Page 270 - Environment
Karnataka govt to breathe life into abandoned controversial
: The Karnataka government Tuesday decided to review and take up a multi-billion steel bridge project here, which it had scrapped owing to massive public protests in the city. The previous Siddaramaiah government had cleared the steel bridge from Chalukya Circle to Esteem Mall at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore, but abandoned it after a public outcry over allegations of lack of transparency. "Earlier, the Siddaramaiah government had given the nod to the steel flyover...The project was brought to a halt for various reasons. Now again we have decided to review and take up the project in the public interest," Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said. However, this time the government has decided to move cautiously as it intends to seek public opinion before starting the project work. He said all information would be put in the public domain so that people can analyse the project, give suggestions and provide other information. "There is a dire need for the bridge. ...
Kaleswaram;complete work on barrages,pumphouses by March; CM
: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Tuesday asked irrigation officials and work agencies to complete construction of barrages and pump houses in the Kaleswaram irrigation project by the end of March. Rao visited Kaleswaram project Medigadda barrage and Kannepalli pump house and took stock of the progress of works, a release from his office said. The Kaleswaram on Godavari river is a major irrigation project being built by the state government. He directed that irrigation water facilities be provided to farmers in June this year by completing all major works. Rao said farmers are waiting for irrigation water with high hopes. Saying that people have given a fresh mandate to TRS, he said the state government would demonstrate its sincerity by completing the irrigation projects.
Delhi air pollution recovers, improves to 'very poor'
The national capital saw a gradual respite from poor weather condition on Tuesday as the day progressed, improving to "very poor" in the day from "severe" level of air pollution.
Tokyo Olympics torches to use recycled aluminium from Fukushima
The torches for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will employ recycled aluminium in their making from temporary housing in Japan's Fukushima prefecture stricken by an earthquake, A tsunami and AN ensuing nuclear disaster in 2011, local media reported Tuesday.
Panic grips Siliguri after leopard escapes from safari park
Panic gripped residents of Siliguri on Tuesday after a leopard escaped from its enclosure in the Bengal Safari Park in the district town, forest officials said. Some employees of the park saw the big cat escaping from its enclosure Tuesday morning, the Director of Bengal Safari Park, Rajendra Jakhar, said. As a result no visitors were allowed to go inside the park on Tuesday, Forest officials said. The employees of the park along with forest officials could not locate the leopard during the day, a forest official said. Efforts were on to locate and trap the leopard till last reports came in. The enclosures for different animals in the safari park have been built with nets made of iron, an official said, adding, forest officials are trying to figure out how the big cat escaped from its enclosure.
Noida to get infra projects worth Rs 2,881 crore
Infrastructure projects worth Rs 2,881 crore, including elevated roads, underpasses and a new district hospital building, would be inaugurated or works for them started in Noida in 2019, officials said Tuesday. The projects to be opened for the public, include a Dada-Dadi Park in Sector 62 at a cost of Rs 14.57 crore, a Traffic Park in Sector 109 at Rs 34.71 crore, a Shilp Haat and Bunkar Bhawan in Sector 33-A at Rs 72.57 crore and a Command Control Centre in Sector 94 at Rs 22.35 crore, a senior official said. "A six-lane second bridge near Kalindi Kunj on the Yamuna river at a cost of Rs 119.95 crore and a bridge along the Shahdara Drain near the Yamuna for Rs 20 crore will also become functional from around mid-January," Noida Authority's General Manager Rajeev Tyagi told PTI. The projects whose foundation stone would be laid in 2019 include an underpass between Sector 96 and Sector 126 covering a distance of 2.36 km from Noida to Greater Noida Expressway, estimated to cost Rs ...
Air quality oscillates between 'very poor' and 'severe' on New Year's Day
Delhi's air quality oscillated between 'very poor' and 'severe' on the first day of 2019 as authorities said the pollution level was reducing despite adverse weather conditions, suggesting no additional emissions were added on New Year's Eve. The Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) on Monday warned that any new trigger, particularly due to "open fire and pyrotechnic display", will make the air heavier and thicker which may lead to rapid deterioration in air quality to a severe-plus range. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall air quality index (AQI) in the city on New Year's Day was 393, which falls under 'very poor' category, while the SAFAR recorded an AQI of 402, which falls under the 'severe' category. Even as the national capital continued its battle with toxic air, several instances of firecracker bursting, before and after the time limit fixed by the apex court, were observed in Delhi-NCR during New Year ...
