Page 212 - Environment

Karnataka demands add'l work on NH-66 project

Karnataka Revenue Miniser R V Deshpande urged the central government to consider additional work on the NH-66 project, between Goa border and Kundapur in the state, to provide better safety. In a meeting with Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Deshpande said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is implementing the NH-66 project. However, the public has demanded additional works. "I have gone through the detailed report submitted by NHAI, it is noticed that various demands have been received from the public with respect to safety aspect on the Goa-Karnataka border to Kundapur project of NH-66," he said in a representation made to the Centre. Construction of service road and compound wall at Diavgi village in Kumta taluk, foot-over bridge and bus shelter in Dhareshwar village, vehicle underpass at Murdeshwar junction, reducing length of a wall of flyover and restricting the length and width of Shamshudin circle -- are some of the demands of the public, he ...

Animal lovers in Coimbatore protest against translocation of wild Jumbo

Animal lovers and social activists protested on Monday in front of the Coimbatore Collectorate office demanding the forest department bring back a wild jumbo which was captured a few days back from Thadagam region of Tamil Nadu.The protesters claimed that the wild elephant, Chinna Thambi, is human-friendly and has never harmed any human beings so far. Despite this the forest department team captured Chinna Thambi from Thadagam and relocated it to Topslip.Few days back, Chinna Thambi started to move towards Coimbatore. Apprehending trouble, the forest department sent a 200-member team to chase the elephant from Udmalpet to Topslip.Last year, Coimbatore Collector T.N. Hariharan requested the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW), Tamil Nadu, to take necessary steps to translocate the wild elephant that was damaging crops and houses in the Thadagam valley near Coimbatore city.

TN solar energy policy for 2019 sets 9,000 MW as target

: The Tamil Nadu government Monday unveiled a new solar energy policy 2019 that aims at generating 9,000 MW for the state by 2022. Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced in June 2018 that a similar policy released in 2012 would be upgraded by combining the Vision 2023 document released by former late chief minister J Jayalalithaa and also the target set by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of 9,000 MW installed capacity. According to the new policy, Vision Tamil Nadu 2023 document includes a solar energy target of 5,000 MW. To meet the Vision Tamil Nadu 2023 and MNRE 2022 target, substantial solar energy capacity addition was required, it said. Following the experience gained from implementation of Tamil Nadu solar energy policy 2012, the Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy 2019 was created and it provides an inclusive policy framework promoting both utility and consumer category solar energy generation through various enabling mechanisms. By achieving the target,

Bhagirathi dumping: NGT directs NHIDCL to deposit Rs 2 cr, dismisses review plea

The National Green Tribunal has dismissed state-run NHIDCL's plea seeking review of its order to deposit Rs 2 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board for dumping muck into the Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, during in-chamber hearing, said there was no merit in the plea of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation. "We have perused the application and the records of original application... Upon consideration of the facts and circumstances, we do not find any merit in the application. Accordingly, the Review Application stands dismissed," said the bench, also comprising Justice S P Wangdi. NHIDCL had moved the tribunal seeking review of the its November 1, 2018 order directing it to deposit Rs 2 crore with the CPCB after going through the report of a four-member committee headed by Additional Director of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It had also directed NHIDCL to conduct soil survey .

Largest extinction event on Earth most likely killed plants first

Washington D.C. [USA], Feb 4 (ANI): A new research led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says that plants may have suffered the wrath of Great Dying long before their animal counterparts.About 252 million years ago, the planet's continental crust was mashed into the supercontinet Pangea and volcanoes in modern-day Siberia began erupting. This caused carbon and methane to be spewed into the atmosphere for roughly 2 million years causing 96 per cent of oceanic life and 70 per cent of land-based vertebrates to be wiped off the planet.The new study now finds that a by-product of the eruption, drove some plant life to extinction nearly 4,00,000 years before most marine species were killed off.Speaking about the study, lead author Christopjer Fielding said that while people have always hinted at something similar, no one before them has been able to pin it down.The researchers reached the conclusion by studying fossilised pollen, the chemical composition and age of rock, and the ...

