Page 418 - Environment
Tesla signs agreement in Shanghai for gigafactory site
BEIJING (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has signed an agreement with the Shanghai government for an 860,000 square metre plot of land to build its first overseas Gigafactory, the electric carmaker said in a Chinese social media post on Wednesday.
Suniel Shetty supports 'Let Avni Live' campaign
Actor Suniel Shetty has come out in support of a campaign to save man-eating tigress Avni from being killed.
JSW Energy's Himachal hydro plants unaffected by recent heavy rains
The recent heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh and an abnormal rise in the Satluj river's silt levels -- forcing the temporary closure of major hydro projects -- has, however, not affected operations at both of JSW Energy's hydro plants in the state, company officials said.
Three children buried alive while digging soil in MP
Three children were buried alive when a portion of the land they were digging caved-in here in Madhya Pradesh Wednesday morning, police said. Five children were engaged in soil digging work at the land plot located in Botrai village, Damoh Superintendent of Police Vivek Agrawal said. Two of them were standing to collect the soil while the others were digging when suddenly a portion of the land caved-in, burying the three children under the loose soil debris, he said. The other two kids immediately alerted some villagers who rushed to the spot and pulled out the trapped children from the debris, he said. The three victims, all cousins and aged between 10 and 15 years, were rushed to a community health centre in the nearby Patharia town where doctors declared them brought dead, the police official said. A case has been registered at the Patharia police station and an investigation is on into the incident, he added.
58 Australian fairy penguins slaughtered in suspected dog attack
Wildlife officials in the southern Australia on Wednesday announced an investigation into the mass death of 58 penguins they believe were killed in a dog attack. The carcases of the fairy penguins -- the world's smallest penguin species -- were found strewn across a beach in Tasmania, a island-state off the mainland. "We would like to remind dog owners of the need to take responsibility for their animals at all times as dogs have the capacity to do a lot of damage to penguin colonies in a short period of time," Tasmania's department of parks, water and environment said in a statement. The latest grisly find comes just months after a dozen birds were found dead on a nearby beach, they too are believed to have been killed in a dog attack. "All reports of alleged unlawful harming of wildlife are regarded extremely seriously by the department," the government department said. Fairy penguins -- who grow to around just over a foot (30 centimetres) and can live for up to 24 years -- are only
China's Zhoushan city woos Exxon Mobil for a $7 billion ethylene plant
ZHOUSHAN, China (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Zhoushan is in talks with oil major Exxon Mobil Corp to build a $7 billion ethylene plant in the city south of Shanghai, it said in a statement released on Wednesday.
China's Zhoushan city says in talks with Exxon Mobil for a $7 billion ethylene plant
ZHOUSHAN, China (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Zhoushan is in talks with oil major Exxon Mobil Corp to build a $7 billion ethylene plant in the city south of Shanghai, it said in a statement released on Wednesday.
DR Congo signs $14 bn dam development deal with China, Spain
The Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday announced a deal with Chinese and Spanish partners for the development of a much-delayed $14 billion hydroelectric project. The Inga 3 project is part of a major programme to expand hydroelectric dams along the Congo River. It has been on the drawing board for around 30 years but has been repeatedly delayed. Last year, the DR Congo asked rival consortiums, one led by the Chinese Three Gorges Corporation and another grouped under Spanish construction company ACS -- chaired by Real Madrid football club chairman Florentino Perez -- to join forces and submit a joint bid. Now a $13.9 billion development agreement has been signed, according to a report released after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The Inga 3 project is expected to complement two ageing power stations built between 1972 and 1982 on the Inga falls of the Congo River 260 kilometres (160 miles) downstream from the capital Kinshasa. Inga 3 is the first of a six-phase mega-project, ...
Bombay HC quizzes forest department over man-eater tigress
The Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench on Tuesday sought a reply from the state forest department to disclose how there have not been any deaths in the last two months by man-eater T-1 tigress in Pandharkawda forest.The Maharashtra Forest Department had earlier issued shoot-at-sight orders against the tigress, which has killed 14 people in the state.The bench also sought reply about the change in the sequence of steps to be taken as mentioned in the PCCF's (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests) order as opposed to the CCF's (Chief Conservator of Forests) order.The earlier order had stated that first the cubs would be tranquillized and then the tigress, as opposed to the CCF order which stated that T-1 would be tranquillized first and then the cubs.
Amazon invests $10mn to support US recycling infrastructure
Amazon on Tuesday announced a new investment of $10 million in Closed Loop Fund (CLF) to support recycling infrastructure in the US aimed at cutting the amount of waste treated at landfills.
HC seeks Maha Forest Dept's stand on plea against killing 'man-eater' tigress
The Bombay High Court Tuesday sought the Maharashtra Forest Department's stand on a plea challenging its steps aimed at killing a "man-eater" tigress, roaming in the state's Yavatmal district forests. On the plea by Wildlife activist Dr Jerryl Banait and Earth Brigade Foundation, the Nagpur bench of the high court issued notice to the Forest Department seeking its stand by October 19. The petitioners have challenged the forest department's order to tranquillise and kill tigress 'Avni' (T-1), suspected to be roaming in Pandharkavda forests in Yavatmal district. The plea also sought revocation of the appointment of Hyderabad-based sharp shooter Shafaqaut Ali Khan for the job, contending that he lacked the experience of tranquillising wild animals. The petitioners also demanded the grounds on which 'Avni' was declared as a "man-eater", contending that the respondent has no "substantial record" to substantiate its decision to declare her a man-eater. Counsel Kartik Shukul for the Forest ..
