Page 422 - Environment
Skeletal remains of Kedarnath tragedy victims surface again
Five years after massive floods and landslides hit Kedarnath and adjoining areas, skeletal remains of the victims of the tragedy have been recovered once again during a three-day search operation, police said. As many as 21 skeletal remains, including four skulls, were recovered from the area around the Himalayan shrine, Additional Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told PTI after the teams which conducted the operation submitted a report Monday. The operation was conducted on different routes around the shrine by five teams of police personnel, each headed by SP-rank officers, he said. The teams took DNA samples and performed the last rites of the remains Sunday, Kumar said. Majority of the skeletal remains were found close to the Rambara and Trijuginarayan trek routes to the temple. Rambara used to be a major stopover on the way to Kedarnath and was bustling with devotees at the time when the deluge hit and completely washed it away. Police had launched the operation on October .
'100 per cent organic state' Sikkim gets FAO award for best policies
India's "100 per cent organic state" Sikkim has won the "Oscar for best policies", conferred by the Food and Agriculture Organisation for the world's best policies promoting agroecological and sustainable food systems. Sikkim won the Future Policy Award 2018, beating 51 nominated policies from 25 countries, according to a statement. Policies from Brazil, Denmark and Quito (Ecuador) bagged silver awards. The award is co-organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Future Council (WFC) and IFOAM - Organics International. Sikkim became the first state in India to officially announce adoption of organic farming in the year 2003 to ensure long term sustenance of soil fertility, protection of environment and ecology, healthy living and decreasing the risk of health ailments. In 2003, Sikkim stopped imports of chemical fertilizers in the State and since then the cultivatable land there is practically organic and farmers of Sikkim are traditional ..
Royal DSM opens new animal nutrition plant in Telangana
: The Netherlands-based multi-national firm Royal DSM opened its second animal nutrition and health pre-mix plant at Jadcherla in Telangana Monday. The plant was inaugurated after years of research and analysis of the Indian market with an aim at serving it with solutions tailor-made for local needs, a press release from the company said. Business unit director of DSM Animal Nutrition and Health (South Asia) Ravindra Vyawahare said in the release the dynamism of the market here was the key to continue investments in it. With over 20 years in the region, the new plant marks an important milestone in the development of the presence of the company in the country, the release said. The company draws on the latest science to provide flexibility to develop tailor-made solutions for the market here, it said. The plant is equipped with best-in-class safety, health and environment-compliance systems, the release added.
India needs more young women in engineering, technology space: Prez
India needs more and more of its young women to enter the engineering and technology space, President Ram Nath Kovind said Monday. Addressing separate groups of trainees assistant executive engineers and deputy architects of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), Kovind also said that public infrastructure like offices, residences or roads built by them should be accessible to differently-abled fellow citizens. He said he was delighted to note that of the 97 probationers present in the gathering, 22 or about one-fourth are women. "This is a welcome trend and must be encouraged till women reach parity in all our public services. In particular, India needs more and more of its young women to enter the engineering and technology space," the president said. He said these are exciting times for India which is a country on the rise and the world's fastest-growing large economy. "Our GDP grew at a scorching 8.2 per cent in the previous quarter. Many of our ambitious national programmes .
Rare Indian grey hornbill sighted in Pak's Lahore city
A rare Indian grey hornbill, the species of which is listed as "Near Threatened" by an international nature conservation body, was spotted in Pakistan's Lahore city on Monday. According to ornithologists, once a native bird of Lahore, the population of the Indian grey hornbill has now gone down to an alarming level with only a few pair left in the city. Experts attribute their dwindling population to lack of fruit trees in the city. The bird feed themselves on small fruits like wild fig and berries. The grey bird with dull white belly and a helmet like structure extending to its beak attracted a number of motorists who parked their vehicles along the road to watch the rare avian, which was sitting on the branch of a tree on the Canal Bank Road, The News reported. Several independent bird surveys revealed that there are only 30 to 50 species left in Lahore. The number was 240 in 1965 and 101 in 1992. Indian grey hornbills are listed as "Near Threatened" by the International Union for ..
Climate change causing sea snail shells to dissolve: Study
Shelled marine creatures living in increasingly acidified oceans face a fight for survival as the impacts of climate change spread, a study suggests. Researchers from the University of Plymouth in the UK and the University of Tsukuba, Japan assessed the impact of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels on the large predatory "triton shell" gastropod. They found those living in regions with predicted future levels of CO2 were on average around a third smaller than counterparts living in conditions seen throughout the world's oceans today. However there was also a noticeable negative impact on the thickness, density, and structure of their shells, causing visible deterioration to the shell surface, researchers said. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, found that the effects are down to the increased stresses placed on the species in waters where the pH is lower, which reduce their ability to control the calcification process. The researchers have warned other ...
