Page 216 - Environment
DP for Goa village provides for 'cemetery with a sea view'
The development plan for a village on the outskirts of Panaji provides for a seashore cemetery next to the famous Miramar beach. The Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Taleigao village was approved at a meeting of the Town and Country Planning Board Friday. The plan was prepared by the Greater Panaji Planning and Development Authority (GPPDA). The meeting was chaired by Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai. "A provision has been made for a cemetery for Our Lady of Rosary Church at Caranzalem which is located next to the Caranzalem-Miramar Beach," he said. "It is a cemetery with a sea view," the minister added. The TCP board Friday also allowed conversion of user from 'Orchard' to 'Settlement' for lands belonging to over 200 families of "ethnic communities" at Taleigao, Sardesai said. These communities include Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and fishermen, he added. With a conversion from Orchard to Settlement, the land earlier earmarked for agriculture can
J-K highway closed for vehicular traffic for 2nd day
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all weather surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country, has been closed for vehicular traffic for the second consecutive day Friday due to fresh snowfall and landslides, officials said. Due to fresh snowfall and landslides in Jawahar tunnel-Banihal-Ramban section and a landslide in Ramban stretch, the highway was closed Friday for vehicular traffic, they said. "There was fresh snowfall and also landslides on highway in Pantiyal-Battery Cheshma-Ramban sector. Restoration work at several places is going on despite shooting of stones at Battery Cheshma, Anokhi, Digdool and Pantiyal," Deputy Superintendent of Police Suresh Sharma said. Landslides at Battery Cheshma and Anokhi fall in the morning led to the blockage of the road, he said. Snowfall was continuing till afternoon in Banihal and Jawahar tunnel areas, Sharma said. "No vehicle was allowed to move towards Kashmir valley from Nagrota traffic check post in Jammu," a traffic ...
Russia's domestic gas supplies from Exxon-led project suspended - ministry
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Domestic gas supplies from Sakhalin-1 project, led by ExxonMobil have been suspended due to the stoppage of a compressor facility, the Russian energy ministry said on Friday.
Fast reactor fuel cycle facility gets Rs 750 crore budget boost
The Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility (FRFCF) coming up in Kalpakkam near here has got a funding boost of Rs 750 crore in the interim budget for 2019-20, up from Rs 650 crore estimated for 2018-19.
NASA's Curiosity finds Mars rocks more porous than expected
Researchers have used non-science engineering data from NASA's Curiosity rover to find Mars rocks less compacted and more porous than expected, according to researchers.
BP to expand emissions disclosure on oil investments
LONDON (Reuters) - BP has agreed to broaden its disclosure on greenhouse gas emissions to show how it thinks future investments in oil and gas align with U.N.-backed climate goals, it said on Friday.
Imitation best form of flattery: KTR
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao on Friday reacted to the Centre announcing a direct cash transfer scheme for farmers on the lines of the state's "Rythu Bandhu" scheme.
Hong Kong seizes record eight tonnes of pangolin scales
A record eight tonnes of pangolin scales found in a container from Nigeria was unveiled by Hong Kong officials Friday, underscoring the city's central role in the booming illegal wildlife trade. Customs officers said they conducted a joint investigation with mainland officials on 16 January, seizing 8,300 kilos of pangolin scales and 2,100 kilos of ivory tusks hidden inside a container -- declared to be carrying frozen beef -- at a customs facility. "This is a record high in quantity for a seizure of pangolin scales," the customs department said in a statement. A man and a woman from a trading company in the city have since been arrested, the department said. Customs officers displayed dozens of sacks filled with scales to the media as well as hundreds of uncarved tusks, in an acrid-smelling room. Officials estimated the value of the haul at HK dollars 62 million (USD 8 million). The announcement came less than two weeks after a coalition of local conservation groups called on Hong ...
