Agriculture is practiced in India from earliest mankind. Its economy mainly dependants on agriculture and it contributes about 14% of its GDP. The basic aim of agriculture is to produce sufficient food for its growing population and fodder for cattle and also to provide agri-products for global and local agricultural trade besides maintaining of buffer stock of food for emergent situations.

New York: A new study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society reveals that in India’s human dominated agricultural landscapes, where leopards prowl at night, it’s not livestock that’s primarily on the menu – it is man’s best friend.

Washington: After the detection of the ozone-depleting properties of CFCs in the 1970s, data from satellite measurements in 1985 startled mankind. A huge hole had been discovered over the Antarctic in the ozone layer that protects the Earth from dangerous, carcinogenic UV rays.

Washington: Higher exposure to one measure of traffic-related air pollution is associated with higher levels of the obesity-related hormone leptin in older adults, reports a study in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

Washington: Water scarcity is not a problem just for the developing world. In California, legislators are currently proposing a $7.5 billion emergency water plan to their voters; and US federal officials last year warned residents of Arizona and Nevada that they could face cuts in Colorado River water deliveries in 2016.

The 18th Ministerial meeting of the BASIC countries-- Brazil, South Africa, India and China-- has just concluded in New Delhi. It was attended by the environment ministers of the four countries, ahead of the forthcoming UN Climate Summit meeting on 23rd of September. It will be hosted by the UN Secretary General Ban ki moon in New York and will seek to create a political momentum for the climate negotiation talks to be held in Lima, Peru in December.