Rhino poachers arrested near Kaziranga National Park

The suspected tranquiliser bottle was sent to the Forensic Laboratory in Guwahati for ascertaining the contents, police said.

GOLAGHAT: Four rhino poachers belonging to a gang of illegal hunters believed to be behind the slaughtering of rhinos in Kaziranga National Park recently, have been arrested.

The poachers were nabbed by police near Agratoli Range of the Park during the last two days, police said today.

A .22 rifle and a bottle of suspected tranquiliser used on the rhinos were recovered from them.

A local court before which they were produced, has remanded them to judicial custody.

The suspected tranquiliser bottle was sent to the Forensic Laboratory in Guwahati for ascertaining the contents, police said.

Earlier on October 30, 18 members of the gang led by one Lyndoh Rongpi were also arrested with a huge amount of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle.

The 18 member gang, responsible for killing of rhinos and elephants during 2009 and 2012 in the vicinity of KNP, were nabbed from Karbi Anglong.

Based on their confesstion, two other members were arrested with arms and ammunition from Bokakhat of Golaghat district by police from Karbi Anglong with the help of the neighbouring district police.

The arrested poachers also gave details about the whereabouts of two more of their gang members leading to their arrest in the Agratoli area during the last two days, the sources added.

So far 44 rhinos have died naturally or due to floods in Assam this year, 19 have been killed by poachers at Kaziranga in Golaghat district, while another strayed out and died in Nalbari district.

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India making efforts towards environmental sustainability: UNESCO

Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova and Leena Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, TERI University, exchange agreement files at the launch of a˜UNESCO Chaira at TERI University in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: UNESCO today lauded India's efforts towards environmental sustainability and said a multi- dimensional approach in this regard is the need of the hour globally.

"We are testing the capacity of our planet to sustain us. At a time of global economic crises, at a time when challenges are complex and in many respect I would say, yet unknown," UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said at the launch of the UNESCO chair on 'Climate Science and Policy' at TERI University here.

"Because global challenges today they don't heed to academic boundaries. Sustainability requires multi- disciplinary approach, it requires connecting knowledge with policy and strengthening the science-policy interface," she said.

According to Bokova, the full potential of human ingenuity needed to be explored and UNESCO was leading the UN secretary general's call to create an International Scientific Advisory Board.

She also said that India was making efforts towards environmental sustainability having set up a separate Environment and Forest Ministry in 1972 and also making environmental studies a subject in school.

Bokova also said that UNESCO was also a partner with the World Meteorological Organisation in creating the global framework for climate services to bring scientific knowledge about climate change to different working groups.

She said that for a better future there was a need to craft new solutions which are inclusive, just and sustainable and made the call for a "stronger science for sustainability."

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Climate change threatens sweet smell of morning coffee

LONDON: Rising temperatures due to climate change could mean wild arabica coffee is extinct in 70 years, posing a risk to the genetic sustainability of one of the world's basic commodities, scientists said.

Although commercial coffee growers would still be able to cultivate crops in plantations designed with the right conditions, experts say the loss of wild arabica, which has greater genetic diversity, would make it harder for plantations to survive long-term and beat threats like pests and disease.

A study by researchers at Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in collaboration with scientists in Ethiopia found that 38 to 99.7 percent of the areas suitable for wild arabica will disappear by 2080 if predictions of rising temperatures pan out.

Because coffee is a highly climate-dependent crop, the increase of a few degrees of average temperature in growing regions can put at risk the future of Arabica coffee and the livelihood of millions of people who grow and produce it.

"The extinction of arabica coffee is a startling and worrying prospect," said Aaron Davis, head of coffee research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, who led the study.

In a telephone interview, he said the findings made it even more important for organisations such as the World Coffee Research collaboration to continue work to improve the genetic strength of cultivated arabica by preserving wild types.

Researchers used computer modelling to analyse the influence of rising temperatures on the geographical distribution of wild arabica coffee.

The results, published in a the Public Library of Science journal PLOS ONE, showed a "profoundly negative influence" on the number and extent of wild arabica populations, the researchers said.

The researchers conducted two types of analysis. In the locality analysis, they found that the best outcome was for a 65 percent fall in the number of pre-existing bioclimatically suitable localities and the worst was for a 99.7 percent drop by 2080.

In the area analysis, the best outcome was a 38 percent reduction in suitable growing regions and the worst case was a 90 percent reduction by 2080.

