♦ The Supreme Court constituted an expert committee to balance the conservation and protection of the endangered Great Indian Bustard bird population with the country’s international commitments to promote renewable sources of energy. The large-winged birds are on the brink of extinction, with one of the causes being frequent collision with high-powered power cables running adjacent to its core habitats in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

♦ A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed the order observing while dealing with a matter relating to protecting the Great Indian Bustard (GIB). The court has sought a report from the committee by July and listed the matter for the second week of August 2024.

♦ The committee includes the Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; Hari Shankar Singh, Member, the National Board for Wildlife; Niranjan Kumar Vasu, Ex-Principal Chief Conservator of Forest; B Majumdar, former Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Maharashtra; and Devesh Gadhavi, Deputy Director, The Corbett Foundation, among others.