Garbage, feces take toll on national parks amid shutdown
Human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behaviour in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the West's iconic national parks, as a partial government shutdown left the areas open to visitors but with little staff on duty. "It's a free-for-all," Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, said by telephone Monday, as Yosemite National Park officials announced closings of some minimally supervised campgrounds and public areas within the park that are overwhelmed. "It's so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I've seen in my four years living here," Snider said. The partial federal government shutdown, now into its 11th day, has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees. This has left many parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running. Unlike shutdowns in some previous administrations, the Trump ...
On New Year, Delhi Vidhan Sabha gets solar power
A 100 KW solar photo voltaic panel installed atop the Delhi Legislative Assembly building was inaugurated Tuesday by power minister Satyendar Jain. The solar panel, installed at a cost of Rs 7.35 lakh, will help save Rs 10 lakh per annum of the Assembly's power bill. The solar plant has a lifespan of 25 years. Speaker of the House, Ram Niwas Goel, and MLAs were present on the occasion. Jain also inaugurated a rain water harvesting system in the Assembly complex. The project has cost Rs 36 lakh. The Speaker said the second phase 100 KW solar panel will be installed in Delhi Vidhan Sabha premises soon.
Delhi's air quality oscillates between very poor and severe
Delhi's air quality oscillated between 'very poor' and 'severe' on the first day of 2019 as authorities said the pollution level was reducing despite adverse weather conditions, suggesting no additional emissions were added on New Year's Eve. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall air quality index (AQI) in the city on New Year's Day was 393, which falls under 'very poor' category, while the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) recorded an AQI of 402, which falls under the 'severe' category. 'Severe' pollution was recorded in 16 areas in Delhi, while 'very poor' in 18, the CPCB data showed. Ghaziabad and Noida recorded 'severe' air quality, while Faridabad and Gurgaon recorded 'very poor'. The overall PM2.5 level (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) was recorded at 267 and the PM10 level at 437 in Delhi, the CPCB said. The SAFAR said the air quality over Delhi was improving ...
Delhi Env Min orders closure of 3 concrete mixing plants for failing to comply with pollution norms
Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain has directed immediate closure of three concrete mixing plants for allegedly failing to comply with dust control norms contributing to air pollution in the national capital. Hussain has also urged the police to arrest the owner of the ready mix plants for causing public nuisance and air pollution, according to a statement issued Tuesday. The closure of three private Ready Mix Concrete Plants at Mukundpur Chowk have been ordered for their failure to comply with dust control norms contributing to air pollution in the national capital, it said. The minister, the statement said, found gross violations of air pollution control norms during an inspection. "There were no sprinkling arrangements at the site, cement was not covered by any sheets, as required, and the approach road was full of dust blanket," it said. A total of three Ready Mix Plants were operating at the site, the statement said, adding the entire area surroundings were full of dust ...
Forecasters looking in wrong place when predicting tornadoes: Study
Weather forecasters may be looking in the wrong place when working to issue tornado warnings, according to a study. Historically, there have been a wide number of conflicting theories about how tornadoes form, said researchers from the Ohio University in the US. However, the most widely accepted was that they form from the top down, based on work done from the 1970s through the 1990s, they said. For the first time, new observational evidence shows that tornadoes actually form from the ground up, which could have a profound impact on the way warnings are issued in the future. It's the first time these hypotheses have been able to be evaluated observationally, thanks to a modern radar system that collects data very rapidly. "We need to reconsider the paradigms that we have to explain tornado formation, and we especially need to communicate this to forecasters who are trying to make and issue warnings," said Jana Houser, an assistant professor at Ohio University. "Based on our results, ..
900 people penalised by Noida police for violating traffic norms
Over 900 people were penalised by the Noida Police on New Year's eve for road traffic violations, including drunk and rash driving, officials said Tuesday. Thirty-six vehicles were also towed away after they were found parked in no-parking zones, traffic police officials said. Police personnel were deployed at various places in Noida city and in Greater Noida on December 31 to ensure smooth vehicular movement and check violation of rules. "Strict checking was done at Greater Noida's Gaur Chowk, near shopping malls like Logix Mall and Spice Mall, near the City Centre, and at the commercial hub of Sector 18, among others places," Traffic Inspector Ravindra Kumar Vashishtha said. "In total, 936 challans were issued on December 31 to rule violators, including those driving drunk, driving rash or in the wrong lane, and jumping signals. Thirty-six vehicles were towed after they were found parked in no-parking zones, he said. The officer said Rs 32,400 was collected as fines. The police and .