Davis said the predictions were conservative, since the modelling did not factor in large-scale deforestation now taking place in Ethiopia and South Sudan, another Arabica coffee region.

"The models assume intact natural vegetation, whereas the highland forests of Ethiopia and South Sudan are highly fragmented due to deforestation," the researchers wrote.

"Other factors, such as pests and diseases, changes in flowering times, and perhaps a reduction in the number of birds (which disperse the coffee seeds), are not included, and these are likely to have a compounding negative influence."

Cultivated arabica coffee accounts for slightly more than 60 percent of global coffee production, with about 4.86 million tonnes produced this year and valued at around $16 billion in wholesale trade.

Exports of coffee also are crucial to the economies of countries including Brazil, Sudan and Ethiopia, where arabica coffee is thought to have originated. (Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by Jane Baird and William Hardy)

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As winter begins, 20,000 migratory birds sighted in Assam

MORIGAON/ASSAM: Over 20,000 migratory birds have been sighted in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam's Morigaon district with the advent of winter.

Among the 214 species of avian fauna found at the sanctuary, 14 are threatened species and 46 are resident birds, officials said.

The Lesser Whistling Teal and the Greater Whistling Teal have also been sighted here, they said.

Birds of prey Osprey or the fish eating eagle, hawks and falcons of different species as well as endangered storks are attracted to Pobitora's aquatic environment, rich in fish and other aquatic fauna.

Pobitora's authority has appealed the tourists and picnickers not to create sound pollution in the sanctuary which would harm the environment.

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Green ministry likely to review oil, gas pipeline approval norms

NEW DELHI: Environment ministry could review the rules for green clearances and regulation of more than 40,000 km of oil and gas pipelines spread across the country.

The move comes after Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan made a spot visit to the second oil spill in a year from an ONGC pipe in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.

Natarajan said, "I am going to review the conditions applied when giving clearances for pipelines and if required impose new ones."

She added, "The ministry will give notice to the ONGC to decommission all unused pipelines and to set in place a formal approved protocol for it."

Natarajan visited the spot where sources in the ministry said a pipeline set up in 2003 and not in use anymore had leaked, damaging croplands and pumping oil into an irrigation canal.

She noted that the company had informed that hazardous waste was being disposed off in a pit instead of being sent through a legally-mandated treatment facility. She said the company would also be sent a notice on the issue.

"I am also going to talk to the Union minister for petroleum and natural gas, Veerappa Moily to ensure that there affected people, whose lands are damaged are not only given a compensation but also provided a rehabilitation package," she said.

She pointed to the need of implementing the state-of-art technologies to monitor oil carrying pipelines noting that ONGC alone had 30,000 km of pipelines across the country.

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Five poachers arrested, rhino horn seized

At least four rhinos were killed by poachers recently sparking outrage in Assam, home to the world's largest concentration of the rhinos.(AP Photo)

TEZPUR: Five poachers were arrested when they were trying to sell a rhino horn at Biswanath area of Sonitpur district in Assam today.

Biswanath Sub divisional police officer Praneswar Doley told PTI that two of the poachers were trying to sell a rhino horn weighing about 1.10 kg to a customer for Rs 70 lakh.

The arrested poachers were identified as Pabitra Doley of Bokakhat, Sunil Maji, Rotiram Maji, Kharshing Terong and Biren Terong (all from Biswanath Chariali), Doley said.

According to police the horn was of a rhino in the Agaratoli Range of Kaziranga National Park near Bokakhat in Upper Assam.

Police has sent the horn to the state forensic laboratory in Guwahati.

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Kerala to mentor others on saving biodiversity

Arctic marine mammals and fish populations are on the rise, according to a report released on Monday by the the Arctic Council's biodiversity working group at a Montreal conference.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala will now mentor other states on biodiversity conservation, a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) official said here Tuesday.

NBA chairman Balakrishna Pisupati said Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has done a great job and would be given the role of a mentor to take up in other states what it has done here.

"KSBB has completed the formation of up to 1,000 biodiversity management committees in all local bodies. This is a feat not achieved by any other state," he told reporters here.

KSBB is also preparing a people's biodiversity register, he said.

The biodiversity management committee is a statutory panel of elected local government representatives and experts from village councils.

People's biodiversity register lists out flora and fauna and traditional knowledge of every village.

The NBA chairman also met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and briefed him on first National Biodiversity Congress to be held in the state capital Dec 21-30.

This meeting is of huge significance because this comes after the recent UN Conference of Parties (CoP) on biodiversity in Hyderabad, where 160 countries took part, Pisupati said.

