Page 231 - Environment
Gadkari, Fadnavis lay foundation stone for Rs 1,183-cr road proj in M'rashtra
Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday laid the foundation stone for Rs 1,183-crore highway widening project, awarded to MEP Infra by NHAI, in the state. "MEP Infrastructure Developers Ltd today announced that it has received the letter of appointed date from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the eight-laning of existing four-lane Vadape to Thane section of NH-3 (new NH-848) in Maharashtra," MEP Infra said in a statement. The Rs 1,182.87-crore project will be executed on Hybrid Annuity Mode, it said. The foundation stone for the project was laid by Fadanavis and union road transport minister Gadkari at Dive Anjur in Thane district, the statement said. MEP Infra had achieved financial closure for this project in terms of the concession agreement executed with NHAI, by tying up project finance of Rs 567.78 crore, and YES bank is the lead banker to this project, it said. Commenting on the development, ...
China outlines comprehensive plan to protect Great Wall
China on Thursday issued a comprehensive plan to establish a long-term mechanism for the conservation of the Great Wall.
Hitachi wants nationalisation of UK nuclear project: report
Hitachi's frozen nuclear power project in Britain can only be revived if it is nationalised, Nikkei news agency reported the company's chairman as saying on Wednesday. "Nationalisation is the only path," Hiroaki Nakanishi was quoted as saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos. But he added that legal changes would be required for the British government to take a majority stake in the business to fill a funding gap left by the private sector. The chairman said private investors had little appetite to support the power plant after seeing similar projects around the world stall, Nikkei reported. Hitachi last week froze construction of the Wylfa Newydd plant in Wales owing to financing difficulties. It had launched the project after acquiring British-based Horizon Nuclear Power in 2012. The UK government had agreed to take a one-third equity stake in the project, alongside investment from Hitachi, Japanese government agencies and other strategic partners. Fund-raising efforts ...
Scientists drill record West Antarctic hole
Scientists have for the first time successfully drilled over two kilometres through the ice sheet in West Antarctica using hot water, an advance they say will help understand how the region will respond to a warming climate. The 11-person team led by scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has been working on the Rutford Ice Stream for the last 12 weeks in freezing temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius. On January 8, following a 63 hour continuous round-the-clock drilling operation, the team broke through to the sediment 2,152 metres below the surface, BAC said in a statement. A string of instruments were fed through the borehole which will record water pressure, ice temperature and deformation within the ice around it. The project, named BEAMISH, has been 20 years in the planning, and was attempted in 2004 without success. "I have waited for this moment for a long time and am delighted that we have finally achieved our goal," said lead scientist Andy Smith from ...
Davos: Big food, consumer goods firms join TerraCycle's Loop waste-free shopping platform
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Some of the world's largest consumer goods and food and beverage companies have joined a new recycling initiative, to be launched this year, aimed at collecting used plastics bottles and other durable packaging from homes and re-using them.
Reduce, reuse & recycle should be mantra on plastic use: VP
: Holding that the use of plastics posed several challenges to the environment, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said, "reduce, reuse and recycle" should be the mantra for minimising the deleterious impact of plastics on environment. Participating in the golden jubilee celebrations of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) here, Naidu said, India should adopt better waste management technologies whereby used plastic becomes feedstock rather than a waste. "Plastic sector will account for 20 per cent of total oil consumption and 15 per cent of the global annual carbon budget by 2050. At the end of the day, it might not be possible to avoid the use of plastics. While there are a number of positive aspects of plastics, they pose several challenges to our environment," he said. Elaborating, he said, "convenience items that are intended for single use are being continually discarded to the landfills, littering our landscapes thereby ...
Delhi's air pollution on rise, slips to 'very poor' category: Authorities
As the impact of rain subsided, Delhi's air quality deteriorated further and slipped into the 'very poor' category on Thursday, authorities said. They said unfavourable meteorological conditions have slowed down the process of dispersion of pollutants. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall AQI in the city was 328. An AQI between 100 and 200 comes under the 'moderate' category, 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', while that between 401 and 500 is 'severe'. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded its lowest pollution levels since October last year as heavy rains lashed the city and the wind speed picked up. The national capital's air quality was recorded in the 'satisfactory' category. From Wednesday, the air quality started deteriorating again and slipped into the 'poor' category before falling into 'very poor' category. On Thursday, 27 areas in Delhi recorded 'very poor' air quality while it was 'poor' in seven areas, the CPCB said. In the
UN expert visits Bangladesh Rohingya 'relocation' island
A UN Special Rapporteur on human rights visited on Thursday an island off Bangladesh where Dhaka aims to move Rohingya refugees despite worries it will be vulnerable to extreme weather. Some 750,000 Muslim Rohingyas flooded into Bangladesh in late 2017 after an offensive by Myanmar's military that the United Nations has said could have amounted to genocide, joining 250,000 already there. Bangladesh is spending USD 280 million transforming Bhashan Char, a muddy silt islet that only emerged from the sea two decades ago, into a camp for some of the refugees. But the island, in a coastal region where weather has killed hundreds of thousands of people in recent decades, is one hour by boat from the nearest land over a stretch of sea prone to violent storms. Some of the Rohingya themselves, living in overcrowded and squalid camps in southeastern Bangladesh border district of Cox's Bazar, have expressed unease about moving, while the UN has insisted that any relocation must be ...
