Page 269 - Environment
Dept of space should sensitise finance ministry about importance of new projects: Par panel
The Department of Space should sensitise the finance ministry about the importance of PSLV Continuation (Phase-6), GSLV Continuation (Phase-1), GSAT-20 Communication satellite and others in the growth of the country's space programme and seek necessary budgetary help, a Parliamentary panel has recommended in a report. The report was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. "The committee is of the view that the programmes or projects for which the Department of Space has sought an additional budgetary support of Rs 1360 crore are of national importance and if not supported with the requisite financial support will in turn not only hinder the performance on count of its physical targets but also will act as a barrier in the overall growth trajectory of Indian space programmes," the panel report said. "It is therefore recommended that the Department of Space sensitise the Ministry of Finance about the importance of PSLV Continuation (Phase-6), GSLV Mk III Continuation (Phase-1), GSAT-20 ...
Ashoka Buildcon receives provisional completion certificate for KRDCL project
Consequent to the allocation of CoD, the SPV is eligible for receipt of Annuity payment from KRDCL within six months from the date of achievement of COD i.e. six months from 01 October 2018.
TN pollution regulator refuses to reopen Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on Wednesday rejected Vedanta's request for renewal of consent to operate its copper smelter plant in Tuticorin.
Vikram Solar gets 140-MW unit order from NTPC
Renewable energy solution provider Vikram Solar Wednesday said it has got a 140-megawatt (MW) project order from state-run power giant NTPC Ltd. "Vikram Solar claimed a 140-MW solar plant project from NTPC Limited. The location selected for the project is Bilhaur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh," a company statement said. According to the statement, 700 acre of land has been allotted for the project and the solar plant is expected to meet the electricity demand of the area. NTPC has plans to install 225-MW solar plants in Uttar Pradesh and Vikram Solar has been selected to commission the first allotment of 140 MW project. The project is expected to be completed by September 2020, as per tender. Kuldeep Jain, chief operating officer EPC, Vikram Solar, said in the statement: "Vikram Solar has had a long-standing business relation with NTPC. Previously, we have handled 50-MW solar plant project in Mandsaur, MP and 130-MW solar project in Bhadla, Rajasthan, for NTPC. And, I am glad to say that ...
DRI seizes 16.962 kg elephant ivory in West Bengal
About 17 kg of elephant tusks, valued at Rs 1.69 crore, was recovered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on the outskirts of Siliguri in north Bengal on Wednesday.
Morocco rates high in climate-change performance index
Morocco has been named the second best performing country after Sweden in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
Heat wave has claimed over 6,100 lives in 9 years: Govt
Over 6,100 people have died in India due to heat wave in the last nine years, the Lok Sabha was told Wednesday. In a written response to a question, Minister of Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said 2017 witnessed 375 deaths caused by heat waves, of which 236 were in Andhra Pradesh and 100 in Telangana. Twenty deaths were reported in 2018. In 2010, 269 people had died due to heat wave, followed by 2011 (12), 2012 (729), 2013 (1,433), 2014 (548), 2015 (2,081), 2016 (700), 2017 (375) and 2018 (20), he said. The minister said a latest study has showed that heat waves have increased in many parts of the country, adding that in India, the heat wave conditions are generally experienced during the period between March and July. "As an adaptive measure, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in collaboration with state health departments have started a heat action plan in many parts of the country to forewarn about heat waves and advise on action to be taken," he said. Vardhan said the heat ...
Won't allow Centre to tag its name with crop insurance just by paying 20% of cost: WB CM
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her government won't allow the BJP-led Centre to tag its name with crop insurance for farmers in the state, just by bearing only 20 per cent of the cost. The state would henceforth pay the entire amount, she said addressing an administrative meeting here in West Bengal's Birbhum district. Banerjee said as of now 49 per cent of farmers in West Bengal are covered under crop insurance and the rest will be brought under its purview soon. "We won't allow the Centre to do politics with an emotive issue like crop insurance by tagging their name with the project when it is sharing only 20 per cent of the premium amount. The state presently foots 80 per cent of the crop insurance amount and we will pay the entire amount in future," she said. "West Bengal pays the major portion of the premium and the Centre uses its name. This cannot go on, we will pay the entire amount henceforth," the chief minister said. She reiterated her ...