Budget 2019: Railways experienced safest year, says Goyal
Indian Railways experienced the "safest year" in its history as all unmanned level crossings on the broad gauge network have been eliminated, said Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal while presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament on Friday.In the Interim Budget 2019-20, the Railways has been allocated Rs 64,587 crore. The Railways' overall capital expenditure programme is of Rs.1,58,658 crore.Goyal, who succeeded Suresh Prabhu as Railways Minister in September 2017 following a spate of train accidents, said the people of India would soon have world-class train experience through semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express, which is indigenously developed."Vande Bharat Express will give the Indian passengers world-class experience with speed, service and safety. This major leap in wholly developed technology by our engineers will give an impetus to the Make in India programme and create jobs," he said."Vande Bharat Express is a 'Make in India' initiative that will help create
Farmers' rally to affect traffic on Delhi-Noida route via DND: Police
Traffic between Delhi and Noida via DND is likely to get affected on Friday afternoon due to a proposed rally by a farmers' group, said officials. There could be diversions made on the route as per requirement, the Noida Traffic Police said in a statement. "People are advised to use alternate roads via Mayur Vihar and Kalindi Kunj for movement between Noida and Delhi to avoid inconvenience," it said in an advisory. The Delhi Traffic Police have also cautioned the people against using the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) route, expecting traffic movement to be impacted around 2.00 pm on Friday due to the rally. "Due to the proposed rally by farmers traffic from Noida via DND is likely to be affected after 2.00 pm," Alok Kumar Joint CP, (traffic). Follow official social media handles of Delhi police for traffic updates, officials said.
Infosys Foundation to restore Panchakalyani lake in Karnataka
Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IT giant Infosys, Friday said it will work towards conservation and restoration of Panchakalyani lake in Karnataka. Panchakalyani is the largest ancient lake in Melukote in the Mandya district of Karnataka, Infosys said in a regulatory filing. "The Foundation will restore the lake by cleaning the tank, removing silt and waste deposit, ensuring structural and chemical conservation of the Panchakalyani and a nearby tank called the Ganeshan Honda, reconnecting the existing canals, and building a compound wall," it added. Sudha Murthy, Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, said Melukote was patronised by the great empires of Hoysala and Vijayanagara, and the Wodeyars of the kingdom of Mysore. "Our ancestors have created several heritage structures which stand testimony to our glorious past and it is our duty to preserve those structures. The restoration project is important to improve the water quality of the lake and bring back balance in the
Loom Solar Aims to Become India's No. 1 Solar Brand and a 100 Crore Revenue Company by 2020
/ -- A solar marketplace based out of Faridabad, Haryana turns one year old today. Sharing the highlights of its journey, Amol Anand, Co-founder, said, "We are on the right direction to become India's most popular brand in solar by 2020. More than a million people have viewed us on YouTube. We have added 500 solar entrepreneurs, 2,000 homes are solar powered by us and as the summer is coming up, we have started getting more than 300 enquiries to make homes, shops and offices solar powered every day. Our future looks promising. We are targeting to achieve sales revenue of 100 crore by 2020." (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/816630/Loom_Solar_Logo.jpg ) Loom Solar becomes a product company by launching solar photo voltaic module and solar panel stand. The Solar PV modules are made of latest technology. It is a mono crystalline panel that generates power in cloudy weather and low light. It offers solar PV modules from 10 watts to 340 watts. The solar panel stand is made of ...
Farmer injured in wild boar attack in Odisha
A 27-year-old farmer was injured when a wild boar attacked him at Badatubi village in Odisha's Kendrapara district Friday. The man, identified as Gobind Mandal, was taken to a local hospital in an unconscious state with wounds on his right thigh and back. He was shifted to district headquarter hospital at Kendrapara and then to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. "Mandal is now out of danger," hospital sources said in Cuttack. The man was engaged in farming when the wild boar attacked him. The village is close to mangrove forest areas and animals often stray into the village from the forest, a forest official said. "The forest department has formed two night vigil squads to drive away the wild boar and asked the villagers to stay indoors at night," the official said. The forest department is bearing the cost of his treatment and will provide an ex-gratia compensation to his family, he said.
Telangana's Rythu Bandhu showed way to Centre
Telangana's Rythu Bandhu scheme showed the way to the Centre, which on Friday announced the PM Kisan Yojna to provide income support to farmers.