New Zealand votes 'tipsy' pigeon bird of the year
New Zealand has voted for its bird of the year 2018 and it's one known for being "drunk, clumsy and a bit of a clown", organisers said on Monday.
Emergency plan to combat air pollution rolled out in Delhi-NCR
An emergency plan to combat air pollution came into force Monday which will include measures like mechanised sweeping of roads and deployment of traffic police to ensure smooth passage of traffic at vulnerable areas in Delhi-NCR region, authorities said. Use of gensets have been banned under the Graded Response Action Plan but will not be banned in NCR because of power supply situation in the area, said Anumita Roychowdhury, a member of the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority. The plan has been implemented to combat air pollution that has begun to show a trend towards very poor category. Under the emergency plan, stringent actions are implemented based on the air quality of the city. Currently, the air quality lies in the poor category due to which measures like mechanised sweeping of roads, ban on garbage burning, pollution control measures at brick kilns and deployment of police to ensure smooth passage of traffic at vulnerable areas are ..
Japan raises concerns over Pacific's debt to China
Japan's foreign minister has raised concerns about the high levels of debt accrued by some Pacific Island nations and says it wants to help resolve the problem. Foreign Minister Taro Kono made the comments Monday while visiting New Zealand, where he met with his counterpart Winston Peters. Some observers have become alarmed at the growth in Chinese lending in the Pacific and worry that small countries such as Tonga and Vanuatu are becoming beholden to China because of their high debt levels. Kono didn't mention China specifically in his comments. His visit to New Zealand is the first by a Japanese foreign minister in five years. It marks a warming relationship between the two nations over the past year since Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand's prime minister.
Trump admits climate change not a 'hoax'
President Donald Trump on Sunday backed off from is claim that climate change is a hoax, but said that it's not man-made with permanent impacts and climate will "change back again". In an interview with CBS News' '60 Minutes', Trump accused scientists of having a "very big political agenda" and asserted that he does not want to put the US, the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, at a disadvantage in responding to climate change. Asked whether he still thinks climate change is a hoax, Trump said, I think something's happening. Something's changing and it'll change back again. I don't think it's a hoax, I think there's probably a difference. But I don't know that it's manmade." I will say this. I don't wanna give trillions and trillions of dollars. I don't wanna lose millions and millions of jobs. I don't wanna be put at a disadvantage," the US president said. Trump, who had previously called the climate change a "hoax", in June last year pulled the US out of the historic Paris
WBPCB to set up more pollution monitoring stations in Kolkata
The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) is organising campaigns across schools in the state to create awareness about greenhouse gas emissions and will set up five more pollution monitoring stations here. In the metropolis, the WBPCB has taken measures like recycling of toxic waste materials and undertaken campaigns to stop use of plastic carry bags of less than 50 microns, WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra told PTI on Saturday. He said the WBPCB was organising a number of functions to stop single-use plastics with the help of schools and local civic bodies as "we need active participation of every citizen." He said "we are working with the state government to prevent filling of water bodies and ponds are dug again whenever the matter is brought to our notice in coordination with the government department concerned." "Besides conducting sessions across schools in the state to create awareness about the greenhouse gas emissions, the WBPCB will set up five more air ...
Bangladeshi PM inaugurates construction of China-financed rail project
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the China-financed Padma bridge rail link project by unveiling its foundation plaque at a ceremony in Munshiganj on the outskirts of capital Dhaka Sunday.
ISS has enough supplies until next summer: Russia
The International Space Station (ISS) has enough supplies of food, water and life-supporting materials until the next summer, mission control head of the ISS Russian segment Vladimir Solovyov said Sunday.
India needs to make smooth, viable transition from coal: Experts
A recent report by the UN's IPCC gives India a "huge" opportunity to develop differently and also stresses on the need to make smooth and viable transition from coal, two professors, who were part of the technical support unit of the IPCC, have said. According to the report released by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), India could witness deadly heatwaves if the planet's temperature goes up by two degrees Celsius. At +2 degrees Celsius warming, Karachi (Pakistan) and Kolkata (India) could expect annual conditions equivalent to their deadly 2015 heatwaves (medium confidence), the report stated. Priyadarshi Shukla, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group III (Mitigation) said the global 1.5C ambition is set to shrink available global carbon budget. "Historically, compared to most nations, India's per capita emissions have been very low. India's socio-economic transition requires reasonable share of carbon budget so as to improve the quality of life and enhance the ...
