Page 234 - Environment
Telangana to set up 'Save Tiger Protection Force'
The Telangana government has decided to form a 'State Tiger Protection Force' to save the Big Cat population in the State. The 112-member-armed STPF will be headed by an Assistant Conservator of Forests to protect tiger population in Amarabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves. The State Forest Protection Committee headed by Chief Secretary S K Joshi took the decision to form the STPF at its meeting here Tuesday, an official release said. The State and Central government will share the cost of the force on 40:60 basis, it said. The Committee decided to act tough against those felling forest trees and committing other related crimes. Cases under the Preventive Detention Act would be registered against violators. The Chief Secretary directed Forest and Electricity department officials to keep a vigil against those erecting illegal power fences for animal hunting. The Committee also decided to extend legal assistance to forest officials to expedite cases and ensure convictions. The ...
Pradhan a "habitual liar": Biju Janata Dal
The ruling Biju Janata Dal Tuesday called Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan a "habitual liar" after Pradhan accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of scuttling Odisha's development by putting obstacles in the launch of a 415-km long coastal highway project. Pradhan at a press conference at the national capital earlier in the day had alleged that "Patnaik is scuttling the development of the state, by creating obstacles in starting the 415-km coastal highway project, which will be a game changer for overall development of the state." Hours after Pradhan's press conference, the BJD convened a press conference here and came down heavily on the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister and called him a "habitual liar". "The press conference of Pradhan is sponsored by the contractors interested to implement the coastal highway project in Odisha. The Union Minister is worried for the project before polls as he plans to generate election funds from the contractors," alleged senior BJD .
PESO issues 14 licences to distilleries for storage, supply of ethanol to oil firms
The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) has issued 14 licences to distilleries for storage and supply of ethanol to oil companies under the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme of the government, the DIPP said Tuesday. PESO, an arm of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), is a nodal organisation to look after safety requirements in manufacture, storage, transport and use of explosives and petroleum. The organisation has also issued safety measures to 87 distilleries for storage and supply of ethanol to oil firms, the DIPP said in a tweet. Separately, in a series of tweets, the department said that the first phase of the project for tracking and tracing of explosives namely 'System for Explosives Tracking and Tracing (SETT)' was launched on January 1. "Tracking of explosives at box level right from manufacturing to the user on real time basis is being done in the first phase," it said. SETT has been developed by the PESO by involving all stakeholders ...
Naval exercise "SEA VIGIL" to prevent 26/11-like attacks
Exercise SEA VIGIL, a first of its kind, is being undertaken along the entire 7516.6 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India, involving all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with all maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities. The exercise will cover a wide frontage covering for the first time the entire coast of India, including island territories.It will also go deeper, being spread over seaward, coastal, and hinterland areas. Evaluation of critical areas and processes, including inter-agency coordination, information sharing and technical surveillance will be undertaken."Exercise SEA VIGIL aims to comprehensively and holistically validate the efficacy of the measures taken since '26/11'," the Navy said. The exercise is a build-up towards the major theatre level tri-service exercise TROPEX [Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise] which Indian Navy conducts every two years. SEA VIGIL and TROPEX together will cover the entire ..
Carcass of aged tusker found
Forest personnel Tuesday recovered the carcass of an aged tusker at Buguda forest range in Ganjam district. The elephant was around 50-years-old and suffering from old age related aliments for some time, forest department officials said. After getting the information from people of Goudia Barada village, about 70-km from here, officials along with veterinary doctors went to the village. Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer A K Behera said the tusker was moving alone. The tusks of the elephant were intact. "We think the animal died of its illness," said the DFO.
10 years post-26/11, Navy launches biggest coastal defence exercise
Over a decade after the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes, the Indian Navy has launched "Sea Vigil", a first of its kind and biggest coastal two-day defence exercise off the 7,516-km-long Indian coastline, involving all 13 coastal states, Union Territories and maritime stakeholders including fisherfolk, a spokesperson said here on Tuesday.
Ama Gaon Ama Bikash covers all blocks in Odisha
The Odisha government's flagship programme, 'Ama Gaon Ama Bikash', on Tuesday covered all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) in each of the 314 blocks of the state.
Goa mining ban: Congress says Modi's 'judicial solution' promise is a farce
The BJP is keen on dragging the controversy over closure of mining in Goa until the Lok Sabha polls to cash in on people's anxieties, said state Congress president Girish Chodankar on Tuesday.
Pradhan seeks Patnaik's intervention for allotment of land for
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has sought Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's intervention for allotment of 75 acres of land for Indian Oil's proposed polyester yarn unit in Bhadrak district. Noting that Indian Oil's proposed proposed polyester yarn unit will change the industrial landscape of Odisha, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister sought the CM's intervention for the project. In a letter to Patnaik on Monday, Pradhan said: "I must firmly reiterate that Indian Oils Polyester yarn unit at Bhadrak will revolutionise the industrial landscape of Odisha in view of immense scope for upcoming numerous MSME downstream units, offering huge employability and hence herald a new era of Bhadrak emerging as 'Surat of the East'." He said "I would urge you to personally intervene and direct the concerned officials for suitably allotment of 75 acre of land for the purpose immediately." He further said "Non-cooperation from the state government would deprive Odisha from this
Online posts get sad as it gets smoggy outside
Weather has an impact on our mood. If it is hot, we feel cranky, if it is too cold, we feel gloomy. Now, the latest study has found that if it is smoggy outside, our online life gets affected as well.According to the latest study titled, Air Pollution and Happiness in China, MIT professor and lead author of the study Siqi Zheng describes how air pollution might negatively impact mood.For this particular study, the researchers collected 210 million geo-tagged Weibo tweets during the course of 9 months from 144 Chinese cities and found that higher levels of pollution lead to a more negative mood.It was also found that a person's sensitivity to air pollution was greater on weekends and women were two times more sensitive than men.So the next time you come across a friend's post complaining about their sad life, the pollution levels are perhaps higher in that city.
