Page 194 - Environment
Rahul Gandhi to visit Chhattisgarh Saturday
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to arrive in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district Saturday to take part in 'Adivasi Krishak Adhikar Sammelan' (convention for tribal farmers' rights). During the programme at Dhuragaon village, Gandhi will distribute landdocuments to farmers who have been returned their lands acquired in 2008 for a Tata Steel project, an official here said. He will also distribute Forest Rights Certificates and farm loan waiver certificates. Gandhi will also dedicate projects worth Rs 21.75 crore in Bastar division. Fulfilling its poll promise, the Congress government inChhattisgarh has been returning to farmers the land acquired for Tata Steel project which remained unused after the project was scrapped. Total of 1,764.61 hectares of land of 1,707 farmers from ten villages had been acquired by the government in 2008.
HPCL to set up LPG bottling plant in Odisha
The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is setting up an LPG bottling plant with a capacity of filling 42 lakh cylinders per year at Rayagada in Odisha to meet the growing demand, a top officials of the company said Friday. Announcing this at a press meet here, Dharmendra Behura, HPCL Deputy General Manager, LPG Region, Bhubaneswar, said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the plant on February 19. The new plant will be the second LPG bottling plant of HPCL in Odisha as it already has one at Jatni. State owned Oil marketing companies now have LPG bottling plants at Balasore, Jharsuguda, Khurda and Jatni in the state. The current bottling capacity of the four plants is 2.80 crore cylinders per annum. In addition to the proposed plant at Rayagada, oil marketing companies have plans to set up new plants at Bhubaneswar and Balangir, Behura said. Odisha will then have a total of seven LPG bottling plants and their total ...
India proposes more than $12 billion of pollution-reducing incentives
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has proposed incentives worth 885 billion rupees ($12.4 billion) to encourage power plants to install equipment to curb emissions and to develop infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), a government statement said on Friday.
Central scheme for farmers left out the landless ones :
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday took a dig at the Modi government at the Centre ahead of the coming Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state saying the recent central scheme for farmers had left out those who do not have land. The Odisha government has brought 3.5 lakh landless farmers across the state under the ambit of its Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, he told a public meeting here "I have written to the Centre to include landless farmers under the central scheme. The state government has come to the assistance of 3.5 lakh landless farmers by covering them under the (KALIA) scheme," he said. Claiming that the scheme has shown direction to others, Patnaik said it is a farmer-friendly package that covers small and marginal farmers, sharecroppers, landless farmers and farmers in distress. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme announced by the Centre, farmers cultivating up to two hectares ...
Lion found dead in Gir sanctuary
A lion was found dead in Tulsishyam range of Gir Wildlife Sanctuary near Amreli district of Gujarat on Friday, officials said. The lion, aged between 5 and 9 years, was found dead by the forest staff of the Gir-East division during a routine patrolling in Nandivela foothill area inside the protected forest, D T Vasavada, Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh Wildlife Circle, said. The carcass of the lion was sent for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death, the official said. Over 30 lions, including cubs, have died in and around the Gir forest since September last year due to various reasons. While many of them had succumbed to viral infections, some others had died of natural causes, territorial fights or after being hit by trains. Gir forest is the only abode of Asiatic lions. As per the last census of 2015, it is home to 523 lions. However, the state government had recently announced that the number had increased to over 600.
HP agri univ organises international conference on wheat
More than 200 scientists from seven countries are participating in the International Group Meeting on wheat being held at CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, near here. Addressing the conference, former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), V L Chopra, said, "Wheat productivity enhancement through climate smart practices was a timely and an important issue.Wheat productivity was at apex point so to take it to next level was a challenge for the scientists." He also called for international collaborations on research issues related to wheat. Michael Baum, Director, Biodiversity and Crop Improvement, International Centre for Agriculture Research in Dryland Areas, Morocco, said India is an important country for farm research. G P Singh, Director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) of ICAR, Karnal, said that earlier research concentrated on increasing the wheat production but now the emphasis is on value addition and ...
