh Lohumi, Sr. Editor-ICN Group SHIMLA: The Himalayas are a treasure house of medicinal and aromatic plants.With no effective strategy to thwart the march of invasive alien species, which pose a major threat to the indigenous flora, more and more area is being usurped by weeds like lantana, ageratum, parthenium (Congress grass) and eupatorium. The appearance of large gregarious patches of these weeds from the Himalayan foothills in the north to the Tamil Nadu in the south is a matter of grave concern as they pose a serious threat to…

Read More

HYDROPOWER PLANTS AND ROAD PROJECTS A BIG DRAIN ON FORESTS

ICN WORLD

By: Rakesh Lohumi ,Sr. Editor-ICN Group SHIMLA: Hydropower plants and road projects are taking a heavy toll of the ever depleting forest reserves in Himachal Pradesh which is having the lowest green cover among the Himalayan hill states. Being a renewable source of energy hydropower projects are largely considered to be environment friendly but they account for bulk of the forest land diverted for non-forestry use. In fact, hydropower plants and road projects have together gobbled up 80 percent of the 12005 hectare of forests diverted since the enforcement of Forest…

Read More

Think, Eat And Save The Environment

ICN WORLD

By: Prof. Jaswant Singh, Member-Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica & Arctic, Director-Institute of Earth Sciences & Executive Editor-ICN Group Every year, June 5 is celebrated as World Environment Day with a new theme.This year the theme is ‘Beat Air Pollution’. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. This is equivalent to the same amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children…

Read More

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Launches Air Pollution Source Apportionment Study

ICN WORLD

By: Dr. Dakter Esse, Editor-ICN NEW DELHI: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in association with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the leading instrumentation company Horiba, Ltd has launched a pilot study on real time source apportionment of PM2.5 (particulate matter below 2,5 micron in size) in Delhi-NCR. The objective of this study is to identify the signature of various sources of pollution and carry out source speciation in select hotspots in Delhi-NCR. CSE announced the launch of the study here today at a Round Table Meeting. The…

Read More

Antarctica Ice Shelf Cracks-Warning For The Global Sea-Level Rise?

ICN WORLD

By: Prof. Jaswant Singh (Member-Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica & Arctic, Director-Institute of Earth Sciences & Executive Editor-ICN Group  Scientists believe that the entire West Antarctica Ice Sheet is likely to collapse within the next 100 years, sending a massive volume of water into the sea. The data collected by the researchers on Climate change and their forecasts based on General circulation model (GCM), Earth’s and ocean water temperature is increasing. This is not only affecting the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem but human life also. Climate change is the challenge of our…

Read More

“Save Water-Save Yourself”

ICN WORLD

By: Dr. Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Asstt. Editor-ICN LUCKNOW: The above mentioned title would look old fashioned and well known but if we look in to this issue, we would understand how true and how serious it is. Water is the most precious gift of nature. It has no taste, no smell and no color. It is found everywhere and the other name of it is “life” because it is the basis of fluid element of all living organisms. We, today live in a world suffering from illnesses inflicted on our…

Read More

Prof. S Z Qasim: The First Indian To Set Foot On Frozen Continent Antarctica

ICN WORLD

By: Dr. Shah Ayaz Siddiqui, Editor-In-Chief-ICN Group The First Indian Antarctic Expedition where Prof. S Z Qasim successfully landed on 9th January 1982 and hoisted the Indian Flag on the frozen continent. Renowned Marine Biologist Prof. S Z Qasim, who first made way to the frozen continent Antarctica in 1981-82, and successfully organized and guided the next the seven expeditions, pioneered in Fisheries Biology, mari-culture, estuarine ecology, environmental pollution and Antarctic research. Prof. S Z Qasim was born on December 31, 1926 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He began his schooling from…

Read More

Environmental Fallout: Changing Weather Pattern Poses Threat To Apple Cultivation

ICN WORLD

By: Rakesh Lohumi, Sr. Editor-ICN Group Farmers in mid-hills and higher hills switched over to horticulture and took to apple cultivation in a big way as the mountainous terrain is not suitable for growing agricultural crops due to topographical constraints. SHIMLA: A consequence of the fast degrading hill environment, the changing weather pattern is posing a serious threat to apple, a premium fruit crop of Himalayan hills which brought prosperity to the state of Himachal Pradesh. With snow becoming increasingly scarce and winters getting warmer by the year the apple is…

Read More