The islanders of Lakshadweep are learning to take up the innovative fishing operations being taught to them, to catapult reef and deep sea fishing into a major economic activity, planned and scientific.

The increasing trend of rising tropospheric temperatures due to the global climate change is reflected in the efficacy of Indian monsoons too. It is imperative to have a high level, skilled mechanism to monitor and predict this trend to help manage preparedness.

Monitoring from space, aerial and in situ platforms in coastal regions will help develop models for interactions between ecological and anthropogenic processes, helping sustainable management of coastal zones.

The Indian coastline sustains unique habitats that are subjected to increasing anthropogenic stressors. The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), engaged in addressing coastal concerns over three decades, intends to undertake interdisciplinary research, integrating coastal zone management, bioinformatics and eco-engineering. Efforts are underway to translate research into policy for nature-based solutions for sustainable coastal ecosystems.

The Indian coasts hold diverse geomorphological features—mudflats, rocky shores, cliffs, sandy beaches and deltaic reaches that shelter unique ecosystems. However, significant sections of the coastline are vulnerable to erosion, inundation, and shoreline changes, both natural and anthropogenic. The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) Shoreline Change Atlas indicates that 33.6 per cent of India’s coast is undergoing erosion, 39.6 per cent is stable and 26.9 per cent is accreting.

Integrated Flood Warning System (IFLOWS) is an integrated GIS-based decision support system developed for Chennai and Mumbai that provides flood inundation scenarios and helps state governments to put mitigative measures in place.

Poisonous chemicals let out into the sea are entering the food chain—interfering with the marine ecosystem. The resultant loss of biodiversity, coral bleaching, ocean acidification and harmful algal blooms needs to be assessed urgently. The setting of threshold levels for all hazardous heavy metals is imperative and the nation needs to update the existing regulatory guidelines and standards with sound scientific data.

Reef health monitoring and assessments are integral and imperative components of ecosystem management in order to save the critical coral habitat. A comprehensive reef health status of scleractinian corals in Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay with a documentation of 79 reef building coral species, belonging to 13 families and 22 genera have been undertaken by the National Centre for Coastal Research. The average live coral cover showed significant increase despite natural and anthropogenic disturbances in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. Corals have been restored by local transplantation technique in degraded reefs of this region with 56.0 per cent survival rate and a growth rate of 1.12-1.20 cm per month.

The declining child sex ratio throws up complex challenges for a nation that is struggling to fill its resource gap. The provisional findings of the Census 2011 reiterates the hopelessness that the nations’ girl children are staring at. The essay is an attempt to highlight some issues and relationships related to India’s declining child sex ratio scenario.

Dark brown, hairy, venomous, creatures of the dark - these are some of the thoughts that spring to our minds when we hear the word ‘spider’. But in reality, they are far from being a fright. Unique and beautiful, this article showcases those that frequent the lush green backyard of my home in Port Blair.