Updated Jul 17, 2021, 10:36 am IST
The bag is most sustainable and commercially viable alternative to single-use plastic
About 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are being used worldwide annually. Only one percent of them are being recycled, Manohar Babu pointed out. (Representational image: Twitter/@DRDO India))
Tirupati: In a bid to put an end to single-use plastic globally, the DRDO, in collaboration with Ecolastic Products Private Limited, has co-developed biodegradable and compostable bags, which are sustainable and commercially viable.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle over phone, DRDO Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) director M. Rama Manohar Babu disclosed that bio-compostable products, which are made from 100 percent plant-based food-grade materials, will soon be launched in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In view of rapid spread of the coronavirus in the country, the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change, recently issued an advisory to close all zoological parks, national parks, tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries for visitors till further orders to control the spread of the pandemic.
Eight Asiatic lions in Hyderabad zoo test Covid positive
May 04, 2021
At least eight Asiatic lions at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad have tested positive for Covid 19, forcing the authorities to close the zoo.
ICMR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology will investigate how the lions contracted the virus and the source of infection. The State government has decided to close all zoologcal parks, including Nehru Zoological park, other national parks and various wildlife sanctuaries in Telangana until further orders, following a directive from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
After veterinarians in the park detected symptoms in the lions such as loss of appetite and nasal discharge, their samples were sent to CCMB-LACONES, and the results came out positive. They are now recovering well and analysis of samples reveals the infection was not caused by any variant of concern.
Indian government’s development plans for the Andamans may endanger the world’s largest sea turtles
The government wants to open Little Andaman and ‘release the area for deployment of strategic assets’. A leatherback sea turtle at a nesting site in the Little Andaman. | Adith Swaminathan/ Mongabay India
A 58-page, undated “vision document” for the “sustainable development” of the Little Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal was produced by the NITI Aayog, a think tank of the central government.
The document, not in the public domain but reviewed by
Mongabay-India, states that “ecological and environmental constraints” have meant that the strategic and economic potential of the island, about 675 sq km in area, were never developed to their full potential; 95% of the island is under forest cover.
Leatherback turtles under threat as government considers ‘development’ in Little Andamans
by Rosamma Thomas on 12 April 2021
Proposed development of the Little Andaman islands, if implemented, will pose a threat to nesting sites of the leatherback turtle.
Five species of marine turtles are found in Indian waters. The leatherback is the largest of all living turtles and India and Sri Lanka are the only places in South Asia with large nesting populations.
The island is also home to the Onge native tribe with a population of just 112 individuals, having dwindled over the years.
A 58-page, undated “vision document” for the “sustainable development” of the Little Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal was produced by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, a think tank of the Government of India. The document, not in the public domain but reviewed by Mongabay-India, states that “ecological and environmental constraints” have meant that the strategi