Page 161 - Environment

Centre okays Rs 12,020 crore Surat Metro project

The central government, here on Saturday, approved the 40.35 kilometre Surat Metro Rail project with two corridors.

IAF airlifts 43 people stranded in snow-covered regions of Lahaul-Spiti

The Indian Air Force on Saturday airlifted around 43 people from snow-covered regions of Lahaul-Spiti, an official statement said. Roads in Lahaul-Spiti and Manali-Leh highway have been closed for the past two months due to heavy snowfall.Earlier, IAF had rescued hundreds of visitors stranded at Kullu. On Friday, the IAF rescued more than 50 people, including two in serious medical condition, to Himachal Pradesh's Bhuntar. The region is known for heavy snowfall which affects normal life. It hampers movement of vehicles as well.

Maha CM praises Jalyukt Shivar's role in rural development

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Saturday said his government was working for rural development to ensure villages become self-sustainable. Speaking at the 'Navrashtra Sarpanch Samrat and Agritech' event here, Fadnavis cited the Jalyukt Shivar, a water conservation programme, as a move in this direction. He said Jalyukt Shivar had made 16,00 villages water-efficient and had been appreciated widely and the credit for this should go to village chiefs and gram sabhas. He gave the example of drought-prone Latur which had deployed only two water tankers this time because of the success of water-saving works there. "Now the number of tankers have reduced, irrigated lands have increased and agriculture production has increased due to assured irrigation," Fadnavis claimed. He informed that with the assistance from World Bank, the government has undertaken the MahaAgri project to provide assistance to farmers for sowing and marketing. "We are working on capacity building of Seva ...

Now, maps for houses on plots up to 500 square feet area will have fast track approval: Tiwari

All the three civic bodies in Delhi have decided that maps for construction of houses within an area of 500 square feet will now have a fast track approval, state BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari said here Saturday. "Under the fast track approval scheme, maps for houses to be built within the area of 500 square feet will be approved at home itself by the concerned architect or engineer and will not have to run around MCD offices," Tiwari said at a press conference along with Mayors, Standing Committee chairman and Leaders of three civic bodies. The load of electricity connection which was earlier 1 Kw for small scale industries has also been increased to 5 Kw, he said.

Union minister dedicates two inter-state roads to people of NE

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday inaugurated two inter-state road projects in the northeast, asserting that the BJP-led NDA government was committed to the development of the region. Singh, who dedicated the projects to people via a video conference from New Delhi, said the region has witnessed rapid development in the last five years. "The road projects reaffirms the Centre's commitment toward the people in the northeast. The region has undergone a revolutionary transformation under the dynamic leadership of Narendra Modi," said the Union minister of state (independent charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). The projects -- the 17,47-km-long Doimukh-Harmuti road linking Assam to Arunachal Pradesh and the 1.66-km-long Tura- Mankachar Road connecting Assam with Meghalaya -- have been implemented by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. The roads will immensely benefit people residing in Papum Pare district of ...

Explorers to send 1st live video broadcast from ocean depths

Explorers are set to deliver the first live video broadcast from deep below an ocean's surface. Early next week, a submersible is expected to dive to 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean and send images to a satellite transmitter on the mother ship. The Associated Press will send that footage around the world. The British-led Nekton Mission highlights the state of the oceans as fears grow over climate change. The Indian Ocean is the least explored in the world, and there is almost no data from the Seychelles below scuba depth. That's about to change. The challenge is to transmit live video from the depths without restricting the free-roaming submersible. The solution turns the images into light, which is transmitted to a decoder suspended above the submersible and then sent to the mother ship via fiber-optic cable. "The real clever bit is, we are now transmitting two high-bandwidth streams of video data from both of the submarines simultaneously and ...

Baloch Liberation Tigers claim responsibility of blowing up gas pipeline

According to local media, the organisation has blown up the gas pipeline near the Sui gas plant on Friday

Crop pattern change needed to make villages ideal: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari Saturday said experiments in the crop pattern followed by farmers was needed to make villages ideal and asked heads of villages to lead the change. Speaking at the 'Navrashtra Sarpanch Samrat and Agrotech' award ceremony here, Gadkari said panchayat heads were interacting with farmers at the ground level and, therefore, should be catalysts in the progress of villages. He told the gathering that the country's civic hierarchy starts from the village gram sabha before moving on to higher groupings like municipal corporations and governments. "If each sarpanch resolves to make their village an ideal one, the entire country would become an ideal one," he said. Speaking on change in crop pattern, he said, "There is surplus production of sugar, wheat and pulses in the country. We need to change our crop pattern and pursue alternate crops as per market demand. The village sarpanch should take a lead in this as well as in farm experiments to reduce ..

