Page 182 - Environment

Rhino found dead in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

A male rhino has been found dead with a deep injury in his abdomen in the rehabilitation area of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) here, an official said on Saturday. "The carcass was recovered by a DTR patrolling team inside the fenced rhino area at Kakraha Tal in South Sonaripur range of the reserve on Friday," DTR Field Director Ramesh Kumar Pandey said. The rhino, said to be around 15 years old, was identified as Bhimsen through its unique ID, he added. "The deceased rhino had a deep injury in its abdominal area, while all its body parts of were found intact," Pandey said. The injury could have been the result of a fight between rhinos, he added. Rhinos sometimes indulge in violent fights, resulting from "territorial conflict" or "mating conflict", the field director said. A panel of three veterinarians has been formed to conduct a post mortem and ascertain the exact cause of the rhino's death, Pandey said. The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve has a big population of one-horned rhinos, especially in

Leopard on prowl in human habitat in TN captured

A 6-year-old leopard, which has been causing panic among people after straying into some villages on the city outskirts, was trapped early Saturday, forest department sources said. The carnivore had preyed on livestock such as goats and cow in some houses in and around Alandurai, they said. Based on a complaint from the villagers, the department had set up a cage to trap the animal at Perumal Kovilpathi, 20 days ago, forest department sources said. The leopard which fell into the cage early this morning is being shifted to Sathyamangalam forests in Erode district, they said.

Adani Green Energy wins solar power project of Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam

With this, AGEL's portfolio of renewable generation capacity in India stands at 4.31 GWac with 1. 97 GWac operational projects and balance 2.34 GWac in development stage.

Marshall Islands consider radical measures to survive rising sea levels

The far-flung Marshall Islands needs to raise its islands if it is to avoid being drowned by rising sea levels, President Hilda Heine has warned. Plans are underway for national talks on which of the 1,156 islands, scattered over 29 coral atolls, can be elevated in a dramatic intervention to ensure safety on the islands. "Raising our islands is a daunting task but one that must be done," Heine said in an interview with the Marshall Islands Journal published Friday. "We need the political will, and especially traditional leaders' commitment, to see this through. "We must come together as a nation as this is about our survival as a nation, as a people and as a culture." A "climate crisis" policy document prepared by the office of the chief secretary painted a bleak outlook for the Pacific Ocean archipelago with a population of 55,000. It cited an increasing frequency of "inundation events, severe droughts, coral bleaching events, and... looking forward, there is very good reason to ...

C'garh: Villagers forced to pay bill despite no power supply

Residents of Jhalpi Para village of Hargawa panchayat have voiced their discontent over the absence of power supply in their village even while claiming that they are receiving electricity bills regularly.The villagers have alleged that there is no electricity connection in the houses but meters have been installed due to which they are receiving electricity bills.One of the village residents said, "It has been over 60 years since I am living here and there is no arrangement of electricity. We complained everywhere, there have been many MLAs, sarpanch and block officers but no one did anything."Another resident added, "There is no electricity. Meter has been installed two months back. The bill is coming to about Rs 500-600 without any connection."The district administration, however, denied the claim of villagers receiving electricity bill while assuring that power supply will be provided in the area very soon.SDM Baleshwar Ram said, "There are not many houses there but there are ...

Karnataka meets Railways terms for Bengaluru suburban service

Karnataka has agreed to meet the terms of Indian Railways for building the 161 km Bengaluru suburban project at Rs 23,000 crore, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said here on Friday.

Canadian regulator recommends expanding oil pipeline, urges whale protections

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) regulator recommended on Friday that Ottawa approve expansion of the government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline, but made new, nonbinding recommendations to mitigate harm to Pacific Ocean killer whales and the environment.

Three projects can stop India's share of water going to Pakistan

The government has envisaged three projects to give intent to its decision to stop its share of water from three eastern rivers of the Indus system - the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej - from going to Pakistan.

Over 22 pc of Assam's total forest land currently under

Over 22 per cent of Assam's total forest land was currently under encroachment, the state Assembly was informed Friday. Replying to BJP MLA Padma Hazarika's resolution in Assam Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the state has a total forest land of 17,39,301.72 hectares, of which 3,87,885.45 hectares are encroached. Assam has 312 reserved forest with 13,54,467.62 hectares of land, out of which 3,73,876.95 hectares are illegally occupied, while 3,971 hectares are encroached in five national parks that have a total area of 1,97,826 hectares. Likewise, 10,037.50 hectares across 18 wildlife sanctuaries of 1,87,008.1 hectares are also under encroachment, Patowary informed the House. The state government is considering to set up a high-powered committee to suggest measures to protect the green cover, he said. "After the new government took charge, 2,596.22 hectares of forest land have been freed from encroachment. Besides, forest ...

Exclusive: Safety problem found at Orano's Finnish reactor before start-up - regulator

OSLO (Reuters) - Finland's nuclear regulator has identified a safety issue at Olkiluoto 3, a 1.6-gigawatt reactor built by France's Orano, and the problem needs to be fixed before the unit can receive a permit to operate, the regulator told Reuters.

Tortoise thought to be extinct rediscovered after 113 years

A tortoise presumed to be extinct since 1906 has been rediscovered in Galápagos Islands, a remote volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, during an expedition.

