Feature Article

Elephant poaching and the ivory trade remain high on the agenda at meetings of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Well-informed debates require robust estimates of trends, the spatial distribution of poaching, and drivers of poaching. We present an analysis of trends and drivers of an indicator of elephant poaching of all elephant species.

Original Source

This paper reports on the availability, use and information seeking behaviour of a farming community with specific reference to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). It fills a research gap by examining what people do with a medium when they have access to it, rather than looking at barriers surrounding the use of ICTs and digital divide issues arising due to differential access and capabilities. The study was conducted in a state in North India, and provides insights into intentions and factors surrounding the use of various media by farmers.

While the rationale for trade facilitation, at least to the practitioner, is self-evident, building the case for trade facilitation is seldom straightforward. Policymakers often rely on the persuasive recommendations of international organisations and are likely to include reference to macroeconomic models. Though helpful, these lack operational detail. Many practical questions about trade facilitation solutions, context, scope and priorities, as well as the onus on implementation and funding remain open.

Human anthrax is difficult to contain. This is primarily because it is a zoonotic disease and the disease has never been contained in the livestock of India due to lack of adequate vaccination facilities. Animal anthrax is very common in many parts of India. The problem of anthrax is further compounded by lack of awareness on the part of village folk who unwittingly handle the hide and share the dead animal meat and this causes cutaneous and gastrointestinal forms of anthrax respectively.

In the context of climate change and its impact on sectors like agriculture and health, it is important to examine the changes in the characteristics of temperature extremes of different intensities and duration. In this study, an India Meteorological Department gridded temperature dataset is used to examine the changes in the frequency of occurrence of extreme temperatures over India and its seven homogeneous regions during the period 1969–2005.