Page 233 - Environment
NMDC restarts operations at its Sponge Iron Unit at Paloncha
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250 endangered sharks seized in mid-sea interception
Indian Coast Guard personnel made a seizure of around 250 endangered shark species in a mid-sea crackdown on illegal fishing in prohibited Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. Seven crew members, all hailing from Andhra Pradesh, of the intercepted vessel were arrested and handed over to the forest department Tuesday, a Coast Guard official said. Bull sharks, spot tail sharks, hammer head sharks netted by the crews were seized. These marine animals are accorded endangered status under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, they said. All the three varieties of shark are also categorised as threatened under the International Union on Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status. The seized sharks were very young, weighing around 5 kg each, and all of them were dead when found, officials said. This is for the first time that shark species were seized from fishermen in Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary limits, officials said. Commercial trade and hunting of these marine species are prohibited ...
France opens 300 MW solar tender in Fessenheim nuclear conversion plan
PARIS (Reuters) - The French government said it has opened bids for a 300 megawatt solar power project as part of the conversion programme for its Fessenheim nuclear power plant that is due to be decommissioned by 2022.
Study to identify pollutants affecting air quality in Delhi
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee in collaboration with a leading environment think-tank will undertake a pilot study to monitor the pollution level of Delhi-NCR dynamically and identify specific pollutants to take action in case of sudden spike of pollution, officials said Wednesday. The study on Ambient Air Source Apportionment in Delhi-NCR will use an equipment provided by Japanese instrumentation company Horiba that can do real-time monitoring of the pollution level in the national capital, said Chandra Bhushan, the Deputy Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). "The three-month-long study will capture baseline data at various locations of Delhi NCR. It has been planned as an independent study, using XRF and Beta ray attenuation technologies," he said. He added, "Static monitoring of pollution would not work. We need dynamic monitoring to take action as soon as possible." Mohan P George, head of DPCC's air quality division, said there is a gap in ...
Budget 2019 will be dedicated to the farmer: Union Agriculture Minister
Following are the highlights of the Minister's address:
IWF lifts ban on Indian weightlifter Sanjita
The International Weightlifting Federation on Wednesday lifted the ban on India's Sanjita Khumukcham on Wednesday.
Hand-raised rhinos translocated to Manas National Park from
A pair of hand-raised rhinos, a male and female, have been translocated from Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park in Assam. The translocation was carried out by a joint team of Assam Forest department, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Wildlife Trust of India, an official of the Manas Natioanl Park said on Wednesday. The rhinos were sent from Kaziranga on Sunday and released in Manas on Tuesday, the official said. These rhinos were rescued during the 2016 floods in Assam and brought to the Centre for Wildlife Research and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga, where rescued animals are hand-raised, rehabilitated, and sent back to the wild. "We are proud of each one who was a part of this successful translocation and we wish to conserve wildlife and its habitat, and to work for the welfare of individual wild animals," WTI spokesman Rathin Barman said. The translocation of these two animals have raised rhino population to 38 in Manas National Park.
Bharat Heavy Electricals secures additional order for Bhusawal thermal power station (Unit 6)
With this order, the revised order value for the Bhusawal TPS Unit 6 EPC project is now around Rs.3,750 crore. The initial order was won by BHEL against stiff International Competitive Bidding (ICB).
How bird beaks evolved over time decoded
The beaks of birds are not as adapted to the food types they feed on as it is generally believed, according to a study which suggests the versatile tool evolved to accomplish many useful tasks. The observation that Galapagos finch species possessed different beak shapes to obtain different foods was central to the theory of evolution by natural selection, said researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK. It has been assumed that this form-function relationship holds true across all species of bird, they said. The study, published in the journal Evolution, used computational and mathematical techniques to better understand the connection between beak shapes and functions in living birds. By measuring beak shape in a wide range of modern bird species from museum collections and looking at information about how the beak is used by different species to eat different foods, the team was able to assess the link between beak shape and feeding behaviour. "This is, to our knowledge, the
Va Tech Wabag secures order worth Rs 467 crore
From Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals
Monopol Colors is Cooling Down the Planet With its Color of the Year 2019
/ -- Colors attract. Colors affect emotions and behavior. Colors define your character and your many moods. Colors also illustrate your brand persona. Each year, different color institutes outline a color or a set of colors that become a trend observation for fashion, cars and architecture in particular. However, the true color of the year should do more than being just a trend or fashion. It should help protect and preserve the substrates for a maximal time. Moreover, when the substrate is the entire Earth, the color has to do a lot more, and for many years and generations to come. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/812170/Monopol_Colors_Logo.jpg ) Early this year, Monopol Colors took joy and pride in announcing 'The Coolest White' as its Color of the Year 2019, at its headquarters in Switzerland describing it as 'a massive transformative purpose, which shall start a movement in cooling down the planet with paint'. The nature as we know it is dying each day, as we consume ...
Kannauj man charged Rs 23cr for electricity
In a peculiar turn of events, a man has received an electricity bill of Rs 23 crore after consuming a mere 178 units of electricity.Worried about the huge amount charged for his electricity consumption, Abdul Basit, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj, ran pillar to post to mitigate the problem.The exact amount charged was Rs 23,67,71,524.Speaking about the same, executive engineer Shadab Ahmed said payment will be sought only after the bill is rectified. "Due to some anomalies in reading such kinds of bills are being generated. It would be changed and meter reading will be taken again. Only after a bill is found correct, the consumer will be asked to pay for it," he said.
