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Tales of a River and an Old City

Tales of a River and an Old City

How the life around the Yamuna River changed with time and people Tributaries of the Yamuna flowed through the city and several rulers tapped the streams and fed the water through massive sluices into tanks, to provide water for their people. Today, these tributaries have dried up and become cemented tunnels underneath the city that carry sewage to the Yamuna.

This Is the First Animal That Has Become Extinct Because of Climate Change

This Is the First Animal That Has Become Extinct Because of Climate Change

This is the first animal that has become extinct because of human-induced climate change. The little brown rodent is called the Bramble Cay Melomys (Melomys rubicola) and is a former inhabitant of Australia. Its habitat was the tiny 4 hectare Bramble Cay, located on the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It was last sighted in 2009. The Australian government confirmed its extinction on 18 February 2019. 

See Potential Where None Exists

See Potential Where None Exists

It is said that when the British Governer General Warren Hastings brought the water hyacinth to India in the 18th century, thinking it was a flower, he couldn't have imagined that was actually a deadly weed. 

Finding Neera

Finding Neera

Can we control the ongoing water crisis all by ourselves? It's not about whose responsibility it is, but what we are doing about it. “When water became a commodity, I lost my freedom. More importantly, it put a financial burden on those who couldn’t afford to buy it. Today, water companies sell drinking water and advertise it being rich in minerals and full of vitamins. Big corporates such as soda companies have been buying rivers for industrial purpose and farmers have no water to irrigate their fields. As the rivers dry up, animals also start wandering and enter villages in search of water, with a threat of …

The View Outside My Window

The View Outside My Window

As usual, I woke up in the morning thinking about what I would do that day. It wasn't a special day, my routine was all planned-up like other days. It was a holiday, I didn’t have to go to school. I was determined to do something new, see something different. I was thinking about going with my family to watch a movie or something like that. I don’t watch movies often but my exams had just ended the day before. Many ideas came to my mind, but that day I don’t know why...

The African Culling Model

The African Culling Model

While in India it is unthinkable to see beloved elephants as a source of crop damage, their rising population in African countries is a huge problem. Elephant herds can cause substantial losses if they enter farms. In fact, in 2008, the South African government lifted the moratorium on the culling of elephants. At the time, the environment minister, Martinus van Schalkwyk, said that culling would be considered only as a management option of the last resort...

Vermin or Victim?

Vermin or Victim?

Monkeys, wild pig and rhesus macaque are being culled in Bihar, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. What is driving this culling? Is it necessary? What is at the heart of the conflict between animal and farmer?

My Wriggly Friend

My Wriggly Friend

"Oh, my God! Mummy, there is a snake in the house.” "I am dead and yuck!” I heard the desperate cries of my two daughters, Badki and Chutki. Alarmed, I ran towards the room from where I could hear their voices, to check whether it was actually a snake in the house or something else. As soon as I crossed the threshold of the room I spotted three earthworms wriggling in through the space between the main door and its frame, into the house. My younger daughter Chutki was calling it a snake and the older one Badki was so scared to see them that the glass fell from her hand and broke!

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Non-bee Pollinators

Non-bee Pollinators

The 'buzzy' bees are best at their pollination jobs but they are all set to face serious competition from other insects. According to a new study, insects like flies, wasps, butterflies, moths, ants, thrips and beetles are also effective pollinators of certain crops of global importance. These insects have an added advantage too—they are resistant and less sensitive to environmental changes, scientists say.