A special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that Odisha's forest and environment department sidestepped central guidelines, procuring and customising Mahindra Thar SUVs worth 17 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for forest protection, despite the funds being earmarked for 'preparedness and capacity building'.
Official records reveal that over one lakh mature trees have been felled in Assam since May 2016 for various development projects, raising concerns about ecological loss despite compensatory afforestation efforts.
At least seven elephants were killed, and one was injured after a herd of jumbos was hit by the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai district early Saturday, officials said.
Quarrying operations in Vikarabad, Telangana, have been temporarily suspended to protect a rock eagle owl and its eggs. The forest department intervened after being alerted by wildlife photographers and conservationists.
Over 70 scientists, environmentalists, and former bureaucrats are urging the Indian government to reconsider the Great Nicobar Island project, citing environmental and social concerns.
Speaking to PTI, Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the additional chief secretary of the forest and environment department Ravi Shankar Prasad has been directed to look after the allegation following a reply to a social activist under the Right to Information Act.
One more African cheetah died in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) on Tuesday due to suspected infighting, a senior forest department official said, the seventh feline fatality in four months.
The incident is seen as a major setback for the ambitious 'Project Cheetah' under which 20 felines were translocated to KNP in Sheopur district from Namibia and South Africa in separate batches in September 2022 and February this year.
The death of the more than four-and-a-half years old female feline is being seen as a setback to Project Cheetah, aimed at reviving the population of the world's fastest land animal in India, seven decades after they became extinct.
Fadnavis said preliminary reports made available to him stated that the tigress was shot after she attacked the forest staff trying to tranquilise her.
Facing flak for its failure to check unabated poaching of one-horned rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park the Assam government has sought public opinion on its intention to launch a pilot project of dehorning (trimming) rhinos.
British royal couple Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton on Thursday visited the Kaziranga National Park in a jeep safari.
The United States will provide security assistance to Pakistan to help it build counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism capabilities under a joint five-year plan developed by the two countries.
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