12-year-old Pune boy designs ship to clean oceans, save marine life
A 12-year-old Pune-based boy Haaziq Kazi designed a ship called 'ERVIS' that will help reduce pollution in the ocean and save marine life.Talking to ANI, Haaziq Kazi said: "I watched some documentaries and realised the impact waste has on marine life. I felt I had to do something. The fish we eat in food are eating plastic in the ocean so the cycle of pollution comes to us and that is even affecting human lives. Hence, I came up with ERVIS."Explaining about the functions and features of ERVIS, Haaziq said: "The saucers use centripetal force to suck in the waste, which is then segregated between water, marine life and waste. Marine life and water are sent back to the ocean, while the waste is segregated into five more parts."Haaziq who has also presented his idea on an international platform through various platforms like TedEx and Ted8 has been appreciated by many international scholars and organisation.He has claimed that his designed ship has the machine in its base which sucks the .
India witnessed successes in field of waste management under PM Modi's leadership: VK Singh
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, on Tuesday, said that India has witnessed some remarkable successes in the field of waste management under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."India has witnessed some remarkable successes in the field of waste management under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi," Singh, who attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2019, said. He emphasised that the Prime Minister's initiatives in the field, including the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Namami Gange, Smart Cities, among others, have been pivotal in driving the change in the mindset and outlook of common people towards cleanliness and waste management.During the session, General Singh also voiced hope that greater participation of the citizens of the country and members of the Diaspora will go a long way in achieving the Mahatma Gandhi's dream of Clean India.The third plenary session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2019 was held on January 22 in Varanasi, on the ..
PBD meet discusses diaspora's possible role in developing affordable solar power
The role of Indian diaspora in capacity building for affordable solar power and waste management was deliberated upon at two plenary sessions at the 15thPravasi Bharatiya Divas here. The plenary session on role of Indian diaspora in capacity building for affordable solar power was chaired by Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (Retd) VK Singh and includedSecretary,Consular, Passport & Visa (CPV) DivisionDnyaneshwar M Mulay, among others. In his remarks, Singh apprised the audience of the work being done by the government in the field of solar power technology. He said it was a long term process and invited PIOs and NRIs to take advantage of the existing opportunities in India by investing in this sector. The second plenary session of the day on the theme of Indian diaspora's role in capacity building for affordable waste management too was chaired by Singh. The minister expressed hope that a greater participation of the country's citizens and members of the diaspora will go
India calls for diaspora role in developing renewable energy sector
India on Tuesday called upon its diaspora to play a role in boosting the renewable energy sector, with Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh calling for suggestions from the participants at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) -- the Indian diaspora conclave -- on how to develop solar energy.
Prince William turns interviewer in Davos appearance with Attenborough
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William turned interviewer at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, quizzing TV naturalist David Attenborough on what he called world leaders' "faltering" steps to tackle environmental challenges.
Greenland ice melts four times faster in a decade: Study
Greenland's melting ice, which causes sea levels to rise, disappeared four times faster in 2013 than in 2003 and is noticeable across the Arctic island, not just on glaciers, researchers warned on Tuesday. "While 111 cubic kilometres of ice disappeared per year in 2003, 10 years later this figure had almost quadrupled to 428 cubic kilometres," the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Space Lab said in a statement. Its researchers contributed to a study on changes to Greenland's ice sheet, published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "These are notable and surprising changes we are seeing in the ice melt pattern," DTU professor Shfaqat Abbas Khan said. Until now, most of Greenland's ice melt was observed on the ice cap, predominantly on the glaciers in the island's northwest and southeast. But most of the ice loss from 2003 to 2013 was from Greenland's southwest region, which is largely devoid of large glaciers. Michael Bevis, a professor at Ohio
India not backing down on climate change commitments: Mahindra
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra Tuesday said India is one of the few countries that is moving on track to meet the Paris commitments on fighting climate change. Mahindra added that he has taken a pledge on behalf of all employees of his group that the entire conglomerate and all its 100 companies will be carbon neutral 10 years before the agreed deadline for the world in the Paris agreement. Speaking here at a plenary session on 'Safeguarding our Planet' during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), he said "India, unlike many other countries, including in the West, is on track to meet the Paris commitments. India is not backing down." Mahindra said he has not come across anyone in India who is not concerned about climate change. "It is about staying alive, after all," he said. Asked about the problem of air pollution in Indian cities, Mahindra said India is one of the youngest countries and the youth also understands it is a matter of survival. "They know it is .
Maha cops, forest rangers injured in fight with villagers
At least 20 police and forest department personnel were Tuesday injured in a fight with tribal villagers who had been recently rehabilitated in Maharashtra's Amravati district, an official said. The incident happened in Gullarghat village under Chikhaldara police station limits, the official said. "People from Melghat villages were rehabilitated in Akot village by the state government few days ago. However, unsatisfied with their demands not being met by the state government, they decided to go back to their Melghat villages and started moving on January 15," the official said. In order to stop them from returning to their old villages, police and forest department personnel from Akola and Amravati went to the area following which a fight ensued in which irate villagers used stones, sticks and chilli powder, he informed. "The injured personnel include two police sub inspectors and a forest ranger who were attacked with an axe. Fifteen tribals were also wounded. The ...