Wheat sown in 298.47 lakh ha so far; close to last year's level
Wheat planting has been done in 298.47 lakh hectare so far in the ongoing rabi (winter) season, which is close to the year-ago period, according to the agriculture ministry. However, sowing of rice, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds remained slightly lower than the year-ago period, the ministry said in a statement. Sowing of wheat, the main rabi crop, begins from October and harvesting from March-April. According to the latest data, wheat sown area reached 298.47 lakh hectare so far in the rabi season 2018-19 as against 299.84 lakh hectare a year ago. Farmers have planted wheat in 99.13 lakh hectare in Uttar Pradesh, 59.11 lakh hectare in Madhya Pradesh, 35.02 lakh hectare in Punjab, 25.16 lakh hectare in Haryana and 22.56 lakh hectare in Bihar so far. In the case of pulses, about 156.30 lakh hectare was covered till February 14 of this season, lower than 166.11 lakh hectare a year ago. Gram, urad, lentil and moong are main rabi pulses. Oilseeds acreage was at 80.40 lakh hectare so .
Tripura govt approves Rs 6000 assistance to farmers
The BJP-IPFT government in Tripura has approved the Rs 6000 financial assistance to farmers having upto two hectares of cultivable lands under the Pradhanmantri Kissan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PMKSNY), state Agriculture minister Pranajit Singha Roy said Friday. The decision was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers held here on Thursday evening, he said. The assistance would be given in three instalments a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches the programme on February 24, he said adding all the MLAs, public representatives, BDOs, SDMs and district collectors were requested for wide publicity of the scheme. The money for the first instalment would enter the farmers' bank accounts before March 31, Singha Roy said. The first phase of the programme begins on Dec 31 and ends at March 31, he said. The forms for it would be available in the offices of the gram panchayats, the agriculture department, nagar panchayats, municipal councils or corporations from ...
Need to ensure farmers get quality crop protection products: Dhanuka Agritech
Dhanuka Agritech Chairman R G Agarwal Friday expressed concern over poor-quality crop protection chemicals affecting crops and called for efforts to ensure that quality products are easily available to farmers. "There has been a rampant increase of low-quality agrochemical products across the country which is harming crops as well as affecting the health of farmers," he said at an event organised by industry body FICCI along with CropLife India and ACFI. Despite using lowest crop protection chemicals, India has emerged second in agriculture GDP surpassing the US after China, he said in a statement. "Since crop protection chemicals are essential to increase agricultural yield, we need to ensure farmers can easily use these quality products," Agarwal said. CropLife India Vice-Chairman K C Ravi said quality crop protection products are the lifeline of farmers as they protect crops from damage by controlling weeds, disease and insect pressure.
NGT directs 3-member committee to probe sand mining in Haryana's Charkhi Dadri
The National Green Tribunal has directed a three-member committee to inspect and verify allegations of unregulated sand mining and stone crushing in Charkhi Dadri district of Haryana. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel asked the panel comprising representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Central Pollution Control Board and the state pollution control board to visit the site. "The state pollution control board will act as nodal agency for coordination and compliance. Nominees of the said departments may be made at the earliest. Report received from the Deputy Commissioner, Charkhi Dadri may be forwarded to the SPCB for further coordination and action. "A copy of this order be sent by e-mail to MoEF, CPCB and SPCB. The applicant is at liberty to furnish a set of papers including the photographs to the SPCB. The report may be furnished by the committee within one month by e-mail," the bench said. The NGT on August 31 last year had formed a ...
China bans ordinary tourists in core zone of Mt Everest
China has banned the entry of visitors who don't have climbing permits into the core zone of the Mount Everest National Nature reserve in Tibet to better conserve the environment of the world's highest mountain. But for travellers, who have a climbing permit, the mountaineering activities will not be affected, according to the reserve, which was set up in 1988. Covering an area of around 33,800 square km, including a 10,312-square km core zone, the reserve is home to one of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems. Recently, a report went viral online claiming the Qomolangma base camp was "permanently closed due to heavy pollution." But local authorities denied the claim. In Tibet, the the 8,848-metre high Mount Everest is called as Mount Qomolangma. The deputy director with the reserve's administration, Kelsang said ordinary tourists are banned from areas above Rongpo Monastery, around 5,000 metres above sea level. A new tent camp will be set up nearly two-km away from the original ...
AI can help improve understanding of Earth science
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can significantly improve our understanding of the climate and Earth science, says a study by German scientists.
