Page 228 - Environment
Consumer goods CEOs in Davos hot seat over plastic waste
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Consumer products companies including Procter & Gamble Co and Coca-Cola Co are emerging as new targets for global activism, with green groups blaming them for fouling the ocean with plastic and activists urging governments to regulate them.
Delhi's air quality improves after rain
Delhi's air quality improved after rain lashed parts of the city Thursday evening and washed away toxic pollutants, authorities said on Friday. According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city was 154 which falls in the 'moderate' category. An AQI between 100 and 200 comes under the moderate category, 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 is 'very poor', while an AQI between 401 and 500 is 'severe'. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded its lowest pollution levels since October after a heavy downpour and strong winds. The air quality was in the 'satisfactory' category. Starting Wednesday, the air quality began deteriorating again and slipped into the 'poor' category before falling into 'very poor' category on Thursday morning. But incessant rainfall improved the air quality slightly in evening and on Friday it was recorded in the 'moderate' category. On Friday, 16 areas in Delhi recorded 'moderate' air quality while it was 'poor' in ..
Odisha govt disburses Rs 622cr to farmers under KALIA scheme
The Odisha government Friday released over Rs 622 crore directly to the accounts of 12.45 lakh farmers under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA). Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik disbursed the funds at a public meeting attended by thousands of farmers from across the state. Patnaik had launched the KALIA scheme on December 31, 2018 to bring succour to stressed farmers. "I release the funds for over 12 lakh farmers of the state. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, I start the KALIA Yatra from Puri today and it cannot be stopped by anybody," Patnaik said. Hoping that KALIA will be a milestone in Odishas economic development, Patnaik said: "The scheme will boost agriculture and improve the condition of the farmers. KALIA will be a torchbearer for the entire nation". Alhough over 66 lakh farmers have applied to be included in the scheme, only 12.45 lakh farmers could be accomodated in the first phase. "An amount of Rs 622,74,50,000 has been ...
KCR thanks Centre for giving clearance to irrigation project
: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Friday thanked the Centre for giving forest clearance to the Palamuru Ranga Reddy irrigation project in the state. "The Central Ministry of Environment has given the final forest clearance permission for the Palamuru Ranga Reddy irrigation project. This clearance will pave way for a further step in the progress of the project," a release from Raos office said. Rao thanked Union Environment and Forest Minister Harsh Vardhan in this regard, it said. In Mahabubnagar, Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda districts (prior to re-organisation of districts), 12.3 lakh acres would be irrigated and nearly 1,000 villages would get drinking water facility with the completion of the lift irrigation project, it said.
'Community driven decentralised water management necessary'
Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh, hailed as the 'waterman of India', Friday favoured a community-driven decentralized water management rather than building large dams. "People of our Rajasthan worked by integrating engineering and technique, science and community. Today, the engineer of India never sits and talks to a scientist. He does not like to know about the character of underground aquifers. He is into his engineering. That's why whatever government dams have been built, they have killed rivers.... You have to stop building these large dams and do community driven decentralized water management," he said, speaking at the Hyderabad Literary Festival here. Singh stressed on the need to improve the rivers instead of linking them, as planned by the governnment, to treat increasing inundation and drought. Singh said 'Mission Kakatiya' (rejuvenation of tanks and other water bodies) programme of Telangana and should be implemented by the community and not by ...
Telangana's major irrigation project gets forest clearance
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest on Friday gave the final forest clearance permission for Palamuru Ranga Reddy irrigation project, one of the major projects in Telangana.
Student team, Space Kidz India hope to get signals from Kalamsat on Saturday
The five member student team and Space Kidz India are hoping to receive signals on Saturday from their nano-satellite Kalamsat launched on Thursday night by an Indian rocket, said a top company official.