NGT slams DPCC over report on pollution caused by dyeing industry in Malviya Nagar
The National Green Tribunal slammed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) Thursday for not submitting a proper report on a plea alleging air pollution caused by chemicals released by a dyeing industry in Malviya Nagar area here. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel expressed dissatisfaction over the DPCC report and asked it to submit a fresh report. "Proceedings have been initiated on the basis of a letter received by post, alleging that dyeing and chemical business is being carried at R-85, Basement, Khidki Extension, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, resulting in air pollution by the chemicals released from the factory, affecting the health of the inhabitants," the bench had noted. "No facts have been furnished nor ownership of the building or of the person who was carrying out illegal activities ascertained. Neither any money recovered. What is this report you (DPCC) have filed? Give us a proper report within one month," the bench said. It reiterated that ...
Centre aims to double non-rice summer crop output to 5 mn tonnes
The Centre on Thursday said it has aimed to increase the output of summer crops, barring rice, to 5 million tonnes this year by boosting the production of pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds.
India can provide leadership in dealing drought: UNCCD
India has tremendous potential to turn challenges like desertification and droughts into opportunities through improved land use and management, and provide the leadership the world needs to take bold actions, according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Remarks by Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), came as he announced that India would host the next global Conference on desertification, land degradation and drought. The conference would be held from October 7 to 18 at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Participants from 197 Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will have access, for the first time, to a wealth of vital new scientific data. They will have access to Earth Observation data on the trends in land degradation dating from 2000, gathered from 120 of the 169 countries affected by desertification. They will also receive the first report on desertification and
UN chief warns 'we are losing the race' on climate change
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that the world is "losing the race" on climate change as he demanded that governments make bolder commitments beyond the Paris accord. "Climate change is the defining issue of our time. We are losing the race," he said on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos. "It is absolutely central to reverse this trend." Guterres said he was "not hopeful" that nations would find the resolve but stressed: "We need political will and we need governments who understand that this is the most important priority of our times." The Paris climate accord has been shaken by the withdrawal of the United States under President Donald Trump, and by threats to do the same by Brazil's new hard-right leader Jair Bolsonaro. The UN secretary-general said the commitments made in Paris were already "not enough". "If what we agreed in Paris would be materialised, the temperature would rise more than 3.0 degrees (Celsius)," he said on a Facebook Live broadcast ...
Technology centres on solar energy, water treatment to be launched in Chennai
Department of Science and Technology will launch three technology centres in Chennai on Friday to promote solar energy and water treatment.The centres located at Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) in Chennai is set to be inaugurated by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forests and Climate Change.The DST-IITM Solar Energy Harnessing Centre will focus on a wide range of research and technology development activities such as silicon solar cells that promise high efficiency and are suited for Indian conditions.The network of researchers engaged in centre will have scientists from IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, Anna University, ICT-Mumbai, BHEL and KGDS. The objective is to create a platform that can be extended readily to strengthen the knowledge eco-system.The centre is likely to be true change agent in the energy landscape of India, according to an official statement issued on Thursday. The consortium will address sustainability ..
British-era Kalka-Shimla rail track facing threat
Chugging its way through history all the way to achieving a Unesco World Heritage tag, the British-era narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla rail track is facing threats - all of them man-made.
India-Bangladesh to finalise new waterway: Tripura CM
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Thursday that Indian and Bangladesh officials will finalise various aspects of a proposed waterway between the two countries.
Elephant tusk found in doctor's clinic
Officials on Thursday found the tusk of an elephant in a doctor's clinic in Jharkhand's Latehar district.
Without continuous flow, clean Ganga not possible, say greens
The Centre's efforts to rejuvenate the Hindu holy river have failed to impress environmentalists, who feel a clean Ganga will remain a distant dream due to the Modi government's failure to ensure the continuous flow of the river.
Extreme heatwave in Australia kills 90 wild horses
At least 90 wild horses were killed due to an extreme heatwave in Australia.
Collision that formed Moon made life possible on Earth: Study
Earth most likely received the bulk of its carbon, nitrogen and other elements essential for life from the planetary collision that created the Moon over 4.4 billion years ago, according to a study led by Indian-origin scientists. "From the study of primitive meteorites, scientists have long known that Earth and other rocky planets in the inner solar system are volatile-depleted. But the timing and mechanism of volatile delivery has been hotly debated," said Rajdeep Dasgupta from the Rice University in the US. "Ours is the first scenario that can explain the timing and delivery in a way that is consistent with all of the geochemical evidence," said Dasgupta, co-author of the study published in the journal Science Advances. In a series of experiments, Rice University graduate student Damanveer Grewal gathered evidence to test a long-standing theory that Earth's volatiles arrived from a collision with an embryonic planet that had a sulphur-rich core. The sulphur content of the donor ...
Draw inspiration from Vedas to fight climate change: Dia Mirza
Bollywood actor and environmentalist Dia Mirza says it's time to draw inspiration from the Vedas to fight climate change and save the global ecology.