Modi slams Cong for 'crippling' power sector, lays foundation stone for 2 power plants in UP, Bihar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday laid foundation stones for two thermal power plants, one in Uttar Pradesh and the other in Bihar, while slamming previous governments for ignoring the power sector. The prime minister, who was in western UP for a straight second day, also inaugurated Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Archaeology Institute in Greater Noida and flagged off a new section of the Delhi Metro, connecting Noida City Centre and Noida Elctronic City. The two thermal power plants, in Khurja in UP's Bulandshahar and at Buxarin Bihar, will have a power generating capacity of 1,320 MW each, Modi said, noting that modern power infrastructure was essential for industries and business. The plant in Khurja will cost around s 12,000 crore while the one in Buxar approximately Rs 10,000 crore. When both these plants are complete, both UP and Bihar will benefit. The plant in Khurja will also help Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan with power supply. The plant in Buxar will ...

Goa govt approves two IT parks

The Goa government has approved setting up two Information Technology parks in North Goa that are expected to create employment in the IT sector. The state Cabinet approved the decision via circulation on March 8, as the cabinet meeting could not be held, a senior officer said Saturday. The IT Parks will come up at Chimbel and Penha-de-Franca villages, both bordering Panaji. The Pehna-de-Franca project is a "hybrid IT Park" under the Goa Information Technology Development Act, 2007. "The Integrated IT Township would be set up on an area admeasuring 4,49,625 sq mtrs while the Hybrid IT Park will come up at an area of 12,455 sq mtrs land," stated the cabinet note. The Chimbel project is "Integrated IT Township" which will address future demands of IT infrastructure, the officer added. Both IT parks would provide a steady supply of employment opportunities besides being specifically geared towards the needs of the IT/ITeS sector, it said.

Rs 2000 released to about 5 lakh T'gana farmers under PM-Kisan

The Centre has released Rs 2000 each to about five lakh farmers in Telangana so far under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, said Union Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat here Saturday. "The Telangana government has provided the data of about 13 lakh farmers (to the Centre).. It is 12,91,000... We already transferred Rs 2000 (towards) first installment to more than 5 lakh farmers till now in Telangana," he told reporters. Claiming that the Centre had successfully managed to turnaround the "slowing economy" and put it on the fast track growth, he said the journey of the last 5 years has been exhilarating as well as encouraging for the country. Shekhawat also said the NDA government had effectively reduced the corruption levels and eliminated the fear of terror and "insecurity which the people of the country faced till five years ago.

China set to make law on Antarctic operation and protection

China is all set to make a domestic law on Antarctic operation and environment protection as it seeks to firm up its hold over the icy and resource-rich southernmost continent. The draft law in line with the Antarctic Treaty's principles and requirements has been included in the legislation plan of the China's parliament, National People's Congress (NPC), which is currently holding its annual session here. The legislation is aimed at clarifying relevant departments' responsibilities and regulating participants' activities in Antarctica, Cheng Lifeng, a member of the NPC's Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency. In accordance to the legislation agenda, the committee is actively doing research and busy drafting the law, he said. China is in the process of building its fifth research station in Antarctica, the second highest following the US' plans to step up investments in research at world's coldest continent and ...

NASA spacecraft observes movement of water molecules on Moon

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has observed water molecules moving around the dayside of the Moon, a finding that may prove beneficial as the agency plans to put astronauts back on the lunar surface.

Will create fisheries ministry if Cong voted to power: Rahul

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday assured a group of traditional fishermen in Goa that if his party was voted to power at the Centre this year, a separate Union ministry would be created for fisheries. Gandhi, who arrived in Goa on Friday, held series of meetings here on Saturday with the people dependent on mining, traditional fishermen, environmentalists opposing recent amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification and citizens opposing handling of coal in Vasco town. "Gandhi assured us that a separate ministry for fisheries and fisher welfare would be created in order to do justice to the sector once voted to power," said Olencio Simoes, Vice Chairperson of National Fisherworkers' Forum. He said Gandhi agreed to include the demand of a separate ministry in the party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. "Presently, fisheries is only one of the three divisions of the department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries that functions ...

