Page 36 - Environment
Turkey to send new ship to search for gas off Cyprus as tensions mount
Turkey is set to send a new ship on Thursday to search for oil and gas off Cyprus, in a move expected to escalate tensions after the EU called on Ankara to stop its "illegal drilling activities". The region near the divided island is believed have rich natural gas deposits, triggering a race between Turkey and the internationally recognised Cyprus, which also plans to ramp up its exploratory activities in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish officials said the new vessel is the 229-metre (750-feet) Yavuz, which has previously drilled in the waters off several countries including Kenya, Tanzania and Malaysia. The European Union on Tuesday lashed at Turkey over its plans to drill in the area, warning it was preparing "appropriate measures" in response. The appeal came after Turkey's first drilling vessel, Fatih, started searching for gas and oil in the waters considered part of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone. Cyprus has issued arrest warrants for Fatih's crew members and accused the ship
How crocodiles could reveal more about past climates
Some crocodiles have a sensitive side underneath their tough skin that could shine light on our ancient climate, scientists say. The idea of a clock inside a crocodile was imagined by JM Barrie in the story of Peter Pan. However, instead of telling the current time, ancient crocodilians could serve as climate "clocks" -- proxies to study past climates, in a similar way to the use of tree rings and ice cores. This is possible because scientists have discovered that some species of crocodilian were sensitive to changes in climate while others were more tolerant, according to the study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Mapping the distribution of these different species using fossil remains could reveal more precise details about what the global climate was like in different locations millions of years ago. "Our analysis suggests that crocodilians are even less of a homogenous group than previously thought and that some alligator-like reptiles were particularly good at
Modi govt's special focus to improve connectivity in NE: Prez
The Narendra Modi government is giving special focus on improving connectivity in the Northeast and make life easy for the people of the region, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday. In his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, Kovind said tourism, agriculture and other allied sectors will also benefit from better connectivity in the Northeast. "Special emphasis is being accorded to improving connectivity in the North-East, hilly and tribal areas," he said in his customary address after the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha. Kovind said in addition to increasing the ease of living of citizens in the Northeast, tourism, agriculture and other allied sectors will also benefit from better connectivity. Effective steps are being taken to expand organic farming in the Northeast, he added.
Adani Green Energy arm bags 130-MW wind power project from SECI
Adani Green Energy said Thursday that its arm Adani Renewable Energy Park (Gujarat) has bagged a 130-megawatt (MW) wind power project in an auction by state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). "Adani Renewable Energy Park (Gujarat) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) had won a bid for setting up a 130 MW ISTS (inter-state transmission system)-connected wind power project in a tender issued by SECI," a BSE filing said. The company has received a letter of award from SECI for the project, it said. The fixed power purchase agreement tariff is Rs 2.83 per kilowatt hour for 25 years. The project is expected to be commissioned by the fourth quarter of 2020-21. With this, the AGEL's portfolio of renewable generation capacity in India stands at 5.29 gigawatt (GW), with 2.02 GW operational projects and the remaining 3.27 GW in development stage.
Forest guard among 2 trampled to death by elephant in C'garh
Two persons, including a forest guard, were trampled to death by a wild elephant in separate places in Chhattisgarhs Raigarh district, an official said Thursday. Forest guard Mukesh Pandey (32) came face-to-face with the pachyderm near Podi village on Wednesday when he was returning after informing locals about the movement of a tusker in the area and preventive measures to be taken to avoid human-elephant conflict, divisional forest officer Pranay Mishra said. The jumbo caught hold of Pandey, smashed him on the ground with its trunks before trampling him to death, he said. Later at the nearby Kotmar village, the same elephant attacked a group of five villagers who were returning home after attending a funeral, he said. While four of them managed to escape, the elephant caught hold of Bhujendra Rathiya (22) and stomped him to death, the official said. Later, forest and police personnel reached the two spots but it took them time to recover the bodies as the elephant ...
Protesters urge ASEAN leaders to ban trash imports
Protestors in Bangkok on Thursday dumped plastic waste in front of a government building and called on Southeast Asian leaders to ban imports of trash from developed countries. The protest comes ahead of a weekend meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with many countries struggling to deal with the flood of plastic waste unleashed by China's decision last year to stop importing recyclables from abroad. Countries in ASEAN now receive more than a quarter of global plastic waste, most of which comes from developed economies like Canada, the US, Australia, and Japan. A group of about 50 Thai activists, some holding placards reading "No Space for Waste", joined Greenpeace campaigners to call for an end to all trash imports to Southeast Asia. "The communities are here today to reclaim... the right to live in a sustainable environment in Thailand," said Tara Buakamsri of Greenpeace Thailand. They called for ASEAN countries to ban the export of waste "from ..
