Page 425 - Environment

'No concrete action" taken on stubble burning by Centre, neighbouring states: Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday alleged that "no concrete action" has been taken by the Centre, governments of Haryana and Punjab on stubble burning despite Delhi pursuing the issue with them. He expressed apprehension that as the winters were approaching the entire region, including Delhi, will again become the "gas chamber" and the people will face "difficulty in breathing". "We have been pursuing with Central, Haryana and Punjab govts, yet no concrete action has been taken. Farmers again helpless. The entire region including Delhi will again become gas chamber. People will again face difficulty in breathing. This is criminal (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted. Environment Minister Imran Hussain said incidents of stubble burning were sighted on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway. "Instances of stubble burning sighted on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway. Have again requested Central Govt & States Govt of Punjab, Haryana, UP & Rajasthan to urgently find long term solution (sic)," .

Bihar's first quake-resistant building to house police HQ

Bihars first newly-constructed earthquake-resistant building of state police headquarters was inaugurated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday.

Delhi slams Centre, neighbouring states over stubble burning

Expressing apprehension of widespread stubble burning across Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Delhis AAP government on Friday flayed the Centre and the neighbouring state governments for not tackling the issues.

Think of NE as global market: Sonowal to industry captains

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday urged industry captains to take advantage of North East's geographical proximity to South East Asian countries and invest in the region. "The entire North East and South East Asian countries have a collective market of 800 million population and it is imperative that the region, which has huge potential, must be viewed in an investment friendly manner," Sonowal said during a panel discussion organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) 'India@75' conclave here. He said the North East is now absolutely peaceful and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to ensure connectivity under the 'Act East Policy' will help create a presence for the region in the global market. "Earlier, Assam was known for violence, flood and erosion but the prime minister, who has visited the region 29 times during the last five years, has changed the narrative. Guwahati was earlier the gateway of North East, but now it is destined

Kejriwal slams Centre, states over stubble burning

With winter approaching, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday expressed his concern over stubble burning in neighbouring states and slammed the centre and state governments for their inaction despite incessant requests to solve the issue.

LG holds meet to review work on abating pollution, directs increasing no of Environmental Marshalls

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal Friday reviewed the progress on works being undertaken to cut down pollution level in Anand Vihar ISBT and other areas of the city, officials said. He chaired a meeting at the Raj Niwas convened by Bhure Lal, the chairman of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), which was attended by Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain and senior officials from the Delhi Police, the DDA, the PWD, the DPCC, railways and the Delhi Metro. "The meeting started with presentation on site visit by Bhure Lal on October 11, in area around Anand Vihar and Kaushambi bus depot," the Raj Niwas said in a statement. The Lt Governor was apprised about the status of creation and use of adequate public facilities; strengthening of policing/deployment of police to regulate traffic and pedestrian movement in area (both Delhi and UP sides); intensification of drives against traffic violations; cancellation of permit for repeated violations, among other issues. Baijal was ...

Govt has failed miserably in its commitment to notify NCAP: Greenpeace India

Greenpeace India Friday alleged the Centre has failed miserably in staying true to its commitment of notifying a programme which proposes multiple strategies to combat air pollution. Noting that the National Green Tribunal had on October 8 asked the Centre and states to act together to reduce pollution in a time-bound manner, the green body hoped that "this rap" from the NGT would lead to the government notifying the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) soon. "A new trend seems to be emerging. Now, courts have to intervene at every step to ensure a policy is implemented to protect the interests of the citizens of India. Isn't it the government's mandate to implement policies without the intervention from the courts? "Another trend we are witnessing is that the government is actively diluting environmental laws and arguing on behalf of polluting companies to enable them to continue to pollute," alleged Sunil Dahiya, senior air pollution campaigner, Greenpeace India. The green body in a .

