Page 133 - Environment
Three labourers rescued from a pit in Gurugram
Three labourers were on Monday rescued from a pit which they had dug to install electric cable at city's Sector 38, near Medanta Medicity hospital.
Rs 1 cr unaccounted cash seized in TN's Coimbatore
Officials of flying squad on Monday seized unaccounted cash amounting to about Rs 1 crore from a car in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, officials said.
478 candidates left in fray in LS polls in Karnataka
A total of 478 candidates arein the fray from 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka that will go to the polls in two phases, election officials said Monday. According to the officials, 237 candidates are in the field in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls in the second phase on April 23. The officials said 45 candidates have withdrawn their nomination on Monday, the last day to withdraw papers for the second phase. Belgaum with 57 has the maximum number of candidates, while Raichur with five have the lowest in the second phase, as well as in both phases on the whole. For the first phase of polls on April 18, 241 candidates are in the fray. Prominent contestants in the first phase include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (Tumkur), his grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy from Hassan and Mandya respectively, as also Union Minister Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North) and senior Congress leaders Veerappa Moily Chikkaballapura), among ...
MNRE conceptualises net-zero energy complex for new HQ
In a bid to achieve sustainable living standards, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has conceptualised a "net-zero energy complex" for its new headquarters. The Akshay Urja Bhawan will be located in Lutyens Delhi, right opposite the premises which the ministry presently occupies in the CGO Complex here. Designed by city-based Edifice Consultants Pvt Ltd, the primary objective of the building is to match the overall energy consumption with the energy generated on site itself. "In the present-day context of our rising carbon footprint threatening our very existence, it is not possible to take on a building design project without serious consideration for sustainability. "This building has been conceived as a flagship project to showcase the use of renewable energy, as well as a cutting-edge energy efficient building. Therefore, it went beyond the mandate of just a sustainable building to a net-zero energy facility," Shaon Sikta Sengupta, spokesperson at Edifice told ...
Target to build next-generation infrastructure if voted to power: BJP manifesto
Aiming global standards in infrastructure, the BJP in its poll manifesto released on Monday said its target, if voted to power, is to build "next generation" infrastructure, including gas and water grids, regional airports and wayside amenities along national highways. The manifesto was released by top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Stating that infrastructure was the backbone of the economy, the BJP has aimed high on developmental goals across all sectors -- ensuring 50 cities are covered by a metro network, building of over nine crore toilets and doubling the number of functional airports by 2024. It has also promised to double the length of national highways, convert all viable rail tracks to broad gauge, electrification of all railway tracks and complete the dedicated freight corridor project by 2022. The manifesto stated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, "infrastructural roll out has been put back on track" and ..
Rains fail to dampen poll spirits in Uttarakhand
Rains on Monday lashed parts of Uttarakhand but failed to disrupt the electioneering. The five Lok Sabha constituencies in the state go to the polls in the first phase on April 11.
Against the tide: Thai 'floating temple' defies coastal erosion
As sea waters slowly rose around his temple and his neighbours fled inland, Thai abbot Somnuek Atipanyo refused to budge and is today a symbol of the fight to restore the country's fast-eroding coastlines. A dangerous combination of climate change, industrial farming and rapid urbanisation are endangering the Gulf of Thailand's coasts, stripping away precious mangrove trees and leaving some buildings like Somnuek's surrounded by sea water. In the 30 years since the waters started encroaching, most of his neighbours in the fishing village of Samut Chin moved several hundred meters inland to rebuild their wooden homes. Standing in his saffron robes near his monastery on stilts -- dubbed the "floating temple" -- the 51-year-old monk points out to sea at the spot where the local school once stood. "This temple used to be in the middle of the village," he tells AFP in Samut Chin, about an hour south of Bangkok. "If we moved it, people wouldn't even know there had ever been one here," he ...
London rolls out strict vehicle emission charges
London motorists driving older, more polluting vehicles must pay a new charge from Monday as part of one of the world's toughest vehicle emissions programmes. The ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) charges certain polluting vehicles a 12.50 pounds ($16, 14.5 euros) fee to enter the centre of the British capital under mayor Sadiq Khan's plans to reduce air pollution. Anyone driving a diesel cars more than around four years old and a petrol cars more than around 13 years old will pay the charge, although the vehicle's declared emissions will be the official measure. Black cabs are exempt from the charge. Larger vehicles, such as lorries and coaches, that exceed the limits face a daily charge of 100 pounds. Khan said the Ulez will "help clean our air and reduce harmful road transport emissions", which "shorten life expectancy and damage lung development." A King's College London and Imperial College London study commissioned by the mayor found that poor air quality leads to about 1,000 ...
Mars meteorite provides evidence of life on Red Planet
Scientists have discovered evidence of different forms of bacteria embedded within a Martian meteorite, suggesting that life may have once existed on the Red Planet. Named ALH-77005, the Martian meteorite was found in the Allan Hills on Antarctica during the mission of the Japanese National Institute of Polar Research between 1977 and 1978. Scientists from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences discovered embedded organic material in the meteorite. They were able to determine the presence of organic matter in mineralised form such as different forms of bacteria within the meteorite. "Our work is important to a broad audience because it integrates planetary, earth, biological, chemical, and environmental sciences and will be of interest to many researchers in those fields," said Ildiko Gyollai from HAS Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences. "The research will also be of interest to planetologists, experts of meteorite and ...
