Satopanth Lake is a glacial lake, located at an altitude of 4600 m above sea level in Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand state in India where an attempt was made to assess the water quality. A total of sixteen physico-chemical parameters including temperature, hardness, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, calcium, magnesium, chlorides, nitrates, sulphates and phosphates were recorded during 2014 and 2015 between June and August in ice-free period. The mean values of pH ranged from 6.85 to 7.10; water temperature fluctuated from 0.1 to 0.3°C; dissolved oxygen varied from 5.90 to 6.0 mg.L . All the physico-chemical values were within the prescribed WHO/BIS limit for drinking water. Water Quality Index (WQI) calculated based on these parameters also revealed the excellent quality of lake water.

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Neel Tal is a glacier-fed lake, located at an altitude of 4,382 m above m.s.l. in the Garhwal Himalaya, India. This lake is located at 30 Km from Gangotri, the world famous shrine of Hindus and 13 Km from the snout of Gangotri glacier known as "Gaumukh", that has been considered as the origin place of Holy River 'Ganga'. Assessment of surface water quality of a high altitude lake is important for providing drinking water to the trekkers, sages, and consumption by wildlife along with its conservation and management. Water Quality Index (WQI) method was applied to assess the water quality of Neel Tal, using 18 water quality parameters. The data for all the physical, chemical and biological parameters were collected in the months of June and August for a period of two years during 2014 and 2015 due to the accessibility of the lake as it remains under freezed condition for most of the time. The value of WQI was estimated to be 17.85 based on all the water quality parameters, which categorized the quality of water as 'excellent' during the study period. The coliform test also supported the findings of water quality of Neel Tal by WQI method.

Taxa classified as subspecies may in fact be cryptic species. We assessed the taxonomic status of the Blue‐throated Flycatcher Cyornis rubeculoides complex in India, which consists of several forms with similar plumages and song. We used mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, plumage traits, and detailed song analysis to ascertain the taxonomic status of the different forms. The molecular data identified three primary clades: (1) in the west Himalayan foothills, (2) at higher elevations in the northeast hill states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram, and (3) at lower elevations in the northeastern hills of Meghalaya and the east Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh. The western clade represents nominate C. rubeculoides rubeculoides. The high‐elevation eastern clade was considered to be C. rubeculoides rogersi, because it included a sample from this subspecies from near the type locality in southwest Myanmar. These two sister clades had an estimated divergence time of 1.5 million years (my). The low‐elevation east clade has previously been assigned to C. rubeculoides, but we showed it is closely related to the Hainan Blue Flycatcher Cyornis hainanus, formerly thought to breed only further east, with an estimated divergence time of only ~0.8 my. This clade may represent a subspecies of C. hainanus or, given reports of widespread sympatry with C. hainanus in Thailand, a distinct species, Cyornis dialilaemus. However, more research is advocated, including molecular data, from the area of overlap. Songs were remarkably similar across all taxa. In playback experiments, C. r. rubeculoides in the west responded to all taxa. This is in agreement with recent work demonstrating that song differences and responses to songs are not always a good indicator of the progress of reproductive isolation.

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