Suzlon commissions 8.4MW wind project for HAL
Renewable energy solution provider Suzlon Energy Friday announced commissioning of its second 8.4 MW wind power project for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the state-owned aerospace and defence company. The 8.4 MW captive wind energy project located at Kushtagi, Bagalkot district in Karnataka was inaugurated by R Madhavan, CMD, HAL, it said. With completion of this project, the HAL's total wind energy capacity delivered by Suzlon stands at 14 MW and caters to 46.6 per cent of the HAL's energy consumption of its Bengaluru based divisions. * * * * ABB to set up microgrid at IIT Roorkee * Swiss power major ABB Friday said it would provide a microgrid for installation at IIT Roorkee, the oldest technical institution of Asia as part of joint smart campus development. The ABB microgrid is part of the extended Research and Development collaboration between ABB and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R) to create platforms for research on various aspects of smart city technology .
Tetra Pak wins ICC 'Social Impact Award' for Environment Sustainability
Tetra Pak India, the world's leading packaging and processing solutions provider was felicitated with the 'Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Social Impact' award in the 'Sustainable Environment category'.The award recognizes Tetra Pak's leading efforts in setting up a sustainable ecosystem for recycling of used Tetra Pak cartons, using a multistakeholder approach and delivering measurable impact. The award recognizes the excellence of organisations in the sphere of social investment, corporate social responsibility and sustainability. More than 80 project nominations were received across different project categories from corporates, NGOs and implementation agencies, of which 40 were shortlisted for further evaluation.Speaking about this recognition, Ashutosh Manohar, Managing Director, Tetra Pak South Asia said, "We are honoured to receive this ICC Social Impact Award and it bears testimony to our passion for developing a sustainable recycling ecosystem in India. Recycling is an ...
Leopard enters Nashik's residential area
A leopard entered a crowded locality in Maharashtra's Nashik district and injured at least three people on Friday.The animal strayed into Savarkar Nagar area and was caught by Forest department personnel.The part of the Nashik district, where the incident took place, has dense forests and the leopard could have strayed from the jungles.The big cat will be released into the forest, officials said. Experts say wild animals straying into human population is possibly because of deforestation.Earlier in the day, two wolves entered Sambhal village of Uttar Pradesh and attacked two children.
Rainfall deficit may cause surge in Arhar prices: Study by Weather Risk Management Services
The recent CROPWATCH report by Weather Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd. highlights the impact of rainfall amongst other factors on likely increase in the prices for Red Gram. "The rainfall declined by 59% to 20% in dominant Red Gram producing areas, which is likely to affect Arhar production and prices," said Sonu Agrawal, Founder and Managing Director, Weather Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd.A pioneering smart farming company with a vision to empower farmers to overcome the most daunting agrarian challenges. The company leverages data, technology and financial services to provide holistic solutions that enhance agricultural productivity and secure farmers' income in an environmentally sustainable manner.The cultivation of crops and its yield are immensely sensitive to climate and weather conditions. Climatological data and weather risk management is essential for agricultural planning because it accounts for the monthly, weekly or even hourly temperature, rainfall, solar ...
SSB denies digging trench near India-Nepal border
Border guards Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on Friday refuted the allegations of Nepalese authorities that the force has been digging a trench near the no-man's land between India and Nepal and clarified that the digging is being done by the Forest Department as a conservation measure to protect animals.
HAL taps wind to power its Bengaluru facilities
State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Friday said it has opened a wind energy plant in Karnataka's northwestern Bagalkot district to power its facilities in Bengaluru.
Three DST Technology Mission Centres launched
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday launched three DST Technology Mission Centres, which will undertake Research and Development in solar energy and water management, among others. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences and Environment, Forests and Climate Change, lauded Indian scientists for their contributions, even as he noted that science had the potential to 'virtually' solving every other problems faced by the country. He launched the DST-IITM Solar Energy Harnessing Centre, DST-IITM Centre for Sustainable Treatment, reuse and Management for Efficient, Affordable and Synergistic Solutions for Water and the DST-IITM-KGDS test bed on Solar Thermal Desalinsation Solutions, set up in Ramanathapuram district. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT, Madras, said the centres were focussed on critical technologies for sustainability like harnessing of solar energy in myriad ways, and scientific recycling and conservation of water. The solar thermal ..
