https://sites.google.com/site/botanarythegreenpage/

.......Hungary sludge reservoir at risk of collapse ......

caustic mix: Polluted waters of Marcal river mixes with Raba river in Gyor, Hungary, on Saturday.

17,066 acres of land in Munnar forest division to be notified as reserve forest

The State Cabinet on Wednesday decided to notify more than 17,000 acres in the Kanan Devan Hills (KDH) of the Munnar forest division as reserve forest. It is understood that the notification will cover 17,066 acres against the initial proposal of 17,349.90 acres..

96 butterfly species sighted in survey

A butterfly survey in the Thirunelly section of the North Wayanad Forest Division has reported the sighting of 96 species.The three-day survey, conducted by the Wildlife Department and the Ferns Naturalists Society, concluded here on Tuesday.It is a precursor to the setting up of a butterfly park in the area. The survey was intended to be a feasibility study to assess the species of butterflies, including endemic and migrating ones.

The reported sightings are of 18 species of Skippers, 9 species of Blues, 14 species of Swallowtails, 12 Pierids and 43 species of Nymphalids, P.A. Vinayan, survey organiser, told The Hindu. Endemic species such as Southern Bird Wing (Troides Minos), Malabar Banded Swallowtail (Papplio Liomedon), Tamil Catseye (Zipoetis Saitis), South India Blue Oak Leaf (Kallima Horsfieldi) and Malabar Raven (Papilio Dravidarum) were sighted in many places.

Some rare butterflies such as Paris Peacock (Papilio Paris), Painted Sawtooth (Prioneris Sita), Tamil Treebrown (Lethe Drypetis Lethe), Cruiser (Vindula Erota) were also sighted during the survey.

New species in Mekong area ..........

A carnivorous plant in the Kampot province, a small fish with vampire fangs, and a frog that sounds like a cricket ( Leptolalax applebyi) were among 145 new species discovered last year in the Greater Mekong area.

Three were found in Cambodia, while 58 were in Thailand. The Mekong river region spans the area from Burma to China's southern Yunnan province to Vietnam.

The three species in Cambodia were plants, including the carnivorous Nepenthes bokorensis, which can grow up to seven metres. Its red, insect-trapping pitchers can touch 25 cm. Though a recent “discovery” by scientists, in the Bokor Hill in Kampot province, it is known locally. Its roots are boiled as a concoction to ease body pain.

Japan recycles minerals from used electronics

Two decades after global competition drove the mines in this corner of Japan to extinction, Kosaka is again abuzz with talk of new riches.The treasures are not copper or coal. They are rare-earth elements and other minerals that are crucial to many Japanese technologies and have so far come almost exclusively from China, the global leader in rare earth mining.Japan is also pushing for new manufacturing processes that do not require rare earths..like motor for hybrid vehicles that used cheap and readily available ferrite magnets, instead of the rare earth magnets typically required.But this form of recycling is an expensive and technically difficult process that is still being perfected....Let them tryyyyy

Soft Targets..........

It’s an alarming fact that has made the Union health ministry sit up and take notice: data from across the country is showing a rise in the number of paediatric HIV cases. Of the 2.5 million people with HIV in India today, four per cent are below 15 years. Recently, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said in Parliament that more than 64,500 children had tested positive, while some 19,000 children in whom the virus had turned active were receiving anti-retroviral drugs at treatment centres across the country.

Maharashtra, at 24,614, has the highest number of HIV-infected children, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 23,621. Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tripura, as is to be expected in small or sparsely populated states, have the fewest—six cases each.

Honey! it's sweet, yet comes with a sting

That spoonful of “guaranteed pure” sweetness may be hiding a bitter secret. Branded honey sold in India is likely to be contaminated with harmful antibiotics, according to a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment.

CSE's Pollution Monitoring Laboratory tested 12 leading brands of honey sold in Delhi, including those made by Indian companies such as Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali, Baidyanath and Khadi as well as by two foreign companies based in Switzerland and Australia. Scientists found high levels of six harmful antibiotics in 11 samples, with only the Indian Hitkari brand coming out clean....

....Declining AvifaunA...

