Page 276 - Environment
Modi to visit Varanasi, Ghazipur on Saturday
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to inaugurate development projects, besides addressing a rally.
Cabinet approves new Coastal Regulation Zone notification
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification-2018 for promoting economic growth in the coastal areas, the government said on Friday.
PM to lay foundation stones of dam, irrigation projects in Jharkhand
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stones of a dam and irrigation projects in Jharkhand's Palamau district on January 5.
Experts deliberate on rejuvenating Tolly's Nullah
Experts at a workshop here deliberated on rejuvenation of the 'Adi Ganga Tolly's Nullah', a canal which is the backbone of the drainage system of the metropolis. Officials from the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, academics, environmental activists and students from India, US and Bangladesh exchanged inputs at the seven-day workshop, which ended on Thursday in the city campus of IIT Kharagpur here, the institute said in a statement Friday. The participants deliberated on how best these corridors can be rejuvenated and reconnect the dots between the canals and livelihood matters, considering the fact that any revival of the canal involved innovative, realistic urban planning with temples, markets and squatter settlements located alongside the banks. The old canal, backbone of the citys drainage system, has almost been wrecked by unchecked construction, related land-fill, the lack of proper waste management and periodic ...
Himachal proposes annual plan of Rs 7,100 crore
Himachal Pradesh has proposed an annual plan of Rs 7,100 crore for 2019-20 fiscal, an increase of 13 per cent from this fiscal, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday.
T'gana paddy procurement double to 3.43 million tonnes in
The Telangana government has purchased 3.43 million tonnes of paddy during the current Kharif season as against 1.82 million tonnes during the same season last year. "In this Kharif season till now, a record level 34.26 lakh tons of paddy is purchased from 6.71 lakh farmers through 3280 PPCs with Minimum Support Price (MSP) valued at Rs 1770 per quintal for Grade-A and Rs 1750 per quintal to Common Rice. Two to three lakh tons of paddy is expected in few more days," an official release said Friday. Favourable weather conditions, ample water supply due to timely rainfall and water distribution from irrigation projects are among the reasons for the high yield of paddy, it said. Paddy was cultivated in 8 lakh hectares last year in Kharif season, whereas it has grown to 10 lakh hectares this season, it added.
Indonesia tsunami raises fears for endangered Javan rhino
Indonesia's tsunami has raised fears that another deadly wave could wipe out the few dozen Javan rhinos still living in the wild, conservation authorities said Friday. There are believed to be fewer than 70 of the critically endangered species in a national park not far from a rumbling volcano that triggered Saturday's killer wave. None of the animals are believed to have been killed in the disaster -- which left more than 400 people dead -- but officials are warning that another deadly wave could slam into the stricken region. That is putting pressure on conservationists at Ujung Kulon National Park, on the western tip of Indonesia's main island of Java, to ramp up a longstanding plan to find a suitable secondary habitat for the rhinos. "It's become our duty to work harder to find a second habitat because the danger is real," national park chief Mamat Rahmat told AFP. "We're lucky that the tsunami did not affect the Javan rhinos this time. But the threat is there and we need to act ..
Christmas tree could be used to paint your house
The use of a Christmas tree could soon go beyond the festive period as researchers have found that useful products such as paint and food sweeteners can be made from the chemicals extracted from pine needles used in the tree.
China allows first-ever U.S. rice imports in 'goodwill gesture' ahead of trade talks
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has opened the door to imports of rice from the United States for the first time ever in what analysts took to signal a warming of relations between the world's two biggest economies after a frosty year marked by tensions and tit-for-tat tariffs.
WB takes steps for steady power supply at 'Gangasagar Mela'
In order to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the Gangasagar Mela, the state power department has taken up several measures to increase the capacity of the substation at Rudranagar, near here, in South 24 Parganas district. The state power department have been working hard to increase the capacity of the 33/11 kV substation, a senior official of the department said. "We are working on war footing to increase the capacity of the substation at Rudranagar. This is being done for the last few months to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Gangasagar Mela scheduled to be held in January," the official told PTI. It has been decided to ensure uninterrupted power supply to 54 points within the mela premises and surrounding areas, he added. In the previous years, 40 points in and around the mela used to get uninterrupted power supply, the official said. Work related to laying of underground cables between Kachuberia and Rudranagar have been undergoing to ensure ...
Junked Christmas trees could be turned into paint, food sweeteners: Study
Abandoned Christmas trees could be saved from landfill and turned into paint and food sweeteners, according to a study. Christmas trees have hundreds of thousands of pine needles which take a long time to decompose compared to other tree leaves, said researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK. When they rot, they emit huge quantities of greenhouse gases which then contribute to the carbon footprint. The study by Cynthia Kartey, a PhD student at the University of Sheffield, found that useful products can be made from the chemicals extracted from pine needles when processed. The major component (up to 85 per cent) of pine needles is a complex polymer known as lignocellulose. The complexity of this polymer makes using pine needles as a product for biomass energy unattractive and useless to most industrial processes. "My research has been focused on the breakdown of this complex structure into simple, high-valued industrial chemical feedstocks such as sugars and phenolics, ...