Notices to 15 websites fraudulently using Corbett tiger reserve's name
Authorities at Corbett tiger reserve have sent notices to 15 websites for fraudulently using its name to accept bookings from people for wildlife tourism and other facilities, officials said Thursday. "Notice has been sent to 15 such websites asking them to immediately consider removing claims in the name of Corbett failing which they may invite necessary legal action," said Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Director, Corbett tiger reserve. He said the notice was also sent to GoDaddy India Web Services Pvt Ltd asking it to immediately suspend or terminate four such fraudulent websites www.jimcorbettnationalpark.co.in, www.jimcorbettbooking.in, www.corbettnationalpark.com and www.corbettnationalpark.in -- hosted on its server. It is directed to immediately suspend/terminate the said websites with immediate effect, and to provide the registration details of both these websites including the name of the registering company, PAN card details, address, contact details, name of contact persons, etc., ...
Low-cost recycling process gives new life to old jeans
Scientists have developed an efficient, low-cost method that can convert waste denim into reusable cotton fibres, an advance that may help prevent mountains of fabrics from ending up in the world's landfills each year. Cotton-based clothing, such as denim, makes up a large proportion of textile waste. Meanwhile, farming cotton consumes land and resources. Although processes for textile recycling exist, they tend to be inefficient and expensive. Efficiently converting waste denim into reusable cotton fibres could help address both of these problems. Researchers from Deakin University in Australia created viscose-type fibres from waste denim that are either white or the original colour of the garment. Previously, researchers have used ionic liquids -- salts that are liquid, not solid -- to dissolve cotton textiles into their cellulose building blocks. The cellulose was then spun into new viscose-type fibres that could be woven into textiles. However, ionic liquids are expensive and ...
Amid urgent climate warnings, EPA gives coal a reprieve
Amid scientists' increasingly urgent warnings, the Trump administration ordered a sweeping about-face Wednesday on Obama-era efforts to fight climate change, easing restrictions on coal-fired power plants in a move it predicted would revitalize America's sagging coal industry. As miners in hard hats and coal-country lawmakers applauded, Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler signed a measure that scraps one of President Barack Obama's key initiatives to rein in fossil fuel emissions. The replacement rule gives states more leeway in deciding whether to require plants to make limited efficiency upgrades. Wheeler said he expects more coal plants to open as a result. But one state, New York, immediately said it would go to court to challenge the action, and more lawsuits are likely. The EPA move follows pledges by candidate and then President Donald Trump to rescue the U.S. coal industry, which saw near-record numbers of plant closings last year in the face of competition ...
RK Singh approves Dispute Resolution Mechanism for solar/wind sector
A three member Dispute Resolution Committee to consider the unforeseen disputes between solar/wind power developers and SECI/NTPC
'Common glue may help fight climate change'
Researchers have developed a new material containing common glue molecules which may help tackle climate change by capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air. Carbon capture materials are a crucial part of a range of technologies, alongside renewables and energy efficiency solutions, that can help reduce the amount of CO2 we release into the atmosphere, according to the research published in the journal Chemistry of Materials. "We show that small epoxy molecules typically found in glues can stick larger ones together to make effective carbon capture materials potentially useful to tackle climate change," said Enrico Andreoli, from Swansea University in the UK. "We've developed a new approach to making an effective CO2 capture material from a widely studied CO2-reactive polyamine by reaction with an industrially mass-produced epoxy resin," Louise Hamdy, first author of the research paper, added. "This material shows very high CO2 uptake and could ...
Adani Green Energy jumps after arm bags hybrid projects
Adani Green Energy was up 3.15% to Rs 40.90 at 09.52 IST on the BSE after the company said it received letters of award for 600 MW hybrid projects.
Indian Navy Marine Commando rescues mother-daughter from Kashmir's Wular lake
The Indian Navy's MARCOS officials on Wednesday rescued mother-daughter duo after their boat loaded with domestic items capsized in the Wular lake in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district.According to officials, the boat was en route to Sopore. The rescued were identified as Rafiqa Begum and her daughter Laali.As soon as the incident was reported, the two MARCOS divers swung into action and rescued the mother and daughter safely.Locals have applauded marine commandos for taking immediate action.Begum also thanked and praised commandos for their brave attempt.MARCOS is the special forces unit of the Indian Navy, which was created to conduct special rescue operations in a maritime environment.