WEF summit ends with words of caution for world economy
The five-day World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019 ended Friday with several leaders warning about imminent challenges faced by the global economy, including climate change, growing inequality and US-China trade tensions. In the last plenary session on 'Global economy in transition', IMF chief Christine Lagarde listed climate change, an ageing population, jobs for youth, income inequality and the need to make the world more cooperative among the key issues needed to be dealt with. World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva made a passionate plea to give more decision-making power to women. "Think of those that may be left out or behind. And how a just transition can be successful ... For that success we ought to have more women like you (Lagarde) in the high corridors of power. "Put these decisions in the hands of women, the moms and the grandmothers and very good things will come out of it," she said. In his closing remarks, Borge Brende, president of WEF, said the meeting had a lot many
Sambhal's SDM orders shut down of 5 ornanment factories
As many as five factories of ornaments made by animal parts, including horns and bones, were shut down following an order from Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday.These factories were operating in the district for decades, producing various handicrafts. They produce buttons, bangles, photo frames and other handicrafts using the animal bones and horns. a few traders also sent their handicraft items to foreign countries. Around 95 per cent of the suburban population depends on this art for livelihood.Releasing the order, the authorities claimed that the waste waters from these factories were contaminating the water bodies in the region which in turn is destroying the farmer's crop. "Some factories of animal bones and horns have been ordered to close down as per Section 133 of the CrPC, as they were creating a nuisance. This action was taken on the basis of an investigation," said SDM Deependra Kumar.Soon after the order, traders and workers started ..
Earth's oldest rock found on Moon: Study
Scientists say they have discovered what may be the Earth's oldest rock in a lunar sample returned from the Moon by the Apollo 14 astronauts. An international team associated with Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) in the US found evidence that the rock was launched from Earth by a large impacting asteroid or comet. This impact jettisoned material through Earth's primitive atmosphere, into space, where it collided with the surface of the Moon -- which was three times closer to Earth than it is now -- about four billion years ago, researchers said. The rock was subsequently mixed with other lunar surface materials into one sample, according to the study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The team developed techniques for locating impactor fragments in the lunar regolith, which prompted CLSE Principal Investigator David A Kring to challenge them to locate a piece of Earth on the Moon. The researchers found a two gramme fragment of rock composed ..
TN CM urges PM to reject Karnataka's Mekedatu dam project report
The Tamil Nadu government Friday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention on the Mekedatu issue, urging him to instruct the Ministry of Water Resources and Central Water Commission to "reject outright" Karnataka's DPR for constructing a dam on river Cauvery. The state government had "repeatedly" conveyed its "strong" objections to the Centre, Water Resources Ministry as well as the CWC against the project,Chief Minister K Palaniswami wrote to Modi, recalling his earlier pleas. "In the circumstances, I seek your kind personal intervention and request you to instruct the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Central Water Commission to reject outright and return the Detailed Project Report of the Mekedatu Project submitted by Karnataka," Palaniswami told Modi. He said the Karnataka government had informed the Supreme Court on January 21 that it has furnished the DPR to the CWC on January 18 for the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir- ...
U'khand CM highlights efforts towards sustainable development
On completing 20 months in office, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat Friday said the state government during this period has made efforts towards sustainable development and to deliver on the promises made to people. "We have completed over 20 months in office and our effort during the period has been to ensure that promises don't remain just promises but their benefits reach people," Rawat told reporters here. He said investments worth Rs 10,300 crores have already arrived in Uttarakhand since the investors summit held in October last year and investments worth Rs 2,500 crores are in the pipeline. "By the end of this financial year, we hope investments worth Rs 12,500 crore will have arrived on the ground in the state," Rawat said. Work on major infrastructure projects like all weather road, Rishikesh-Karnaprayag and Roorkee-Deoband rail lines is going at great pace, he said. He said 170 bridge construction projects have been sanctioned and 200 more will be cleared ...
Scientists found Earth's oldest rock on Moon
Analysis of lunar samples from the Apollo 14 mission shows that a large impacting asteroid or comet hurtled a piece of Earth rock, about 4 billion years ago, on to the Moon's surface.