BJP promises pension, extra income for farmers
The BJP promised in its election manifesto released on Monday to double farm income by 2022, extend PM-KISAN scheme to all farmers, and give pension for small and marginal farmers.
Stalin hails HC ruling on Salem-Chennai highway project
Opposition DMK Monday welcomed the Madras High Court order quashing the land acquisition process for the Salem-Chennai green corridor project, saying it has dealt a 'death blow' to the K Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu. DMK president and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly M K Stalin said the government should not prefer an appeal against the court ruling and demanded that the chief minister apologise to farmers for acquiring their land. "The court has dealt a death blow to the Palaniswami government which does not respect people's sentiments," Stalin alleged in a statement here. Earlier in the day, a special bench of the high court quashed the land acquisition process for the Rs 10,000-crore project, holding it required a mega realignment as the proposed route would have an adverse effect on the environment. The bench of Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Bhavani Subbarayan passed the order allowing a batch of petitions of 35 landowners and PMK leader ...
Rhino poacher crushed by elephant, devoured by lions in S Africa
A suspected rhino poacher was trampled to death by an elephant and his body devoured by lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park, officials said Monday. South African rangers have recovered the skull of the man in the vast Kruger sanctuary, which has born the brunt of much of the country's poaching crisis. According to a park spokesman, rangers were alerted after the victim's alleged accomplices told his family that he had been crushed to death by an elephant. The man's remains were discovered on Thursday after a two day search involving aircraft and rangers on foot, with the help of the victim's accomplices. "Our field rangers looked around the area and made the unfortunate discovery of a skull. That was the only remaining part of the deceased," Kruger national park spokesman Isaac Phaahla told AFP. He said a pride of lions was thought to have been in the area and were believed to have devoured the man's remains. "But the family were grateful that at least they have the bone to ..
Soon, powerful rocket fuel that is cleaner, safer
Scientists have developed a new approach to create highly combustible rocket fuel that is much cleaner and safer than the hypergolic fuels commonly used today. The new fuels use simple chemical "triggers" to unlock the energy of one of the hottest new materials, a class of porous solids known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs. MOFs are made up of clusters of metal ions and an organic molecule called a linker, according to the research published in the journal Science Advances. "This is a new, cleaner approach to making highly combustible fuels, that are not only significantly safer than those currently in use, but they also respond or combust very quickly, which is an essential quality in rocket fuel," said Tomislav Frisci, a professor at McGill University in Canada. Satellites and space stations that remain in orbit for a considerable amount of time rely on hypergols, fuels that are so energetic they will immediately ignite in the presence of an oxidiser. The hypergolic fuels that
Fiat Chrysler to pay Tesla for CO2 emissions credits
Fiat Chrysler (FCA) confirmed Sunday that it is to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to Tesla, the zero-emissions electric carmakers, to avoid getting hit by European Commission fines. The statement from the Italian-US firm confirmed a report in the Financial Times that FCA was paying Tesla, whose electric cars have no CO2 emissions. The European Union imposes limits to the levels of carbon dioxide emissions cars can produce. But companies can pool CO2 credits between them to avoid fines from the European Commission. "The whole point of a CO2 credit market is to leverage the most cost-effective ways to reduce overall GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions in the market," said an FCA statement. In June 2018, Fiat Chrysler announced a nine-billion euro investment in moving its vehicles towards electric power to adapt to European norms.
HC quashes land acquisition process for Salem-Chennai green corridor project
The Madras High Court Monday quashed land acquisition process for the Rs 10,000 crore Salem-Chennai eight-lane green corridor project, holding it required a mega realignment as the proposed route would have an adverse effect on environment. A special bench of Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Bhavani Subbarayan passed the order allowing a batch of petitions by 35 land owners and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss. The bench observed the project would have an adverse effect on the environment, water bodies and it needed a mega realignment. The court had on December 14, 2018, reserved orders on the batch of petitions, challenging land acquisition proceedings. The ambitious 277.3 km long eight-lane greenfield project connecting Salem and Chennai under the Centre's 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' scheme aims to cut travel time between the two cities by half to about two hours and 15 minutes. However, it has has been facing opposition from a section of locals, including farmers, over fears of losing ...
HC strikes down land acquisition for 8-lane expressway
The Madras High Court on Monday cancelled the land acquisition announcements for the controversial eight-lane expressway between Chennai-Salem.
Australia animal rights activists arrested after protests
More than 45 animal rights activists were arrested on Monday as coordinated protests brought Australia to a brief standstill amid calls for sweeping changes to Australia's meat industry.
Record 17-foot-long python captured in Florida
Scientists have caught a female python in the US state of Florida that was more than 17-feet-long, weighed 140 pounds and contained 73 developing eggs, the media reported.
2 bovine smugglers arrested in J-K, 23 animals rescued
Two notorious smugglers were arrested in separate incidents Sunday as police foiled three attempts to smuggle bovines in Kathua and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said. Police seized three trucks and 23 animals were rescued, he said. Police intercepted two trucks on the Jammu-Pathankot highway near Korepunnu in Kathua district and rescued 14 animals. Another truck was intercepted near Lam village in Rajouri district and nine animals were rescued.
Leopard found dead in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
A leopard was found dead in the buzzer zone of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on Sunday, an official said. The leopard bore canine injuries on the head, tufts of another leopard's hair in its claws. The presence of pug marks of different leopards indicated that the death could have been caused due to infighting, said Ramesh Kumar Pandey, field director of the tiger reserve. A team of doctors from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute and the Lucknow Zoo will conduct a post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death, the official added.