Meghalaya CM calls for investment in piggery

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has called for investment in piggery in the state as there is a huge demand for pork in the North East region. "The total consumption of pork in the North East is 3.1 lakh metric tonne and the supply is only 1.2 metric tonne. So there is a deficit of about 1.9 lakh metric tonne of pork," he said, while addressing a stake holders workshop on Piggery and poultry value chain on Friday. The chief minister said there is an opportunity for our farmers, to fill the deficit in the supply chain. "Investing in piggery will greatly improve the livelihood options of the 1.62 lakh farming households directly engaged in rearing pigs in the state," he said. Stating that promotion of nano and micro enterprises is a key strategy for employment generation and fostering growth, the chief minister said the state government is working to set up an ecosystem that will provide the whole range of services needed by aspiring entrepreneurs. "We understand ..

Huge power outage leaves Venezuela in darkness

A massive power outage has left most of Venezuela without electricity.

Australia admits failings in Pacific, as China looms

Australia has admitted it had not focused enough attention on its Pacific backyard but vowed to make "long overdue" amends, amid growing Chinese influence in the region. "I think we would have to accept some criticism," Australia's minister for international development and the Pacific, Anne Ruston, told AFP on Friday. "We have perhaps not put as much attention and effort into our own region as we should of." In recent months, Ruston has been at the sharp end of trying to fix that -- jetting to-and-fro between Australia and far-flung Pacific Islands, as part of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's "step-up" in the region. The policy includes more aid, more security assistance, more diplomats working in the region and, crucially, more face-to-face contacts. It is, in large part, a response to Beijing's growing economic, political and military activity in the region. "I think we've had our focus gazed much further afield for a very long time," said Ruston. "It has certainly, more recently, ..

3-year-old leopard stuck in 'jaw trap' rescued in Maharashtra

A 3-year old male leopard was found trapped in a jaw trap set up by poachers in Jeur Haibati village here. The mammal was later rescued by Wildlife SOS and the Forest Department.The feline's left forelimb was caught in the lethal hunting device, however, the injured leopard is currently under medical care at a transit facility.On Thursday, the Wildlife SOS team based out of Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre, Junnar, received a call from the Maharashtra Forest Department about a leopard caught in a deadly jaw trap after which a four-member team from the NGO rushed to the location, a statement read.Wildlife SOS senior veterinarian Dr Ajay Deshmukh immobilized the big cat, using a sedative injection from a safe distance. Once the team had administered the drug, they carefully removed the jaw trap from the entrapped forelimb, said an official statement.Dr Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinarian at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre said, "We had to first tranquillize the leopard to carefully ...

This Chhattisgarh village gets electricity for the first time since Independence

Jhalpi Para village in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district got electricity connection for the first time. The region was deprived of power supply since independence.This comes few weeks after ANI had reported the discontent of residents of the village over the absence of power supply.Locals told ANI, "We felt as if we were still the slaves of Britishers as even after more than 70 years of Independence there had been no electricity here. We want to thank the media for amplifying this issue. Earlier also we had approached the concerned officials, MLAs etc but no one heard us, it is after the media highlighted this problem they took note of it."R Naamdev, engineer-in-charge said that it was through media he came to know about the absence of electricity in the village.He said, "I came to know about this through you. I was not aware that there was no electricity in that village. Locals told us that though transformers were installed 5 years ago, the meters were installed a few months back, ..

Microwave ovens, washing machines to have energy efficiency metrics

Ministry of Power on Friday said that microwave ovens and washing machines will now be assigned star ratings based on their energy efficiency metrics.The star labelling program has been formulated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) as part of its mandate, under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, the Ministry of Power said.Initially, the program for the above two appliances will be implemented on a voluntary basis and will be valid up to December 31, 2020.Launching this key initiative, Secretary of Ministry of Power A K Bhalla emphasised the need to improve energy efficiency in household appliances to reduce energy bills of common consumers. "This initiative will promote the advancement of technology and energy efficiency in microwaves ovens which is becoming a popular household gadget.""We have estimated savings of over 3.0 billion units of electricity at consume-end through the adoption of star rated microwave ovens and washing machines by 2030. This would be equivalent to ...