Seventy-five years after Salim Ali conducted his famous Travancore-Cochin bird survey, researchers who did a similar count, following the same route and corresponding dates, identified 337 bird species. The latest survey reveals the “extent of ecological damage that took place over a period of seven decades since 1933,”

Migratory birds

“There is a tremendous change in the pattern of migratory birds. More dry land/open area species started wintering in various parts of Kerala. Resident low country birds started moving up to the highlands causing severe competition for endemic forms. The future is bleak … ,” the report cautions comparing the status of various species.

he blue-winged parakeet, the small sunbird, the Indian rufuos babbler and the white-bellied treepie have a healthy population. However, the habitats of the grey-breasted laughing thrush, the black-and-orange flycatcher, the white-bellied shortwing and the Nilgiri flycatcher found in high-altitude shola forests are under threat. The large-scale decline of the Nilgiri wood pigeon, an IUCN Red List category bird, causes concern.

Tourism in high-altitude areas is a major threat to endemic species.The annual forest fires in the higher altitude grasslands threaten the ecosystem and birds such as the Nilgiri and the brown rock pipit and the broad-tailed grass warbler. The lesser fish eagle, a globally threatened species, is a significant addition to the avian fauna of the State.

IUCN to assess Western Ghats for nomination to heritage list

Experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will tour the Western Ghats region next month to evaluate its nomination to the World Heritage List.The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has prepared a nomination for inscription of 39 serial sites in the Western Ghats on the list. “The purpose of inscription is to ensure that the sites of outstanding universal value are protected for the present and future generations,” “The Western Ghats, spread over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra, stands a good chance to be included on the list considering its global significance in terms of biodiversity value,” The ghats region is likely to be assessed in the category of sites which “contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.” The government had established several protected areas including the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve and 13 national parks in the region considering its biodiversity significance.The world heritage list includes 911 properties, including 29 from India, which the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO considers as having outstanding universal value.

Actually what z our need??z t food r resorts???

Even as the State and Central governments are preparing to bring long-awaited relief to thousands of farmers in Kuttanad through the implementation of the Rs.1,840-crore-Kuttanad Package, indications are that the land lobby too is working overtime to grab as much land as possible at the earliest. Kuttanad's scenic paddy fields have for long been eyed by the land lobby, with the aim of reclaiming these fields and constructing resorts..

Again A Dawn F Naxalism..

Even as the Bihar police intensified operations against Naxals in the forests of Lakhisarai on Friday, the news of the killing of one of the four hostages by the rebels sent shock waves in the corridors of the State government.The police found the bullet-riddled body of Havildar Lukas Tete on a road at Simratalli Korasi, under the Chanan police station, in the early hours of Friday.

ADG (Headquarters) P.K. Thakur said the incident only served to “strengthen the resolve of the police, who would fight harder to rescue their captured colleagues and bring the Naxals to book.”..
so then think of Lukas Tete family,,n who is gonna look after them..cant bear the grief of his family who are screened in today's news channels...what the damn crap is happening to our society, ..,DO remember that this can happen to any of us n future.,,.

these people are crossing all the limits of Indian patience,,,i do think itz the time of their complete DISASTER,,
Join our hands to fight against Naxalism,,,
Arise..awake ...n stop not till v go get rid of thiz...

The Hindu : Front Page : Don't buy painted Ganesh idols, State tells people

The Hindu : Front Page : Don't buy painted Ganesh idols, State tells people: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Pea-Size Frog on Pencil Perch,,,

A newfound, pea-size frog, Microhyla nepenthicola, sits on the tip of a pencil.

One of the smallest frogs in the world, the species was spotted inside and around pitcher plants in Malaysian rain forests on the island of Borneo....

....The Oldest Material in Solar System....

Pea-size minerals inside a meteorite are the oldest known material in the solar system.At 4,568.2 million years old, the minerals push back the birth of the solar system by as much as two million yearsand an exploding star injected key materials into our system as it was being born.

The 3-pound (1.5-kilogram) parent meteorite, dubbed NWA 2364, was found in 2004 in Morocco and is believed to have originated from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The tests reveal that telltale mineral lumps inside—called calcium-aluminum inclusions—are from a time before that asteroid belt existed. The minerals may have formed just after part of an interstellar gas and dust cloud, or nebula, had collapsed and formed our sun."This revised age is between 0.3 and 1.9 million years older than previous estimates,""making it the oldest on record."

....A Sumatran N Full Swing....

A Sumatran tiger faces a camera trap head on in Kerinci Seblat National Park, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.One of the last havens for the Sumatran tiger—listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Unlike the well-known subspecies the Bengal tiger and Siberian tiger, Sumatran tigers "have not achieved international fame, and this is partly because it is so difficult to document this equatorial species hiding in lush evergreen rainforest..