Response of UP authorities 'highly unsatisfactory', alleges NGT-appointed panel on Yamuna cleaning

A committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to monitor the Yamuna river cleaning operation has regretted that the response of the Uttar Pradesh authorities in this regard has been "highly unsatisfactory". NGT chairperson Justice A K Goel had set up the committee in July to monitor the cleaning of the river. The panel comprises former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra and retired expert member B S Sajwan. The monitoring committee said with "utmost regret" that the response of Uttar Pradesh from the time the order dated July 26was passed by the tribunal has been "highly unsatisfactory" despite repeated letters to the state chief secretary, followed up by phone calls to his office. "The secretary of environment and forests department, UP, was told over phone on two occasions what was needed (to be done to clean up the Yamuna)," the monitoring committee said in its report submitted to the National Green Tribunal. "The monitoring committee for the state was constituted .

Surface ocean will change colour by century end: Study

More than 50 per cent of the world's oceans will shift in colour due to climate change by the year 2100, an MIT study has found. Climate change is causing significant changes to phytoplankton in the world's oceans, and over the coming decades these changes will affect the ocean's colour, intensifying its blue regions and its green ones, according to the study published in the journal Nature Communications. Satellites should detect these changes in hue, providing early warning of wide-scale changes to marine ecosystems, said researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. They developed a global model that simulates the growth and interaction of different species of phytoplankton, or algae, and how the mix of species in various locations will change as temperatures rise around the world. The researchers also simulated the way phytoplankton absorb and reflect light, and how the ocean's colour changes as global warming affects the makeup of phytoplankton ...

Six bovine smugglers held, 28 animals rescued in JK's Ramban

Six suspected cattle smugglers were arrested as police rescued 28 animals in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district, officials said Monday. The animals were being taken to the Kashmir valley without permission, a police official said. He said police intercepted four load carriers in Ramban town along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and rescued 24 animals which were being illegally transported to the Kashmir valley. Four more cattle, being taken by foot, were rescued at Tatapani, the official said. He said six suspected cattle smugglers were arrested and three separate cases were registered against them.

ISMA seeks enforcement of sugar export quota

With cane arrears in the country touching Rs 20,000 crore this year, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Monday said it has asked the government to enforce sugar exports under the Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ).

Sugar output up 8 pc till Jan; Arrears to cane farmers touch Rs 20,000 cr: ISMA

Sugar production rose 8 per cent to 185 lakh tonnes in the first four months of this marketing year ending September, industry body ISMA said Monday, while cautioning that cane arrears to farmers could reach "very uncomfortable levels". The production, is however, estimated to decline to 307 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 marketing year (October-September) from record 325 lakh tonnes in the previous year, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement. "It is estimated that cane price arrears across the country have reached about Rs 20,000 crore at the end of January, 2019. Considering the pace of crushing in the remaining three peak months of current 2018-19 season and if current average all India domestic ex-mill price remains at around Rs 29-30 per kilo, millers might not be able to clear the dues on time. "It is feared that it may further increase to very uncomfortable levels by the end of April 2019," ISMA said. The association said that ex-mill sugar prices across the country

FAO intensifies tie-up with French broadcaster

Rome, Feb 4 (IANS/AKI) The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and France's international public broadcaster have inked an accord to strengthen their joint projects and increase synergies to fight hunger and combat climate change, FAO said.

Climate change may make species infertile: Study

Rising temperatures could drive some species to become sterile, making them succumb to the effects of climate change earlier than thought, scientists say. Currently, researchers are trying to predict where species will be lost due to climate change, so they can build suitable reserves in the locations they will eventually need to move to. However, most of the data on when temperature will prevent species surviving in an area is based on the 'critical thermal limit' or CTL -- the temperature at which they collapse, stop moving or die, according to researchers from University of Liverpool in the UK. In a research published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, the researchers highlight that extensive data from a wide variety of plants and animals suggests that organisms lose fertility at lower temperatures than their CTL. Certain groups are thought to be most vulnerable to climate-induced fertility loss, including cold-blooded animals and aquatic species. "There is a risk that we are ...

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation introduces 'public refrigerators' to feed poor

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in partnership with an NGO has introduced "public refrigerators" in the city where food leftover from weddings and other functions would be stored for the poor. Anyone who has excess food and wishes to donate can leave food in the refrigerators so that the needy can have it, GHMC officials said. This will reduce food wastage and feed hungry, they said, adding three centres with the refrigerators were launched last week. The civic body is planning to set up 10 more such centres across the city soon. The GHMC in 2014 launched a project offering meals for the poor at Rs 5 and around 45,000 people are being daily facilitated food through 150 centres in the city, the corporation officials said.