HC asks Delhi to frame policy on 'Ravana Dahan', firecrackers
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to frame guidelines to regulate burning of effigies of Ravana and bursting of firecrackers during Dussehra, but it refused to stay practices of "Ravana Dahan" this year.
'Punjab farmer sows wheat without burning stubble, shows way'
A Punjab farmer has been sowing wheat directly into the hard soil of his fields amid the residue paddy stubble without ever burning it since 2001 and getting up to 2.5 quintals of higher crop yield per acre. Meet Surjeet Singh of Sadhugarh village in Fatehegarh Sahib district, who demonstrated Tuesday his progressive farming techniques called Super Straw Management System (SMS) in presence of District Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, using a "seeder". Singh made the demonstration amid the persisting problem of stubble burning, which pollutes air in the entire northern states, including the NCR, every winter and won instant praise of the officer for showing way out of the problem. Under the straw management system, wheat can be sowed directly in hard soil amid the standing stubble with the help of a machine, commonly known as Happy Seeder, without burning the stubble and tilling the land afresh, said Singh. It saves the cost of diesel for tilling the land, said Singh, ...
World Heritage sites threatened by sea level rise
From Venice and the tower of Pisa to the medieval city of Rhodes, dozens of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Mediterranean basin are deeply threatened by rising sea levels, researchers warned Tuesday. All but two of 49 UN-recognised icons of human civilisation rimming the Mediterranean Sea risk being damaged by the rising watermark, soil erosion, or both, with few options for protecting most of them, they reported in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Venice and its lagoon, the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia, and Ferrera, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta, all hit the top of a risk scale devised for the study. "These World Heritage Sites are located along the northern Adriatic Sea, where extreme sea levels are highest as high storm surges coincide with high sea level rise," the authors explained. In 2013, the UN's climate science panel estimated that global oceans could go up by as much as 76 centimetres by century's end. But recent studies -- taking into ...
Maharashtra: Second leopard rescued from well in one week
In a four-hour long rescue operation, an approximately three-year-old female leopard was rescued from a 50-foot-deep well in Gulunchwadi village located in Otur, Maharashtra.The animal was rescued by Wildlife SOS and the Forest Department and is currently under observation at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center.Just a week after the rescue of a female leopard from a 30-foot-deep well in a village in Otur range, the NGO was alerted about another incident of a leopard trapped inside a well in Gulunchwadi village in Otur. The concerned locals immediately contacted the Forest Department, who in turn alerted Wildlife SOS.Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS, said, "This is an all too familiar scenario in India. Open wells and uncovered water tanks dotting buffer areas continue to pose a threat to animals residing close by. In the interest of public safety, appropriate measures must be taken to prevent such incidents from taking place in the future."A five-member rescue ..
Union minister reviews progress of Devika rejuvenation project in J-K
Union Minister Jitendra Singh Tuesday expressed concern over the health of the Devika river in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district and urged for immediate measures for its cleaning and conservation. "Due to increase in pollution from various sources, including municipal sewerage, the river had suffered heavy degradation and therefore, deserves to be immediately taken up for cleaning and conservation, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office said. Reviewing the progress and implementation of the ambitious Devika river rejuvenation project at a high level meeting here, Singh said it was the first-of-its-kind project in the state and was important not only from the environment and ecological view point, but also from the religious point of view. Also known as Devika Nagari, the river originates from the hilly Suddha Mahadev temple in Udhampur district and flows down towards western Punjab (now in Pakistan) where it merges with the Ravi river. It is revered by Hindus as the .
Pradhan assures support for skill development in agri sector
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan Tuesday assured full support towards skilling in the field of agricultural and expressed hope that entrepreneurship in the agri sector will reach every district of the country. Pradhan, who is union oil and skill development minister, attended the Agri-Startup and Entrepreneurship Conclave here on the occasion of the 'World Food Day'. The minister said that lifestyle is changing rapidly, and technology, innovation are driving this change. Technology is also going to play a greater role in agriculture. Innovative products coming out of technological research in agriculture should reach the markets and should achieve scale to benefit the society. He said that strong linkage between agriculture and entrepreneurship will ensure this. Pradhan said that agriculture in India is seeing fundamental shifts and "we have moved from a paradigm of food deficit to food surplus". The conclave brought together entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, scientists, ...
Climate change 'at point of no return': Ban
Former UN chief Ban Ki-Moon warned Tuesday the world is at the "point of no return" on climate change as he launched an international commission on responses to global warming. The Global Commission on Adaptation is endorsed by 17 countries including major economic powers China, Germany and India and will look at ways the world -- especially poor nations -- can shield themselves against the impact of rising temperatures. "We are at the point of no return," Ban told an audience at the commission's launch in The Hague, where the Netherlands hosted its 28 commissioners. Ban's remarks followed the release of a landmark United Nations report earlier this month that warned of global warming-triggered chaos unless dramatic action is taken. The world must choose from two paths: one that could lead to a "more climate resilient future," said Ban, the United Nations secretary general from 2007 to 2016. "Or we can continue with the status quo, putting at risk global economic growth and social ...
Bombay HC Nagpur Bench admits PIL on man-eater tigress
The Bombay High Court's Nagpur Bench on Tuesday admitted a PIL that sought a stay on plans to kill a 'man-eater' tigress and instead capture her alive, a wildlife activist said.
Centre working to achieve zero hunger by 2030: Minister
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday said that the NDA government was working continuously to achieve the goal of 'zero hunger' by 2030 in the country.