World 'S Largest Pookalam At Calicut swapna nagari

Jst Awesome ...

.......Letz remember Rajiv Gandhi....

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi ( 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was the 7th Prime Minister of the Republic of India, serving from his mother's death on 31 October 1984 until his resignation on 2 December 1989 . He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40. He was the elder son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi.He was a professional pilot for Indian Airlines before entering politics. While at Cambridge, he met Italian-born Sonia Gandhi whom he later married......

...Again n Independenz Day(63rd )..

In diz eve f our 63rd Independence day..jst turn around n SEE ,,what all v hav with our so called Bharath Mahan...

1. Food insecurity
2. Naxalism
3.Terrorism
4.Price Rise
5.International conflicts..
6.Regional and State disputes
7.Natural disasters.....

India need to jst eradicate al deze things,,,,then only our Former president..Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam's dream of India being a super power by 2020 will b a reality....

Do V nEEd To HeaR Diz RoAR..AgAinn,,think ovr diz

The Asiatic Lion is classified as one of the most endangered mammals in India. There are just 360 of them left in the wild.Once the king of the forests, today he stands in need of protection. The Asiatic Lion ( Panthera leo persica) survive today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat.The Asiatic Lion once roamed Asia from Palestine to India . Over the many years they were wiped out throughout their range mainly due to habitat alteration and hunting.The space at Gir is not sufficient to support a large number of lions and also they are surrounded by human habitation.
The Asiatic Lion is a social animal. Generally they live in a small pride comprising one to three males and one to four females with their young ones.
One interesting method is to recognize them individually by markings on their faces, as well as counting and noting down the arrangement of their whisker-spots.
A lot of steps need to be taken to save this elegant,tough and finite species...please....

"India's PDS fails to ensure food for all'"

The National Food Security Act has failed to reform the discriminatory public distribution system leaving many high and dry. The costly targeted system excludes the genuinely poor and encourages corruption.
Insufficient food for the poor.."Almost 50% of its children are malnourished and 75% of its women suffer from anaemia; and per capita food availability has actually decreased".
Flawed concept note.."If universalisation of the PDS is not accepted, those earning less than the minimum wage need to be considered poor".
Rising hunger and malnutrition problem..
‘Incredible India’ is that while it sports a high growth in GDP, it ranks 66th in a list of 88 countries on the World Hunger Index'.

POISONING DID BEGIN..Oil Spill...

The leak has set an ecological disaster in motion, which will see many casualties. The only thing is the casualties will not include human beings now. But as the lower strata of the food chain gets affected, even that possibility cannot be denied. Contamination transfers to higher levels of food chain soon after it reaches the lowest strata.There have already been reports of dead sea-snakes, smeared with oil, and the mangroves turning black.The stench of the oil can be smelled from as far as 150 metres.Just a bit of digging in the sand reveals a thin layer of oil that has already percolated in the sand and has formed a thin film beneath.

"V DONT HAVE ANYTHIN EVEN IN THIS STATE OF AMBIENCE"

“Let not grains rot in godowns while millions cry for food”.
A large amount of grains is getting rotted in our GOD OWNS...due inproper management and lack of storage facilities,,,think wat v can do n diz issue?????

Poverty more in India than sub-Saharan Africa...

Where has India gone in diz peak of Development???

New U.N. index builds up fuller picture of poor lives; Madhya Pradesh ‘comparable to Congo.' There are more poor people in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a study reveals todayMore than 410 million people live in poverty in the Indian States, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, researchers at Oxford University, England, found. The “intensity” of the poverty in parts of India is equal to, if not worse than, that in Africa.When the vast central Madhya Pradesh, which has a population of 70 million, was compared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the war-racked African state of 62 million inhabitants, the two were found to have near identical levels of poverty.

World's Largest Digital Camera to Watch for Killer Asteroids ..

If a planet-destroying asteroid is headed for Earth, scientists now have a much better chance of spotting it.

From its perch atop Hawaii’s dormant Haleakala volcano, the PS1 telescope, which boasts the world's largest digital camera, has begun full-time operations, snapping hundreds of high-resolution photos each day as it scans the sky for space rocks and strange stellar phenomena.PS1 is the first of several telescopes planned as part of the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS. The telescope will map near-Earth asteroids ranging in size from 984 feet (300 meters)—big enough to cause major regional destruction if one struck an inhabited area—to 0.6-mile (1-kilometer), which have the potential to produce global catastrophe.