Monaco's Prince Albert II on India visit from Feb 4-10

Prince Albert II, the head of state of Monaco, will arrive here Monday on a week-long India visit during which he will hold talks with the top Indian leadership to strengthen bilateral ties, specially in sectors such as trade and energy. Prince Albert will arrive on Monday morning and will attend the IndiaMonaco Business Forum in the afternoon followed by a round-table on energy and climate change, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. He will meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. During the visit, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on Prince Albert, the ministry said. He will visit Rajasthan before heading home on February 10.

Red alert in UP's Dudhwa Tiger Reserve over reports of illegal wildlife trafficking

A red alert has been sounded in Uttar Pradesh's Dudhwa Tiger Reserve after authorities received reports of illegal wildlife trafficking through the porous India-Nepal border, an official said Sunday. Principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Sunil Pandey issued similar alerts for all forest divisions in Pilibhit, Bahraich, Gonda, Maharajganj and Balrampur districts which are close to the border. Field director of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) Ramesh Kumar Pandey said all patrolling teams and field staff in the DTR, including Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), have been put on high alert and patrolling has been intensified. "In the DTR, smart patrolling equipped with MSTrIPES was in place which has helped in nabbing 143 wildlife criminals and poachers during the last eight months. Last year the number was 60 in the same period," he said. "A close watch over the known criminals is being kept and key focus is on all the sensitive areas," Pandey added.

Centre to install 450 realtime, 1,500 manual air quality monitoring systems in India by 2024

The Centre is aiming to install 300 more realtime ambient air quality monitoring systems across the country by 2024 as the country battles deteriorating air quality. Apprising about the number of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems (CAAQMS), a senior official of the Environment Ministry said 150 realtime and 731 manual stations are presently installed in 70 cities across the country, 48 of them in the national capital alone, for accurate and comprehensive evaluation of air quality. "We aim to increase the realtime monitoring system to 450 and the manual stations to 1,500 before 2024," Satyendra Kumar, deputy secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, told PTI. The official said some installations will be a part of the National Clean Air Programme launched recently to monitor and reduce 20-30 per cent pollution by 2024. According to the ministry's 2017-18 report, there were 28 CAAQMS in the national capital and 86 realtime CAAQMS in 57 other ...

EU agrees no-deal Brexit compensation for Irish farmers - report

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The European Commission has agreed to compensate Irish farmers for a collapse in market value in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times newspaper said, quoting Irish government and EU sources.

Zero sewer discharge in Ganga in Varanasi by Nov

More than three decades after the Ganga Action Plan was launched, the ancient city of Varanasi is set to have zero sewer discharge in the holy river by November this year. The Ganga Action Plan was launched by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Varanasi on June 14, 1986 to reduce the pollution load on Ganga. Under Nitin Gadkari, the Ministry of Ganga Rejuvenation and its implementing arm National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) have taken up several projects for treatment of sewer water in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Work on 50 MLD sewage treatment plant at Ramana is nearing completion. By November this year, it is expected to be fully operational for treating discharge of Assi Nala. With this, flow of untreated sewer water from Varanasi city into the Ganga will be completely checked," said NMCG officials. The city currently generates about 300 million litres per day sewer water. The existing treatment capacity has been boosted with the ..

Take care of PM Modi to get employment: MP Governor Anandiben Patel

Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel was heard urging locals to "take care" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to get jobs.In a video, villagers can be heard urging Patel to provide jobs to the youth at the newly constructed solar plant in the region, to which she responded: "In future, you will get more opportunities like this, but for that, you must take care of Prime Minister Modi."Patel was in Vindhya on Sunday to inspect the newly constructed Solar Power Plant where she spoke to villagers on the issue of employment.

Odisha govt to boost production of Indian major carps

The Odisha government, to boost production of the Indian major carps, is planning to introduce circular cage fish farming at the reservoir of Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur district, officials said. As a part of a pilot project, two circular cages will be installed by the fisheries department at the reservoir near Muhammadpur area, the Deputy Director of Fisheries, Sambalpur Zone, Pabitra Kumar Behera, said. Circular cages provide more space for movement of fish, he said, adding it also helps in feeding fish. The diameter of a cage is around 16-metre and depth of 4-metre, Behera said adding the installation of the two circular cages will cost around Rs 32 lakh. The work related to installation of the cages will begin shortly and it will take around a week to complete the job, Behra said. If things go as per the plan, fingerlings will be released into the cages on February 20, he said. At least 18,000 fingerlings would be released into the cages and each cage will produce about .