IIT professor awarded for contribution towards development of geo-spatial science
The Indian Society for Remote Sensing Tuesday conferred the National Geospatial Award for Excellence to IIT professor Jayanta Kumar Ghosh for his contribution towards the development of geospatial science and applications. Ghosh, a professor at the civil engineering department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee, was felicitated on December 5, a release issued by the institute said. He was conferred the National Geospatial Award for Excellence-2017 (Life Time Achievement Award) at the Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad. The award comprised a citation, a medal and Rs 1 lakh, it said. The Indian Society for Remote Sensing is an organisation known in the area of space science, remote sensing and geo-spatial technology, the release said. Ghosh said the award was an acknowledgement of the scientific contributions. "I am glad that the members of the award committee have liked and acknowledged my work towards development of geo-spatial systems and applications," he
Ashoka Buildcon update on SPV - Ashoka Bagewadi Saundatti Road
Consequent to the declaration 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.
GST collection drops to Rs 94,726 cr in December
GST collection dropped to Rs 94,726 crore in December 2018, lower than Rs 97,637 crore collected in the previous month. The total number of sales returns or GSTR-3B filed till December 30, 2018, is 72.44 lakh, the finance ministry said in a statement. Compensation released to states for August-September stood at Rs 11,922 crore. Of the Rs 94,726 crore collected, Central GST (CGST)collection is Rs 16,442 crore, State GST (SGST) is Rs 22,459 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) is Rs 47,936 crore and Cess is Rs 7,888 crore. The government has settled Rs 18,409 crore to CGST and Rs 14,793 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement, it said. The total revenue earned by central government and state governments after regular settlement in December is Rs 43,851 crore for CGST and Rs 46,252 crore for SGST, the ministry added. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore in April, Rs 94,016 crore in May, Rs 95,610 crore in June, Rs 96,483 crore in July, Rs 93,960 crore ..
NASA spacecraft flies past icy 'worldlet' Ultima Thule
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft ushered in the New Year with a historic flyby of Ultima Thule -- the most distant and possibly the oldest object ever visited by a space probe -- photographing the icy sentinel that may hold ancient secrets of our solar system, mission scientists said Tuesday. "The @NASANewHorizons spacecraft zipped past #UltimaThule just moments ago, making history once again!" the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, wrote in a tweet. According to mission details published by NASA, New Horizons was scheduled to complete the flyby at around 11 am IST Tuesday. However, it will take hours for the spacecraft to communicate its status with Earth and beam back the first images of the unexplored object. Ultima Thule -- which means "beyond the known world" -- is located in the Kuiper belt in the outermost regions of the solar system, beyond the orbit of ...
Ultima Thule: an unexplored 'time capsule' of ancient past
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's latest flyby target -- an object dubbed "Ultima Thule" -- may hold a well-preserved cache of secrets frozen in time from the ancient past of the solar system, scientists say. The distant icy "worldlet" located four billion miles from the Sun is orbiting in the heart of our solar system's Kuiper Belt, far beyond Neptune. Officially designated 2014 MU69, it was nicknamed "Ultima Thule," a Latin phrase meaning "a place beyond the known world," after a public call for name recommendations. Objects in Kuiper Belt -- a collection of icy bodies ranging in size from dwarf planets like Pluto to smaller planetesimals like Ultima Thule (pronounced "ultima toolee") and even smaller bodies like comets -- are believed to be the building blocks of planets. Ultima's nearly circular orbit indicates it originated at its current distance from the Sun. That means Ultima is an ancient sample of this distant portion of the solar system, NASA said in a statement. Since ...
Koala drinks from water bottle in Australia heatwave
As Australia swelters in an extreme heatwave, a video of a woman in the state of Victoria pouring water into the mouth of a thirsty koala has melted hearts online. The vast continent has experienced intense heat over the past week, with the mercury up 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than usual for this time of year in southern Australia. Numerous towns set new December records, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, while emergency services have been on high alert for bushfires. Local Chantelle Lowrie was at a camping ground near the Murray River in the southern state of Victoria on Friday when she saw the koala. "It was 44 degrees Celsius - very, very hot day," Lowrie told AFP on Tuesday. "I stopped because he looked as though he could use a drink of water." Lowrie posted on Facebook footage of herself giving water to the furry marsupial, who drank from the bottle before climbing back up the tree. The footage is reminiscent of another video of a koala, later ...
NASA spacecraft breaks record for smallest space object ever orbited
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft broke a record after successfully entering into orbit around the asteroid Bennu -- the smallest cosmic object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft. While many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 110 million kilometers away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters, NASA said in a statement. The manoeuvre placed the spacecraft into orbit around the asteroid Bennu. "The team continued our long string of successes by executing the orbit-insertion maneuver perfectly," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in the US. "With the navigation campaign coming to an end, we are looking forward to the scientific mapping and sample site selection phase of the mission," said Lauretta. "Entering orbit around Bennu is an amazing accomplishment that our team has been planning for years," he said. Inching around the asteroid at a snail's pace, OSIRIS-REx's first orbit marks a ...