Rahul expresses concern over health of fasting Ganga activist
Days after Ganga activist G D Agarwal passed away, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday expressed concern over the deteriorating health of another person fasting for the conservation of the river. Sant Gopaldas, 36, has been fasting for the cause for over 110 days. He began his fast against mining in the Ganga river bed first in Badrinath and had been fasting at Triveni and Bag ghats of the Ganga in Rishikesh since June 24. "Deteriorating health of Sant Gopaldas is a matter of concern for the nation. He has been sitting on fast since June 24 to stop mining in the Ganga. Sant Gopaldas represents the voice of Swami Sanand (Prof. G. D. Agarwal). This voice should remain loud and clear," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Gandhi had Friday hailed environmental activist Agarwal for his contribution towards saving the Ganga and vowed to take his fight forward. Agarwal passed away at a hospital in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, on Thursday, 111 days after he began a fast for a pollution-free Ganga.
Guj: Lioness rescued after falling into open well in Gir
A lioness Sunday suffered minor injuries after it fell into an open well in Gujarat's Gir forest, a senior official said. The incident comes just a few days after the Gujarat government told the High Court that it was making efforts to cover open wells in the Gir forest to prevent animals from falling in. Sunday's incident happened in Amreli district's Devla village which is part of the Dhari range of Gir (east) forest, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Dushyan Vasavada said. "Our team reached the spot and rescued the lioness after it fell into an open well. She has been shifted to our rescue centre and is being treated for minor injuries," Vasavada informed. On the issue of building parapet walls on open wells in Gir forest for the safety of lions, the state government earlier this month told Gujarat High Court that out of a total of 50,517 open wells, 17,008 remain to be enclosed. In an affidavit filed on the issue, it told HC that a subsidy assistance of Rs 16,000 ...
Maha: 2 persons injured in separate tiger attacks in Vidarbha
Two villagers were Sunday injured in separate attacks by tigers in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, a senior forest official said. Shyamrao Nathuji Gurnule (65) was seriously injured in a tiger attack near the gate of Umred Pawani Karhandala Sanctuary at around 3:30pm Sunday, Ravikiran Govekar, field director of Pench Tiger Reserve, said. In another incident at around 4:30pm Sunday, Kisan Santosh Dhurve (55), was injured in an attack by a wild animal, possibly a tiger, in the Pawani buffer range of Pench Tiger Reserve, Govekar said. "While Gurnule is being shifted to Nagpur for treatment, Dhurve has been admitted in Deolapar primary health centre," the official said. Gurnule is a resident of Karhandala village while Dhurve lives in Bothiya Palora village in Ramtek tehsil and both were probably grazing cattle when the incidents happened, he informed. Forest officials are probing the incidents, Govekar said.
Ahead of festive season, firecracker companies remain uncertain
Despite onset of the festive season, Sony Fireworks, a firecracker company in Tamil Nadu's Sivakasi, is facing 'huge uncertainty' with regard to sales as there has been a big decline in the demand of firecrackers."Livelihood of eight to 10 lakh people depends on this industry. Huge stock is lying unsold after last year's Supreme Court judgement on ban on sale and purchase of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR due to rising pollution levels. There is huge uncertainty," said Ganeshan, Director of Sony Fireworks.On October 9 last year, the apex court had imposed a blanket ban on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR in the run-up of Diwali to check the alarming pollution level.Not to forget, the air quality of Delhi has already started to deteriorate due to stubble burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.The air quality index (AQI) recorded in the national capital was 235, which is considered hazardous, while pollution levels in Mumbai soared earlier in the day with air quality ...
Stubble burning not main reason for pollution: Environmentalist
Environmentalist Vimlendu Jha on Sunday backed farmers' claims and said stubble burning is not the sole and primary reason for pollution in the national capital.Speaking to ANI, Jha said, "You can't solely blame farmers and stubble burning for the pollution issue in the national capital. Stubble burning peak the air pollution but the main cause is something else. 30-40 per cent of pollution in Delhi city is because of vehicles/ trucks as per the study of Indian Institute of Technology."He further said that stubble burning creates an atmosphere of smog in the city for a maximum of 20 days.Commenting on the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi, Jha said that since the past four to five years, in the month of October, the air quality index has stood somewhere around 600 to 999. He also said that on 65 per cent of the days, the AQI of Delhi is very poor.Condemning both the central and state governments alike for not taking the necessary steps, he said, "Overall the ambient air quality is ...
Rahul Gandhi concerned as activist fasting for Ganga hospitalised
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday expressed concern over the deteriorating health of Gopal Das, who is on a fast for the conservation of river Ganga and currently in a hospital.