Artificial intelligence to boost understanding of Earth: Study
Artificial intelligence (AI) can substantially improve our understanding of the climate and the Earth system, according to a study. Complex dynamic processes such as hurricanes, fire propagation, and vegetation dynamics can be better described with the help of AI, said researchers from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU) in Germany. As a result, climate and Earth system models will be improved, with new models combining AI and physical modelling, according to the study published in the journal Nature. In the past decades mainly static attributes have been investigated using machine learning approaches, such as the distribution of soil properties from the local to the global scale. For some time now, it has been possible to tackle more dynamic processes by using more sophisticated deep learning techniques. This allows, for example, to quantify the global photosynthesis on land with simultaneous consideration of seasonal and short term variations. "From a plethora of sensors, a
Drought, pests could force India to grant duty-free corn imports
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Below-normal monsoon rains and an infestation of the fall armyworm, which devastated African crops in 2017, have slashed India's corn output and boosted prices, increasing the chances the government will grant duty-free corn imports for the first time since 2016.
NGT directs MP govt to remove construction under PMAY on forest land in Shivpuri
The National Green Tribunal Friday directed the Madhya Pradesh government to remove construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Shivpuri noting that it was situated on forest land. A bench comprising Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore and expert member S S Garbyal said it was clear from the documents on record that the land in question is forest land and no non-forest activity could be undertaken on it without following the provisions of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. NGT noted that at the time of construction of houses there were neither any forest rights conferred upon the people on the forest land in question nor was any prior approval of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) obtained, in accordance with the Act. "We are of the considered opinion that at the time of construction of houses, there was no right conferred upon the persons who are constructing or on whose behalf buildings are being constructed in the forest land in question. Therefore, there has been violation
Mercedes-Benz EU emissions jump under new testing regime
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler will push electric and hybrid cars more aggressively after tougher emissions tests revealed pollution levels in Europe at Mercedes-Benz Cars rose 7 percent last year.
China closes Everest base camp in Tibet to tourists
China has closed the Mount Everest base camp in Tibet to tourists who don't have climbing permits in order to deal with the mounting garbage problem at the site, officials say.
Elephant Chinnathambi captured for second time, sent to camp
: Chinnathambi, the 25-year-old rogue elephant, which has been raiding agriculture fields of Udumalpet in nearby Tirupur district for the past two weeks, was Friday tranquilised and captured for the second time in the last 20 days. The first time Chinnathambi was tranquilised, captured and translocated from Thadagam on the city outskirts to Varagaliyar forests was on January 25, following complaints of destruction of crops and attack on humans by the rogue tusker. However, the elephant escaped from the Varagaliyar camp five days later and was roaming, and camping in banana and sugarcane fields in Kannadipudur village at Udumalpet. Amid a legal battle between the government and wildlife activists over capturing and turning the elephant into a kumki (tame), the Madras High Court finally gave nod to capture, without harming it and tame Chinnathambi, the operation was started Thursday. After the operations resumed Friday morning, two darts were administered to the elephant
Animal Planet joins hands with L-T Metro Rail Hyderabad to sensitize citizens about tiger conservation
Animal Planet, India's No. 1 Wildlife channel, has joined hands with L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited (L&TMRHL) to sensitize citizens of Hyderabad about the importance of Tiger Conservation.Starting February 13, 2019 for a month, Animal Planet & L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad will be running a campaign highlighting the alarming situation of global tiger population in the wild which has fallen by 96 per cent over the last century.Speaking about the initiative, Zulfia Waris, Vice President, Premium & Digital networks, Discovery Communications India, said, "Tigers - the revered specie, is in real danger of getting extinct. It is disturbing to know that as few as 3,900 are left in the wild across the world."She added, "With almost 57 per cent of them in India, it is imperative that every Indian is sensitised about this fact so that more and more of them can join hands with us in our endeavor to double the size of tiger population by 2022. I am delighted that L&T ...
US judge rules against butterfly sanctuary opposed to Trump's wall
A US judge ruled Thursday against a butterfly sanctuary that had sued to keep President Donald Trump's proposed border wall from cutting the refuge in two. For months the National Butterfly Center has been arguing that the wall would be devastating for those insects and other creatures living in this habitat in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. As many as 200 species of butterfly live in the sanctuary, as do bobcats, coyotes, skunk pigs, armadillos and Texas turtles. Financing for a wall going through the sanctuary was approved last year and is separate from the border appropriation fight that is currently roiling Washington. Construction could begin in a matter of weeks, local people said. The North American Butterfly Association, which runs the refuge, sued the government on grounds that the sanctuary is private property. But federal judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that the project can proceed. "On the same day the president announces he will declare a state of emergency, the ...
