Environment

India has continuously demonstrated its responsibility towards acknowledging the emerging threats from climate change and implementing the climate actions on the basis of the principles of Equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities for improving efficiency of the economy and its engines of growth. The major policies and plans include: India under Paris Deal India has … Read more

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. The MARPOL Convention was adopted on 2 November 1973 at IMO. The Protocol of 1978 was adopted in response to a spate of tanker … Read more

The surface water percolates well when the rocks are permeable, thinly bedded and highly jointed and cracked. After vertically going down to some depth, the water under the ground flows horizontally through the bedding planes, joints or through the materials themselves. It is this downward and horizontal movement of water which causes the rocks to … Read more

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established in 2003 by the Central Government to implement India’s Biological Diversity Act (2002). The NBA is a Statutory body and that performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory function for Government of India on issue of Conservation, sustainable use of biological resource and fair equitable sharing of benefits of use. … Read more

. Due to its low capital cost, groundwater is the most preferred source of water in India. According to an  estimate, groundwater accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the rural domestic water needs, and 50 per  cent of the urban water needs in India.   However, a variety of land and water- based human activities … Read more

The forest cover is broadly classified in 4 classes, namely very dense forest, moderately dense forest, open forest and mangrove. The classification of the cover into dense and open forests is based on internationally adopted norms of classification. It has not been possible to further segregate the dense forest into more classes owing to enormity … Read more

Shola forests are tropical Montane forests found in the valleys separated by rolling grasslands only in the higher elevations. They are found only in South India in the Southern Western Ghats. The shola forests are patches of forests that occur only in the valleys where there is least reach of the fog and mist. Other … Read more

Social forestry means the management and protection of forests and afforestation on barren  lands with the purpose of helping in the environmental, social and rural development. The  National Commission on Agriculture (1976) has classified social forestry into three categories. The main thrust of social forestry is to reduce pressure on the  traditional forest areas by … Read more

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants ( POP’s) is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment. … Read more

Air pollution is broken down into ambient (outdoor) air pollution and indoor air pollution. This pollution comes from many sources, the majority of them a result of human activity: the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal to generate electricity for homes and businesses, or petrol and diesel to power our cars, buses, ships and … Read more