Oppn slams UP govt's cow cess plan, says it burdens people
The Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Wednesday slammed the state government's decision to levy a cess to fund temporary shelters for cattle, saying this would burden people. The BJP government decided Tuesday to introduce an additional levy of 0.5 per cent as cow welfare cess on eight profit-making public sector infrastructure companies to fund the construction and maintenance of cow shelters. The cess will also apply on travel on some expressways where motorists already pay a toll. In addition 'mandi parishads, which have been giving 1 per cent of their income for cow welfare, will now be asked to pay 2 per cent. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress have criticised the move. "It is the responsibility of the government to protect cows, but I wonder why the people are being burdened," SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said. UP Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi said, "The BJP is in power in UP for more than 20 months, but nothing concrete has been done for the cows. When the farmers and others .
UP govt planning to rejuvenate water springs
After the success of Environmental Isotope application technology, an initiative of Uttarakhand Forest Department, in the rejuvenation of water springs in Uttarakhand's Sukhlapur, Uttar Pradesh government is planning to launch the project in various towns of the state.Uttar Pradesh government is planning to rejuvenate various water springs in the state with the help of Environmental Isotope Application Technology, an initiative of Uttarakhand Forest Department, which helped revive the drying springs in the hilly state's Sukhlapur.In this technology, water samples are taken from the different springs and isotope and geochemical analysis are done to identify recharge areas of springs for rainwater harvesting in the mountainous region.Rainfall samples are taken at locations of the approximate altitude for the establishment of the recharge areas, by comparison of isotope compositions."This works because water in a certain environment develops a certain "fingerprint" - especially with ...
HC asks panel headed by Chief Secy to decide on free power to cow shelters in Punjab
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered a committee headed by the Punjab Chief Secretary to examine whether the state could discontinue its scheme for providing free power to cow shelters when it was collecting 'cow cess' from citizens. The Congress government had discontinued free electricity scheme in 2017 which was started by the previous SAD-BJP dispensation for registered 'gaushalas' (cow shelters). The High Court recently directed the committee comprising state chief secretary and chairman of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited to look into the matter in a time-bound manner. According to Punjab Gau Sewa Aayog, there are 425 registered 'gaushalas' in the state. The HC's directions came on petitions filed among others by the 'Jai Mata Vaishno Gaushala Society', Punjab which had submitted before the court that despite provision for free electricity to registered gaushalas, recovery of pending dues was ordered. The committee headed by the State Chief Secretary has been ...
Leopard, cub captured in Doda, Rajouri districts of J-K
A leopard and a cub were captured in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda and Rajouri districts on Wednesday, officials said. Acting on information received from people about movement of a leopard in villages of Doda district, wild life department officials laid a trap and captured the animal in Beoli hamlet, they said. Also a leopard cub was captured by people in Gurdan Chawal village of Rajouri district and later handed over to the wildlife department staff, an official said.
Govt releases Rs 1 cr till Nov out of Rs 44 cr earmarked for NCCC for FY'19
An amount of Rs 44 crore was earmarked for National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) for 2018-19, of which Rs 1 crore has been released till November, Parliament was informed Wednesday. NCCC was set up to generate near real-time macroscopic view of cybersecurity threats in the country. The Centre is a multi-stakeholder body and is implemented by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) at the electronics and IT ministry, Union Minister S S Ahluwalia said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. He added that NCCC will provide a structured system and facilitate coordination among different agencies by sharing with them the meta-data from cyberspace for taking action to mitigate cybersecurity threats. Project NCCC was approved in April 2015 with an outlay of Rs 770 crore for a period of five years, Ahluwalia said adding that phase I of NCCC was made operational in July 2017. The next phase is to set up a full-fledged Centre. "No funds were earmarked and released in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Male jumbo dies of electrocution in Odisha
A male elephant died of electrocution after coming in contact with a live electric wire near a forest in Dhenkanal district, officials said. The jumbo, aged around 35 years, was found dead on Wednesday near Dudurkote forest under the jurisdiction of Hindol forest range in the district, the Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Jitendranath Das, said. The elephant's carcass was spotted by local residents and they informed forest officials, Das said adding the elephant came in contact with a live electric wire, suspected to have been laid by some miscreants, to kill wild boars. An investigation has been initiated and post-mortem examination was being conducted on the carcass of the elephant, Das said. Efforts are on to identify the miscreants who had laid the electric wire in the area, police said. Earlier in October 2018, seven wild elephants died of electrocution after coming in contact with a sagging power line near Kamalanga village in the same district.
