Challenges posed by climate change hit centre stage in 2009 which saw the government doing a flip-flop ahead of the crucial Copenhagen summit even as the Opposition and experts alleged that India succumbed to pressure from rich nations on emission cuts.
Bird watchers and conservationists can heave a sigh of relief as the Centre has shot down a road-widening proposal that would have caused death of the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, some 60 km South-west of Mumbai. The standing committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) of the environment ministry in a recent meeting rejected the state government's plan for diverting a chunk of land from the sanctuary for widening of Mumbai-Goa highway.
The figures made available under the RTI Act reflects that the royal predators have been unsafe not only in non-protected area but also inside reserves, given that this year alone 14 cases of tiger mortality, including four tigresses and two cubs, have been reported till November.
"In the Naxalite-infested reserves, it will not be easy for the armed forces to keep a tab on the tigers as they can come in conflict with the equally well-equipped extremists," a top ministry official said.
A team of the Central Pollution Control Board, which visited the fabled Silk Route in 2007, a year after it was reopened for cross border trade between China and India, found that expansion of the trade route was disturbing the ecosystem of the area. "Reopened with an aim to boost trade between China and India, ongoing expansion of one of the world's highest navigable roads is in progress without any precaution of the possible environmental impact," the Board said.
The issue would come up for discussion at the meeting of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) at the Hague on Tuesday when India will insist that the ban should continue to save the endangered species.
The Finance Ministry has sanctioned only 50 posts citing shortage of funds, official sources said.
Taj Mahal, India's most famous architectural wonder, on Tuesday joined the race to be named one of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World'.
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