India State of Forest Report released by central govt Thursday, shows trees and forests now cover 24.62% of the country’s geographical area. In 2019, India had a cover of 24.56%.
Over 90% of India’s population lives in areas where air quality is below WHO's standards, with coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles among the major sources of pollution.
Varanasi achieved largest reduction in pollutant levels, but none of the cities was able to meet the goals fixed in 2019, when National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was set up.
The 2013-batch officer — an ex-techie who’s working on tech-based initiatives to help the forest department — has just self-published a calendar with her own art.
Consider Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar’s duet ‘Chhod Do Aanchal’. The sequence was set in a flower garden, and the girl’s bashfulness was not even remotely relatable to a cabaret dancer.
We now live in a world order that will keep shifting. India must use this window. This also means we remain disciplined enough not to be knee-jerked into reacting to what Pakistan sees as its moment in the sun.
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