In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
Enter the food pharmacy: while major competing pharmaceutical firms scour their laboratories for a wonder drug to outsmart the newest disease on the block, a new breed of nutritionists and naturopaths have announced their arrival in medicine's big league. For food pharmacists, treatment goes beyond the "You are what you …
After the successful release of his book, Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab, Anupam Mishra of the Gandhi Peace Foundation will soon release Rajasthan ki Rajat Bunde, based on 10 years of research on the traditional water harvesting systems of Rajasthan. The book includes interesting facets of traditional water harvesting systems …
Parkinson's disease affects millions of old people. The symptoms include progressive tremor, rigidity of limbs and difficulty in body coordination. The cause of Parkinson's is unknown, the pathology poorly understood. The main physiological change is the depletion of the neurotransmitter -- a chemical that helps transmit nerve impulses -- dopamine. …
Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD) such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and strokes, are the leading cause of death among elderly persons. Eighty per cent of all deaths due to CHD occur in persons over 65. Most common forms of CHD, such as atherosclerosis, are caused by structural and functional …
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a mental disorder resulting from brain degeneration. It affects almost 1 in 10 individuals over the age of 65. The disease is characterised by confusion, personality and behavioural changes, impaired judgement and difficulty in following words and directions. Eventually, it robs its victims of volition. Identified …
HE HAD jet black hair when he quit the Oval Office 12 years ago, at unnerving variance with the network of age-lines on his face, wattles, dewlaps and all. But even then, his brain had already kicked off into the bottomless abyss of Alzheimer's disease. "I now begin the journey …
Political priorities in insurgency-prone Kashmir may well override the apparent vigour of the wildlife officialdom to protect the shahtoosh (Hymalayan goat-antelope). Senior bureaucrats of the union environment ministry (MEF) cite the large number of recent seizures of shahtoosh-derived products as proof of their drive to protect the endangered species. Shahtoosh …
THE proposed Mochovce nuclear power project in Slovakia has created much heat in Europe. A chain reaction of protests has been set off and the whole project has got entangled in a complicated maze of arguments and counter-arguments. Neighbouring Austria and environmental groups like the Greenpeace had already let off …
BOULDER-sized bison, grizzly bears and the wild horses, the stuff of Western romantic myths, have now been herded together for tourists. Situated high on the Rocky mountains, the United States National Wildlife Art Museum is devoted to sculptures, paintings and sketches of American wildlife. In addition to 12 galleries, there …
DAVID Turner captures Virginia's endangered species in bronze. There is that master of camouflage, the piping plover of the windy beaches and mudflats of America's eastern shore. This is the 3rd of Turner's Endangered Species Series to raise funds for Virginia's Nongame and Endangered Species Programme. A limited edition of …
A MAJOR disaster is not enough. It takes censure and orders from the courts to shake the somnolent bureaucracy into action. The still-traumatised Marathwada quake victims have created history by resorting to public interest litigations (PIL) to ensure relief through the natural disaster management efforts of the government. "Such legal …
While the Marathwada quake victims waited for succour, lucre and its distribution ensnared the NGOs, the voluble critics of government's callous habits, in attritious squabblings. S Parasuraman's paper on NGO activity, presented at the workshop, does not exactly do them pride. In the aftermath of the earthquake, more than 130 …
SUDDENLY, everything was gone: home and hearth, families and friends. The earth had danced a tarantella. And thousands in Marathwada joined the army of the living dead. How much time is enough to erase memories of such an upheaval? In the post-disaster period in Marathwada, mental health did not receive …
HOMES were rebuilt, but the pastures vanished. Money came pouring in but trades were lost. And now the reconstruction of the quake-devastated Marathwada villages by urban thinkers resembled a Babelian confusion. The result: the rehabilitation of the people ended up disrupting the village ecosystem. "Everyone -- the government, the NGOs …
NEW generation dream tyres may add zip and more traction to highway driving, but several countries fear they could just skid into nightmare zones. The menace assumes various forms: discarded tyres clutter the roadsides, clog the coasts, or give off noxious fumes when burned. And tyre production is still rolling …
Conflict between the local population in Gir and the conservation authorities can be traced back to the formation of the wildlife sanctuary in 1965. Revenue wastelands and grazing land on the Gir forest periphery were declared reserved and protected forests without the villagers knowledge. This land was previously kept outside …
Intensive management of Kuno forests is required before lions can be introduced in the area, claim Wildlife Institute of India researchers. Because the population of herbivores such as chital, nilgai, sambar and blackbuck is too low to sustain the lions, it is planned to introduce over 5 years 500 of …
Supplementing efforts to preserve the Asiatic lion, albeit in captivity, the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh has bred about 150 lions since the '50s. These have been sent to zoos in India and abroad and form the only pure-bred population of the cat in captivity. Sakkarbaug zoo officer R D Katara …
Jan-Feb 1995 •Preparation for relocation and rehabilitation of the local people from proposed national park area in Kuno with their consent. •Translocation of captured nilgai, sambar and other ungulates that form the prey for the lion. March-July •Shifting of villagers from core areas of proposed Park and starting rehabilitation work …