Bengal govt to procure 10 lakh tonne of potato from farmers

West Bengal government Friday announced that it will procure 10 lakh tonne of potato from farmers at the rate of Rs 5.5 per kg to prevent distress sale of the crop. At a public rally in Tarkeswar in Hooghly district Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state government would spend Rs 550 crore to procure potato of 20 lakh potato farmers in the state. The state government will offer Rs 5.5 a kg during the procurement at the time when loading price at farm level had slipped below Rs 4 a kg. "Break even price will be Rs 5 and so the government had decided to offer Rs 5.5 a kg which is decent support and avert a possible crisis," West Bengal Cold Storage Association advisor Patit Paban De said. This year saw a bumper crop of at least 120 lakh tonne which is 20 per cent higher than previous year production of 100 lakh tonne in the last year. Potato is mostly grown in Hooghly, Burdwan, Bankura, West Midnapur, part of Howarh and a few North Bengal districts In the .

TN becomes first state in mainland to get 2 Coast Guard dists

Necessitated by frequent issues pertaining to fishermen, Tamil Nadu Friday became the first state in the country to get a second Coast Guard district headquarters - Thoothukudi. The first district headquarters is Chennai. Inaugurated by state Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the Thoothukudi district headquarters has been set up with an aim to augment security mechanism on the eastern coast and the state in particular, a statement from the Coast Guard said here. The facility would undertake operations in areas stretching to 680 km of the coastline along districts of Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. "This is the first state to have two district headquarters, which were necessitated by frequent issues pertaining to fishermen," a senior Coast Guard official said. The district headquarters would function under the administrative and operational control of the Commander Coast Guard Region (East), and offering assistance to fishermen

Will defend Forest Rights Act: Tribal Affairs Ministry

The Tribal Affairs Ministry on Friday said that it will defend the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act in order to safeguard the interests of the tribals in the country.

North Delhi civic body to built parking areas for easing traffic movement in Karol Bagh

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has planned to ease traffic movement in Karol Bagh by creating parking space spread across the area, officials said Friday. NDMC's Standing Committee chairman Veena Virmani along with Deputy Commissioner of Karol Bagh Zone Kapil Rastogi and Chief Engineer Pradeep Bansal, took stock of the situation in the area. The move comes, days after a fire in a hotel in Karol Bagh in which 17 people were killed. The National Human Rights Commission had sent notice to various authorities after the incident. It panel had also said that it "expects from the (Delhi) chief secretary to immediately form a committee of experts to look into the matter relating to violation of norms by the hotel owners, shopkeepers and other individuals or firms who are conducting commercial activities in the residential colonies and encouraging encroachment of public roads with recourse to illegal parking". "Tenders have been floated for development of parking areas at ...

New office bearers for CII Coimbatore Zone

R Varadarajan was Friday nominated as the chairman of local chapter of CII for the 2019-20. J Ganesh Kumar was nominated as the vice-chairman for the period at the Annual Day of CII Coimbatore Zone held here. Varadarajan is wholetime Director of Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd here while Ganesh Kumar is the Managing Partner of Unique Industry, a CII release said.

Farmers from Nepal get organic farming training in India

Twenty Nepalese farmers and agricultural experts are undergoing training in organic farming in India as part of a partnership between the two countries in the agriculture sector. The main objectives of the training programme are to promote certified organic farming for improvement of soil health, to share impact of organic farming on produce quality, productivity, soil health and environment, to ensure supply of organic input through establishment of bio-fertilizer and bio- pesticides production unit. This is the second batch of Nepali farmers and agriculture experts who are undergoing a month-long training at the National Centre of Organic Farming (NCOF) in Ghaziabad from February 1 to March 2, according to a statement issued by the Indian Embassy here. The first group of 20 Nepalese participants had completed their training from November 15, to December 14, 2018 under the India-Nepal New Partnership in Agriculture. The India-Nepal New Partnership in Agriculture was launched by the .

BoB, KfW partners to fund solar projects

Bank of Baroda (BoB) has tied up with Germany's KfW Development Bank to extend funding of USD 113 million to refinance solar projects, under the Solar Partnership II Promotion of Solar PV in India. This proposal constitutes part of the overarching Indo-German Solar Energy Partnership, BoB said in a statement on Friday. Under an inter-governmental MoU in 2015, Germany has committed to providing financing support through KfW Development Bank for solar photo voltaic investments, it said.

Irani inaugurates two silk projects in Assam

Union Minister Smriti Irani Friday inaugurated two projects under the ministry of textiles at Udalguri district in Assam aimed at the economic uplift of the people below the poverty line by Eri silk farming. Inaugurating a Rs 55 crore Integrated Soil to Silk Project, she said it would generate direct employment for 15,600 people during the project period and 7,000 persons per year when the project attains full capacity, The project, she said, envisages new Eri plantation on 100 hectares and will facilitate post cocoon activities for on-farm sector like plantation, spinning and reeling. Through it the Central Silk board will work towards rejuvenation of 600 hectares of existing Eri farms and provide handlooms and work sheds to 2500 weavers which in turn will provide important linkages for self-sustenance of the production activities, she said. Inaugurating the Eri Spun Silk Mill, Irani said that the expected turnover from this project during the first year is around Rs 10

What led to dinosaurs' extinction?

An asteroid or comet impact 66 million years ago reignited massive volcanic eruptions in India, and may have contributed to the dinosaurs' extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, finds a study.