NASA's Juno probe captures volcanic plumes on Jupiter's moon Io
NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft has beamed back new images of volcanic plume on Jupiter's moon Io, captured during the mission's 17th flyby of the gas giant. On December 21, during winter solstice, four of Juno's cameras captured images of the Jovian moon Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system. JunoCam, the Stellar Reference Unit (SRU), the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) and the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVS) observed Io for over an hour, providing a glimpse of the moon's polar regions as well as evidence of an active eruption. "We knew we were breaking new ground with a multi-spectral campaign to view Io's polar region, but no one expected we would get so lucky as to see an active volcanic plume shooting material off the moon's surface," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of the Juno mission. "This is quite a New Year's present showing us that Juno has the ability to clearly see plumes," said Bolton, associate vice president of Southwest Research ..
Carcasses of leopard, sambar found in Mumbai
In a suspected case of poaching, decomposed carcasses of a three-year-old leopard and an adult sambar were found in the Film City studio premises in suburban Mumbai, a forest official said Wednesday. As many 11 nails of the leopard and the sambar's head were missing, he said. The carcasses were spotted by a security guard near the sets of a television serial at the studio complex in Aarey Colony, located near the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, he said. On being alerted, forest and police officials rushed to the spot, he said. The leopard's carcass was found in a trap, he said, adding that 11 of its nails were missing and the feline died nearly 15 days back. The sambar's carcass, with its head missing, was found around 100 metres from that spot, he said. "It appears to be a case of poaching as vital body parts of the animals are missing," the official said. He said it was impossible that the leopard got trapped near the TV serial's sets and nobody heard its screams. A probe ..
14 confirmed dead in Russia high-rise blast
Fourteen people are confirmed dead from the New Year's Eve explosion at a high-rise in central Russia, local officials said Wednesday, as rescuers continued to pull bodies from the rubble. The local governor's office said 14 bodies had been found and that 27 people were unaccounted for following the gas explosion in the city of Magnitogorsk, nearly 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) east of Moscow in the Ural mountains. Five people had been rescued from the rubble, including a baby, and 86 residents were located unharmed, it said. "Work at the scene is continuing," it said. Battling freezing temperatures, rescuers have been combing through piles of mangled concrete and metal and trying to stabilise what remains of the walls in the Soviet-era apartment block, which had been home to about 1,100 people. The blast destroyed 35 apartments and damaged 10 more, leaving dozens of people homeless over the New Year -- the biggest holiday of the year in Russia.
Delhi's air quality turns severe due to adverse meteorological conditions
Delhi's air quality turned severe on Wednesday due to adverse meteorological conditions that remained unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall air quality index (AQI) in the city reached 420 in the 'severe' category. Twenty-three areas in Delhi recorded 'severe' air quality, while six areas recorded 'very poor' air quality, it said. Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida recorded 'severe' air quality, according to the data. The overall PM2.5 level (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) was recorded at 291 and the PM10 level at 465 in Delhi, the CPCB said. An AQI between 100 to 200 comes under 'moderate' category, 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', while that between 401 and 500 is 'severe'. The wind speed is likely to remain "highly unfavourable" for dispersion of pollutants till Wednesday, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IIMT) ..
Cold Wednesday morning in Delhi, air quality 'severe'
It was a cold Wednesday morning in the national capital with the minimum temperature recorded at 6.5 degrees Celsius, one notch below the season's average, as Delhi continued to remain under 'severe' air pollution, Met officials said.
US Marine dies in shooting at Washington barracks
A US Marine died of a gunshot wound while on duty early Tuesday at the Marine Barracks in Washington, media reported. The death occurred around 5:00 am (3:30 pm IST), CNN reported. Authorities determined that there was no threat to the surrounding area in southeast Washington. But otherwise, details were scant. The dead marine's identity was not released. A spokeswoman for the city's Metropolitan Police said an investigation was in its early stages but that for now, no criminal charges had been pressed. The Marine Corps could not immediately be reached. The barracks, sometimes known as "8th & I" for its location, is the oldest active post in the Marine Corps, founded in 1801 under President Thomas Jefferson, according to its website. Marine units stationed there perform both ceremonial and security duties in the US capital. They include the famed Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the Marine Band and the Marine Corps Color Guard.