A Digital Eye Bigger Than Hubble's

Although PS1 first came online in late 2008, it only began complete dusk-to-dawn operations last month.Now, every 30 seconds PS1 snaps a 1,400-megapixel shot of a section of sky as large as 36 full moons—a view 3,600 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s main camera. One of these images would produce a 300-dpi print covering half a basketball court.In total the telescope gathers enough data to fill a thousand DVDs (nearly five terabytes) every night and maps a sixth of the sky each month. It can also see objects ten times fainter than previous surveys.These abilities are key to discovering not only killer space rocks but huge numbers of much more common phenomena, from planet-size bodies in our solar system to far-flung cosmic cataclysms.“We will also be able to map the solar system in much greater detail than was previously possible and to study the formation of the Milky Way galaxy through observation at an unprecedented sensitivity.”

WhaT security do we have here????????

This is the time to think upon this issue,,as this is the 3rd incident or a disaster which took place within a months duration...

The 2012 UP howrah- Kurla Gyaneswari Express was derailed first after which it was rammed by a goods train in its top speed,,,,which killed 79 innocent people in b.w their sleep...
Even though this seems to be an accident,,union minister..Mamta Banarjee..tells this to be a sabotage created by some anti-social elements..
N wat do we people have to do in between the rivalry b.w the govt. and the so called anti-socials...

Honey, we shrunk the bees!

Electromagnetic frequency emitted by cell phones reduces bees' colony size and the number of eggs laid by the queen bee and changes their behaviour, says a research paper published in the latest issue of Current Science. The authors are Ved Parkash Sharma and Neelima R. Kumar of the Departments of Environment and Vocational Studies and Zoology at Panjab University, Chandigarh.

The magnetite (a natural magnet) in their bodies that helps bees navigate is sensitive to “electro-smog” that cell phones emit into the atmosphere, the paper says. For their experiment, the scientists selected honeybee colonies at the university's apiary. They exposed one set of colonies to functioning cell phones of a 900 MHz frequency band, for 15 minutes twice a day. They left the other free of the radiation.

The results were unambiguous. In the colony exposed to cell phone radiation, the brood-size (comprising eggs and larvae) was just 760.19 cm2, compared with 1975.44 cm2 in the colony free of radiation. The queen bee exposed to radiation produced far fewer eggs a day (145) than its undisturbed counterpart (376).

And while there was no immediate exodus of bees as a result of cell phone interference, the number of pollen foragers (worker bees with pollen loads) returning to the hive declined. Consequently, the ‘pollen stores' (the portion of the comb containing cells filled with stored pollen) decreased in size from 246.7 cm2 to 154.7 cm2; and there was a dip in the number of cells containing ripe and unripe nectar.

“At the end of the experiment, there were neither honey, nor pollen nor brood and bees in the colony, resulting in the complete loss of the colony,”

New, Pink, and Rare

Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, along the ocean floor in an undated picture, the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a recent scientific review of the handfish family.

Only four specimens of the elusive four-inch (ten-centimeter) pink handfish have ever been found, and all of those were collected from areas around the city of Hobart , on the Australian island of Tasmania.

Though no one has spotted a living pink handfish since 1999, it's taken till now for scientists to formally identify it as a unique species.All of the world's 14 known species of handfish are found only in shallow, coastal waters off southeastern Australia, the review notes.

Oil to whipe out Gulf Whales......

If the Gulf of Mexico oil spill kills just three sperm whales, the local population may be in serious risk in the long run, experts say.

A good decision by the AuthortieS...

Call for steps to bring fallow land under cultivation.......

Sometimez Many things go OFF our handz..

My deep condolences to my great principal,,K.C. Mathew, and my two teachers chettiyar sir and Krishnakumar sir who expired off on saturday in a road accident....

And also 2 all the 159 who died in the manglore flight crash..

Again Global Warm(N)ing

From the high mountains to the vast polar ice sheets, the world is losing its ice faster than anyone thought possible. It’s no surprise that glaciers are melting as emissions from cars and industry warm the climate. The ice loss has outstripped the upward creep of global temperatures.

Scientists are finding that glaciers and ice sheets are surprisingly touchy. Instead of melting steadily, like an ice cube on a summer day, they are prone to feedbacks, when melting begets more melting and the ice shrinks precipitously.