Australia swelters in record-breaking heatwave
Australia's vast continent is sizzling through extreme heatwave conditions this week, with temperatures reaching record highs and emergency services on high alert for bushfires. The mercury is up to 16 degree Celsius (60.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than usual for this time of the year for southern Australia, with numerous towns setting new December records, the Bureau of Meteorology said Friday. "Heatwave conditions are being experienced across large parts of the country," the weather bureau said, adding that the sizzling temperatures spanned the southern parts of four states and the Northern Territory. Tiny Marble Bar in Western Australia state, which bills itself as the nation's hottest town, recorded a peak of 49.3 degree Celsius on Thursday, it added. Major cities across the country are also affected, with the thermometer pushing towards 40 degree Celsius and the heat set to linger into the new year. In Sydney, thousands of people flocked to beaches to cool down, while the ...
'The Last Game' to help unify world, combat polar warming (Environmental Feature)
He's a legendary Russian player and will play a symbolic 'Last Ice Hockey Game at the North Pole' in the Arctic in the spring 2019. He is part of a UN initiative to draw attention to the scary speed at which the polar ice is thawing.
6 ryots on fast against power towers in farm lands faint in TN
Six farmers on a relay fast near here against installation of power transmission towers in farm lands were hospitalised after their health deteriorated Friday, police said. The farmers, including four women in their 50s, fainted this morning on the sixth day of the fast at Mollakkarai village, they said. They were shifted to the government hospital in Perundurai, about 20 km from here. Security has been beefed up at the protest venue, police said. More than 100 farmers of the village have been agitating for the past 12 days against the move to erect the high power tranmission towers, saying it would affect their livelihood. As part of the agitation, six farmers commenced a relay fast five days ago. DMK President M K Stalin Thursday night visited the protesting farmers and expressed solidarity with them. He assured that his party would raise the issue in coming assembly session and appealed to the farmers to give up their fast. Stalin accused the AIADMK government of ...
5 arrested for poaching in Muzaffarnagar forest
Five people were arrested for allegedly poaching wildlife animals for meat in the Shukertal forest range in the Hastinapur sanctuary here, police said Friday. They were members of a gang that supplied meat of wildlife animals, Shukertal Range Officer Raj Singh Pundhir said. Ratenpal, Madan, Retan Singh, Dhum Singh and Vijaypal were arrested by a team of the forest department on Thursday and 20 kg of meat was seized, he said. The matter is being investigated, the officer said.
Frenchman trying to cross Atlantic in barrel capsule
A 71-year-old Frenchman has departed on a journey across the Atlantic in a specially designed barrel capsule, which will use ocean currents alone to propel him across the sea. Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands on Wednesday and is aiming to complete his 4,500-kilometre (2,800-mile) journey to the Caribbean in about three months. Savin will drop markers from his three-metre (10-foot) long, 2.1-metre (seven-foot) wide resin-coated plywood capsule along the trip to assist oceanographers in their study of currents in the Atlantic Ocean. The barrel is equipped with a kitchen area, and a mattress with straps to keep him from being thrown about by rough seas.
Haryana: Farmers to get 44,000 pending tube-well connections in six months
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced that about 44,000 tube well connections pending since January 1, 2014 by March 31, 2019, will be issued to farmers of the state in the next six months.Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the Chief Minister said that a target has been set to issue 50,000 new solar energy connections of which tenders have been floated for 15,000 connections.While giving the details of the reforms and achievements of the Power Department during the last four years, Khattar said that use of solar energy in tube wells reduces power consumption by 30 per cent."The 468 agricultural tube wells falling under Vayama Feeder of Karnal block and Saspur Feeder of Yamunanagar block would be changed into solar energy at an estimated cost of about Rs 25 crore," he added.The Chief Minister further encouraged the state farmers to adopt micro irrigation and stated that farmers would be given solar energy unit and they would utilize the energy generated .
Karnataka seeks coal for thermal plants from Goyal
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday urged Union Minister for Coal Piyush Goyal to rush coal blocks for three thermal plants in the state, said an official.
Encroachment on 5,400-sq-metre land worth Rs 25 cr cleared in Noida
Illegal occupation on 5,400 square metres of land, estimated worth Rs 25 crore and belonging to the Noida Authority, was removed on Thursday, officials said. The anti-encroachment drive was undertaken in Bakhtawarpur village in Sector 127, said Rajesh Kumar Singh, the authority's officer on special duty. During the drive, the officials had to face stiff resistance by the locals who had erected temporary settlements and small kiosks, food joints, he said. The police force was used to control the situation after which the land, which was allotted to a company, was reclaimed, he said. "The encroachers had occupied the land in 2009. Before the demolition, notice was issued on November 20 to the people here and also pasted at various places in the area," Singh said. He said the encroachers had moved the Allahabad High Court to get stay on the demolition order, but were denied relief by the judiciary.
Naidu stresses importance of water resources in 5th White Paper on Natural Resource Management
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday stressed on the importance of conservation of the state's water resources, saying that his government's priority is to increase the groundwater level by three to eight metres.Addressing a gathering during the release of the fifth White Paper on 'Natural Resources Management' of the state, Naidu said, "Our vision is to increase the groundwater table by three to eight meters. It is a scientifically devised level. We tried to recharge rainwater to groundwater. For that, we started developing farm ponds and tanks".The Chief Minister further stated that interlinking of rivers is another major achievement for his government."We are implementing micro-irrigation for efficient use of water for agricultural needs. Ultimately we want to make the state drought free. Next is the green cover. As of now 27 per cent green cover is there in the state. We want to increase it to 50 per cent" Naidu said.He also said that the work on the ...