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Bengal tiger beaten to death in Bangladesh

Villagers armed with sticks and boat oars beat a Bengal tiger to death on Tuesday after it attacked a fisherman in southwestern Bangladesh, an official said.

DHAKA: Villagers armed with sticks and boat oars beat a Bengal tiger to death on Tuesday after it attacked a fisherman in southwestern Bangladesh, an official said.

The critically endangered animal from the UNESCO-listed Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, strayed into Naodag village in the morning and bit the fisherman on his hand before trying to drag him away.

"The other villagers rushed to rescue the man and beat it to death," Amir Hossain Chowdhury, the government's chief conservation officer for the Sundarbans forest, told AFP.

Bangladesh has formed patrols to try to stop villagers attacking the animals, but Chowdhury said the tiger was already dead by time they could reach Naodag.

There are around 440 Bengal tigers in the Bangladeshi section of the Sundarbans, according to a 2004 government census. Experts say the number is much less, with many falling victim to attacks by villagers after straying onto farms.

There have been 14 registered cases of tigers being killed in similar circumstances since 2000.

The Sundarbans lie on the delta of the great Himalayan rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Covering 10,000 square kilometres (3,860 square miles), it is the world's largest mangrove forest and straddles India and Bangladesh.

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Climate expert predicts more cyclones

BANGALORE: Wondering why there is untimely rain and unpredictable weather? Global warming is resulting in increase of temperature over land and sea. As temperature goes up, pressure goes down and a pressure gradient develops between the ocean and the land mass. The net result is that the number of cyclones will go up. Cyclone intensity may vary but the count will be more. Climate change specialist and a consultant for the World Bank, Prof MB Rajegowda at the University of Agricultural Sciences, explains the changing monsoon pattern vis-a-vis global warming.

What's the likely impact of global warming on cyclones?

With global warming, the number of cyclones is likely to be more. Whatever the nature of the cyclone, the probability of their occurrence goes up with climate change.

What's the process of cyclone formation with regard to the phenomenon of global warming?

Temperature over land and sea is constantly increasing across the globe. This is causing the pressure quotient to come down. As a result , a pressure gradient develops between ocean (water bodies) and continent (land surface ) and whirling winds (cyclones) are generated in the ocean. These winds later move towards land in the form of cyclones.

How is cyclone movement different over the ocean and land?

Wind speed keeps on increasing as long as it's over the ocean and till it touches the land. Once winds enter the continent, there is friction and their velocity starts declining. The cyclone intensity decreases too.

When do these cyclones usually generate?

In the northern hemisphere between October and January. This phenomenon is most visible when the season changes from winter and moves towards summer.

What are the general climate patterns in Karnataka in the context of global warming?

There is an overall increase of 1% in precipitation for the entire state since the 1980s. There has been a decline in south-west monsoon rain on an average (from 825-875 mm to 765-825 mm) and this drop is being compensated by the north-east monsoon and premonsoon , which have gained in their share by 3%-4 %. Coastal and hilly zones are also steadily losing out on annual precipitation while interior parts of the state are gaining.

What are the solutions to keep pace with climate change?

Mitigation strategies need to be adopted. Climate change has a tremendous impact on agriculture and we have drawn up an exhaustive action plan to ensure losses are minimal. There is an imminent need to adjust cropping pattern, low-water requirement, and shortterm crops need to be planted.

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Over 500 pigeons drop dead in Bihar village

PATNA: More than five hundred pigeons suddenly dropped dead at a village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district over the last four days, causing residents, some of them pigeon-keepers, to fear that something was amiss.

District officials are still to visit the site and conduct an inquiry.

Over 500 pigeons died mysteriously in Bath village near Sultanganj in Bhagalpur, about 250 km from the state capital.

"We were shocked, and we cannot understand why it happened," Subodh Kumar Singh, a keeper of pigeons who lost 250 birds in two days, said.

Another pigeon keeper, Mohan Singh, said: "We need some manner of inquiry into this. Why did such a large number of pigeons drop dead in a matter of days?"

Other pigeon keepers like Subhit Singh, Radhe Singh and Bhumeshwar Singh said the government ought to investigate the pigeon deaths.

Alok Mankar, a veterinarian, said that the cause for the birds' death may have been technical problems in the radiation machine of mobile phone towers. He added, however, that he was only speculating, and that only an investigation could get to the root of the problem.

Pigeons are valued as pets, and there is a thriving market for them.

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