Most glaciers in the Alps could be gone by the end of the century, Glacier National Park’s namesake ice by 2030.

The temperature threshold for drastic sea-level rise is near, but many scientists think we still have time to stop short of it, by sharply cutting back consumption of climate-warming coal, oil, and gas. Few doubt, however, that another 50 years of business as usual will take us beyond a point of no return.

Kiss Your Health

A kiss works wonders on your health.

1.Kiss elates your brain and brushes away all your stress and tension.
2.A single kiss burns two to three calories a minute.
3.A kiss works out 30 muscles of your face and thus keeps your face muscles tight.
4.Kissing a girl may set your pulses racing but it is good for your heart. It stabilizes the cardiovascular activities.
5.Kissing is the best way to cure anxiety. It rests your thoughts at peace

Paying my condolenses to all the 74 CRPF Jawans & 2 police personnals....

Armoured Personnel Carrier blown up, trapped forces come under heavy fire from hundreds of Naxals entrenched in hillock in Dantewada forest of Chhattisgarh; ‘Operation Green Hunt' goes horribly wrong...

In their deadliest attack on paramilitary forces yet, Maoist rebels killed 74 members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and two policemen from the Chhattisgarh police, and destroyed an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) in the early hours of Tuesday in Dantewada district. The attack took place in the Mukrana forest, about 540 km southeast of the State capital Raipur. Seven injured personnel were evacuated by helicopter to the Maharani Hospital in Jagdalpur.
I m not getting ny words 2 comment on thiz..pls fight against naxalism...

Indo-Bangladesh forum for co-operation for conservation of Sundarbans...

This new Venture of India-Bangladesh cooperation for conserving the most unique n versatile ecosystem of sunderbans is a great step towards conservation....
this also includes the protection of tigers associated with d ecosystem,,
A funding of Rs.1400 crore is being given by the World Bank...
huge applauses 2 d authorities ...........

A new plan has been made to protect our sandal wood in full swing,,,as per this there will be a strict check on sandalwood and itz use.
Sandalwood is mostly endemic to certain regions of India,,,n itz very necessary to prevent itz xploitation sinz it has a vry high economic value in over all trade...
The maximum limit of sandal wood being kept for domestic purpose is 1kg n sandaloil is jst 100 gm..n this a vry useful venture,,,n do thank the authorities for this.....pls cooperate with this plan...

Land oF SoRRow........

Itz Really very bad 2 hear about deadth,,,but unfortunately we are hearing about mass death for the last 2 day

Nearly 10 people died when a bus drowned in a lake in kottayam....and the died 1s includes women, men ,children,..n such bus incidents are very common in our state from the late 5os....n being developed also doesnt create much difference....

A women was killed brutally by robbers in her houz in the morning in a city area near palakkad.......n nowadayz houzwifes are being killed in their homz by thiefs for many motives...n be brave enough 2 fight against diz,,,be vigilant always...save the lives n properties....

Tiger deaths: Prime Minister to intervene.............pls itz d time 2 respond!!!

"The devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat."

From Drinker's Land....

Kerala to be first state in India to come first with most number of DRINKERS and Kerala Govt. to be the first to get the highest revenue by sale of Liquor....BBC report.....

-A tremendous increase in Suicides,Divorces,Accidents all becoz of 1 thin ...Alcohol...
Pls Get yourself off from diz stuff,,,so that you can have a good,happy ,prosperous life with ur fellow beings.........

A Home Sparrow Matter

Home sparrow(Passar domesticus) is a common bird found all around,,,but now due 2 d tremendous exploitation of its habitat its becoming less in number,,,v cant find these in jungles .n deserts but 1y n places of human inhabilitation,,,so please try 2 protect these small lives..as u can...pls

whether v will hav sufficient rain at apt time is also not knownn.....n this d time 2 react if v want 2 live further....so Love nature ,,,plant trees wich z d 1y prominent soloution....conserve nature n all aspects,,,dont xploit it nymore....live n harmony with mother nature,,,,since that will respond positive if its been loved,,,

The rising temperature due 2 global warming z n its peak during dis start of summer,,,n studies shows that during d last 10 yrs the highest temp. during march is recorded in dis 2010...so do thnk abt comin ,April, May,,,etc??

Just Inhumanitarian n cruel

My condolences 2 the 3 yr old "bubbly cheering" Gurshan Singh Channa who waz knocked down n killed some days back ....