RJ govt to prepare policy on cow conservation: Minister
The Congress government in Rajasthan will prepare a policy on cow conservation, Gaupalan and Mines Minister Pramod Jain Bhaya informed the state assembly on Tuesday. He said a state-level convention of organisations and institutions, working for cow conservation, will be conducted soon and a policy will be prepared in their consultation. Replying to a question, the minister said the government was concerned about the conservation of cows in the state, as the matter is related to farmers, people and care of bovines. The minister said a cow shelter will be started in Bhilwara on January 26, while a 'Nandi cow shelter' has been proposed in each district for keeping stray male bovines.
China's support for coal erodes clean energy leadership: IEEFA
China's continued support for coal power across Asia erodes its clean energy leadership, US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Tuesday.
IIT-H researcher leads study on air pollution in Indian cities
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad Tuesday said one of its senior faculty is coordinating research in five cities in India as part of a global study on air pollution. Aalok Khandekar, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad, is coordinating the research in India covering the cities of Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, a release from the institute said. The "Air Pollution Governance Across Cities Study" is aimed at characterising how coordination between 'understanding' and 'governing air pollution is happening in different cities. Originally, there were six cities in the study with research groups in Beijing, Bengaluru, Houston, Philadelphia, New York City, and Albany, funded by the US National Science Foundation, a US Government agency, the release said. The study has now been expanded to include four more Indian cities, besides Los Angeles. Research in India is being funded by the Azim Premji
Climate change causing Greenland ice sheets to melt faster: Study
Climate change is causing Greenland's massive ice sheets to melt much faster than previously thought and maybe it is "too late" to do anything about it, according to a new study.The findings could prove disastrous for the planet's low lying islands and coastal cities, reported CNN.According to the study, 40 to 50 per cent of the planet's population lives in areas vulnerable to rising seas and eight of the Earth's 10 largest cities in the world are near the coasts.Speaking about the study, the Ohio State University's professor of geodynamics and lead author of the study Michael Bevis said that the research found humanity may have passed the point of no return when it comes to combating climate change."The only thing we can do is adapt and mitigate further global warming -- it's too late for there to be no effect," he said adding, "this is going to cause additional sea level rise. We are watching the ice sheet hit a tipping point".Greenland's ice has historically been melting in cycles .
102 one-horned rhinos killed since 2008, 209 poachers arrested: RTI reply
As many as 102 one-horned rhinoceros have been poached and killed in the country since 2008 and 209 poachers arrested for the crime, according to data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The maximum killings of 84 one-horned rhinoceros have been reported from Assam, according to data provided by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are the only two states which have reported such killings, with 17 and one deaths, respectively, during the period, according to data. Noida-based lawyer Ranjan Tomar had sought state-wise data on the number of one-horned rhinos killed by poachers in the last 10 years and offenders arrest from the WCCB, a statutory body formed to combat organised wildlife crime in the country. "As per data available in the records of the bureau based on the information from the state forest and police departments, 102 one-horned rhinos have been killed and 209 poachers have been
Air pollution may be making people unhappy: Study
Air pollution may contribute to low levels of happiness among urban population, according to a study which combed through millions of social media posts from residents of 144 Chinese cities. For many years, China has been struggling to tackle high pollution levels that are crippling its major cities, said researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. The study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, found that higher levels of pollution are associated with a decrease in people's happiness levels. Despite an annual economic growth rate of eight per cent, satisfaction levels amongst China's urban population have not risen as much as would be expected, researchers said. Alongside inadequate public services, soaring house prices, and concerns over food safety, air pollution -- caused by the country's industrialisation, coal burning, and increasing use of cars -- has had a significant impact on quality of life in urban areas. Research has previously .
Naveen Patnaik scuttling development of Odisha: Pradhan
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan Tuesday accused Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of scuttling the state's development by putting obstacles in the launch of a 415-km long coastal highway project. Describing the Digha-Gopalpur costal highway, as a "game changer" for Odisha, the senior BJP leader said it was one of the grandest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the state. "The Odisha government has been adopting delaying tactics and has not been forthcoming in extending the requisite clearances related to forest and costal regulation zones," Pradhan, who hails from the state, told reporters here. The minister said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has undertaken various activities like field survey, detailed land acquisition plan, finalising the bid documents of the project so as to ensure timely and effectively implementation of the project. The NHAI, after factoring in suggestions of the state government, also approved the revised alignment of the highway ..
IIT Hyderabad researcher to lead air pollution governance study
A researcher from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad is leading an air pollution governance study on Indian cities, which is part of a global initiative, it was announced here on Tuesday.
Amputee Sumatran tiger gives birth to cubs
A Sumatran tiger with an amputated paw has given birth to a pair of cubs in Indonesia, amid fears for the future of the critically endangered species. Gadis -- whose name means girl in Indonesian -- delivered her babies at the Padang Lawas conservation area in North Sumatra about a month ago, conservationists say. The tiger mom has been undergoing rehabilitation since her paw and part of her leg were amputated two years ago after getting caught in a trap for catching wild boars. "Gadis... has now recovered and is healthy, giving birth to the two cubs," said reserve head Parta Basmeli Siregar. The sex of the two cubs has not yet been established, he added. Sumatran tiger births are rare and the species is considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are fewer than 400 left in the wild and environmental activists say they are increasingly coming into conflict with people as their natural habitat is rapidly deforested.
Space Kidz India plans to build satellite to do biological experiment in space
Chennai-based Space Kidz India plans to build a satellite - Vikramsat - to do some biological experiment in space, said a top official.