No drinking water will be available by 2030 if we don't conserve now: Report
New Delhi, [India], June 20 (ANI): The recent report of NITI Ayog on groundwater level says 21 Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad - will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting around 100 million people.It also says that 40 per cent of India's population will have no access to drinking water by 2030.The situation is alarming, given the fact that year 2020 is not very far. Three rivers, four water bodies, five wetlands and six forests have completely dried in Chennai despite having better water resources and rains than any other metro cities, the report said."The government is depending upon the desalination in Chennai which is very expensive also however they forget that the earth is a limited planet and oceans will dry. What will we leave for our children and grandchildren? We may have a lot of money but we cannot ask our children to drink money instead of water. Using ocean water and desalination is not the solution but water harvesting is" said former
AP Irrigation Min reviews Polavaram project progress, Jagan Reddy to visit site today
Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister P Anil Kumar on Wednesday visited the Polavaram project site and reviewed the progress of the project.Kumar was accompanied by deputy chief minister Alla Nani, Raptadu MLA Prakash Reddy, Polavaram MLA T Balaraju and others. There Kumar sought details about the project from concerned officials.YSRCP cadres made elaborate arrangements to welcome the Irrigation minister as this was his first visit to the project site.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy will visit the Polavaram project on Thursday. It would be Reddy's first visit to the project site.YSRCP has been alleging corruption by earlier TDP government in the construction of Polavaram. The national project was started under N Chandrababu Naidu's rule. However, Reddy's government has yet to take a decision on how to continue the project.On June 4, Reddy had directed officials to complete the Polavaram project on priority.
Trump's UN envoy nominee defends climate record
President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next US envoy to the United Nations on Wednesday defended her record on climate change, saying it is a "real risk to our planet" that must be addressed. She also pledged to recuse Kelly Knight Craft told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she believes human behaviour has contributed to climate change and she'll push countries deal with it. However, she also said the United States should not have to bear an "outsized burden" in mitigating its effects that harm American economic growth. "I acknowledge there is a vast amount of science regarding climate change and the tools and the role that humans have played in climate change," she said. "If confirmed, I will be an advocate for addressing climate change." Her comments came in response to questions from Democrats on the panel prompted by previous remarks she made doubting the causes and severity of climate change and suggesting that climate change skeptics have valid arguments. ...
Trump EPA rolls back Obama rule on coal-fired power plants
The Trump administration on Wednesday completed one of its biggest rollbacks of environmental rules, replacing a landmark Obama-era effort that sought to wean the nation's electrical grid off coal-fired power plants and their climate-damaging pollution. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, signed a replacement rule that gives states leeway in deciding whether to require efficiency upgrades at existing coal plants. Wheeler said coal-fired power plants remained essential to the power grid, something that opponents deny. "Americans want reliable energy that they can afford," he said at a news conference. There's no denying "the fact that fossil fuels will continue to be an important part of the mix," he said. Rep. David McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, was one of several coal country lawmakers on hand for the signing. He argued that power from the sun and wind was not yet reliable enough to depend on. "We're not ready for renewable ..
Karnataka BJP MPs discuss state's development over dinner
Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda organised a meeting of all BJP members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from Karnataka to discuss the issues pertaining to the development of the state at his residence here on Wednesday evening.Speaking to the media after the meeting, Gowda said, "We discussed to have a united approach towards the development of Karnataka. Issues related to Karnataka should be dealt with above political lines. We discuss the matter in detail.""In future, we will take up the issues of Karnataka government to the Centre unitedly and unanimously and seek relief for the state," the minister added.He said that Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had no interest in the state or welfare of the people.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Minister of State for Railways Suresh Channabasappa Angadi were among the attendees.BJP backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh was also present at the meeting.
Vacuum tankers carrying faecal sludge must be registered in Delhi, should have GPS: Authorities
Vacuum tankers carrying faecal sludge will be registered in Delhi and they should be equipped with GPS device to track their location, authorities decided on Wednesday. Besides, all these tankers must be mapped to Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) where such vehicles can take their sludge for discharge. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal to review problems related to "Faecal material disposal in drains of Delhi and bad odour near drains and Violation of C&D material disposal rules in Delhi". The meeting was convened by Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) Chairman Bhure Lal at Raj Niwas here. In an official statement, the LG office said that it was informed in meeting that nearly 4 million litres of septage/faecal sludge is collected per day in the national capital. According to the statement, nearly 50 per cent of population in Delhi is dependent on-site sanitation systems like septic tanks especially in the periphery of
Guests for Gupta brothers' sons' weddings begin to arrive
The guests invited to attend wedding ceremonies of the South Africa-based NRIs Gupta brothers' sons began to arrive here Wednesday at the Auli ski resort. An estimated Rs 200 crore is likely to be spent on the high-profile weddings to be attended by VIPs, including spiritual gurus, political leaders and Bollywood celebrities, over the next few days. Ajay Gupta's son Suryakant's marriage is to be held on June 19-20 while that of Atul Gupta's son Shashank is slated for June 21-22. Security has been tightened from Joshimath to Auli in view of the VIP movements. With the Uttarakhand High Court expressing concern earlier over the damage that the gala event may cause to the fragile Himalayan ecology, the local administration officials and those of the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board are keeping a tight vigil on the event. In order to address the environmental concerns raised by the court, the helicopters carrying the guests for the four-day extravaganza have been asked to land in ...