Asteroid impacts helped create Earth's continents: Study
Heavy bombardment of Earth by asteroids from space over 3.8 billion years ago contributed to the formation of the early evolved crust on our planet, that later gave rise to continents, a study has found. In a time period called the Hadean eon, our planet Earth was constantly bombarded by asteroids, which caused the large-scale melting of its surface rocks, said researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa said in a statement. Most of these surface rocks were basalts, and the asteroid impacts produced large pools of superheated impact melt of such composition. These basaltic pools were tens of kilometres thick, and thousands of kilometres in diameter, according to the research published in the journal Nature Communications. "If you want to get an idea of what the surface of Earth looked like at that time, you can just look at the surface of the Moon which is covered by a vast amount of large impact craters," said Professor Rais Latypov from the University of the
Four metal detectors installed in UP's Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
Four more deep search metal detectors have been installed at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh to detect metal equipment used by poachers, including iron clamps, officials said Friday. Iron clamps are used by poachers to trap animals. With these four advanced detectors, the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) now has six such devices, the reserve's deputy director Mahavir Kaujlagi said. "Traffic India (a NGO) has provided four advanced DSMDs (Deep Search Metal Detectors) which would help us prevent poaching activities inside DTR," he said. "Deep search metal detectors would help detect iron clamps and other metal equipments used in wildlife poaching," the deputy director said. Besides, the metal detectors, the reserve's authorities have resolved to procure advanced air-blower so as to control jungle fire in Dudhwa. "As an experiment, we requisitioned a powerful air blower which we are testing and if found suitable, we would procure them through our Lucknow office," Kaujlagi added.
Govt announces new scheme to give Rs 6000 annually to 12 cr marginal farmers
The government on Friday announced a new scheme in the agriculture sector which will entail payment of Rs 6,000 annually to each of the 12 crore marginal farmers in the country.The scheme named as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi will involve an annual outlay of Rs 75,000 crore, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said while presenting the interim Budget in the Lok Sabha.The payment of Rs 6,000 will be paid directly in the bank accounts of the marginal farmers, he said.It will be provided in three equal instalments, with effect from December 1, 2018, Goyal said.The intention is to provide assured income support for small and marginal farmers, he said."For welfare of farmers and for doubling their income, historic decision has been taken to increase MSP by 1.5 times the production cost for all 22 crops," the Finance Minister said.He also announced 2 per cent interest subvention to farmers pursuing animal husbandry and fisheries.
January was officially Australia's hottest month on record
Australia sweltered through its hottest month on record in January and the summer of extremes continued with wildfires razing the drought-parched south and flooding in expanses of the tropical north. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the January record on Friday as parts of the northern hemisphere had record cold. Australia's scorching start to 2019 in which the mean temperature across the country for the first time exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) followed Australia's third-hottest year on record. Only 2005 and 2013 were warmer than 2018, which ended with the hottest December on record. Heat-stressed bats dropped dead from trees by the thousands in Victoria state and bitumen roads melted in New South Wales during heatwaves last month. New South Wales officials say drought-breaking rains are needed to improve the water quality in a stretch of a major river system where hundreds of thousands of fish died in two mass deaths during January linked to ...
All identified 2.5 cr unelectrifed households to be energised by March: FM
All identified 2.5 crore households will be energised by March as the task under the Saubhagya scheme has almost been completed, said Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday. "The task of household electrification is almost complete. As many as 2.5 crore unelectrified households were identified. All willing households will (under Saubhagya scheme) be provided electricity connection by March 2019," Goyal said while presenting budget 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha. According to the Saubhagya portal, as many as 2,48,19,168 families have already been provided electricity connection under the Rs 16,320 crore Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) launched in September 2017. The government had identified 2,48,47,762 unelectrified households for electrification by March. As many as 28,594 households including 8,460 in Rajasthan and 20,134 in Chhattisgarh are yet to be electrified. During the state power ministers' meet chaired by Power Minister R K Singh, it was resolved to ...
More water birds spotted at Himchal's Pong Dam in 2018-19
There has been an increase in water birds -- resident and migratory -- at Himachal Pradesh's Pong Dam wetland with 5,026 more from the avian species being spotted in 2018-19 over the previous year, wildlife officials said. The wetland areas of the dam is home to 29 species of resident waterfowls and is a stop over for 62 types of migratory waterfowls from regions in Russia, Central Asia and Tibet. The count of these birds was recorded at 1,10,203 in 2017-18, they said. The increase was found in the annual waterfowl estimation exercise that was carried out on January 28 and 29 for monitoring the numerical size of bird's population during 2018-19 at the wetland, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PPCF)-cum-Chief Wild Life Warden, Himachal Pradesh, Savita, said. "The survey recorded 1,15,229 birds of 103 different species at Pong Dam Lake this year (for 2018-19), this includes 1,04,230 migratory waterfowls of 58 species, 10,231 resident water birds of 29 species and 768 birds of 16 ..