HUA ministry notifies lan polling policy for Delhi

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has notified a land pooling policy for Delhi which will allow the city to get 17 lakh new housing units with a capacity to accommodate 76 lakh people. The policy was notified Thursday. Last month, it was approved by the Delhi Development Authority under the chairmanship of Lt Governor Anil Baijal. According to a statement issued by the ministry, the policy aims at developing smart and sustainable neighbourhoods, sectors and zones, planned and executed as per the availability of water, power and other infrastructure. The core of the policy envisages an active role for the private sector and farmers are also involved in assembling land and developing physical and social infrastructure. Owners or group of owners can pool land parcels for development as per prescribed norms. "Land parcels of any size can participate under the policy. However, the minimum land to be pooled is two hectares to ensure adequate return of land for development and form a ...

Six-foot-long snake visits forest conservator's office

A six-foot-long Royal Snake on Friday entered the Chief Conservator of Forests' office in Khandari in Agra, causing panic.

18 more Zika virus cases detected in Jaipur; total 50

Eighteen more people in Rajasthan's Jaipur district have tested positive for Zika virus, taking the total number of such cases to 50, a Union Health Ministry official said Friday. At least 10 of the news cases were reported from Jaipur's Shashtri Nagar locality. The figures were issued after a review meeting chaired by Rajasthan Health department's Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Veenu Gupta on Friday. The first case had surfaced on September 22. Fogging and other anti-larvae activities are being carried out in the Shastri Nagar area to prevent the spread of the virus. Earlier, a department official had said that 30 of the total cases were doing fine after treatment. At the review meeting, measures taken to contain the situation were discussed. The department has also issued an advisory for pregnant women staying outside Shastri Nagar not to visit the area. A control room has been activated at the National Centre for Disease Control to monitor the situation. The number

IIT KGP, Norwegian varsity ink MoU

The IIT Kharagpur and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have signed an MoU to facilitate cooperation in research and education between the two institutes, an IIT KGP statement said on Friday. NTNU is an expert in Hydro Power, Ocean Modelling, Deep Sea Resources and Marine Technology which will be key areas of focus under this MoU. IIT KGP has three departments and centers working in these areas -- the Department of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture, the Center for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Science and the Department of Civil Engineering with its core areas in Hydrodynamics, Coastal, Marine and Hydraulic Engineering and Wave Modelling, IIT KGP Deputy Director Prof Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya said. Both IIT KGP and NTNU have trans-disciplinary academic and research programs encompassing science and technology, medicine, social sciences to arts and fine arts and more areas of common interest will be explored in future. Prof Bhattacharyya,

Punjab govt to set up modern dairy centres across state: Minister

The Punjab government will support setting up of modern dairy centres in the state to provide standardise feed to milch animals for increasing milk production, a minister said Friday. To encourage the progressive dairy farmers and budding entrepreneurs for setting up such dairy service centres, a subsidy of Rs 20 lakh would be provided to each unit by the state government, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said. Dairy centres will produce silage, which is made from green fodder and maize and a substitute to green fodder, the minister said. Generally, the availability of green fodder is adequate in the Kharif and Rabi season with the exception in October and November when farmers face acute dearth of green fodder for their milch animals, he said. In order to tackle this difficult situation which adversely affects the milk production, the state government has chalked out this scheme to set up modern dairy service centres across the state, he ..

Beach nourishment project to be implemented in Pondy

: A beach nourishment project, which involves supply of sand to the shore, would be implemented here at a cost of Rs 39.5 crore. After studying the impact of sand erosion with the help of satellite data, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) recommended the project to the territorial administration, an official press release said Friday. Following this, the administration requested the union ministry of earth science to fund the project and the ministry provided Rs 25 crore while HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation) would allot the remaining Rs 14.5 crore, the release said.

Sri Lanka seeks rule-based maritime order in Indian Ocean

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has called for the establishment of a rule-based maritime order in the Indian Ocean before "geopolitical power interplays in the region to convert the Indian Ocean into a centre of tension", the media reported on Friday.

Self-sustainable public transport system cannot depend on subsidies alone: Delhi Metro MD

Managing Director of the DMRC Mangu Singh Friday said any self-sustainable public transport system like the Delhi Metro cannot completely depend on subsidies. The subsidy can only give a short term relief in the fare revision but, it affects the self-sustainable model of a public transport system, he was quoted as saying in an officials release. Singh, who has contributed significantly in the project implementation of metro in Delhi and Kolkata, was addressing students in J C Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad on 'Metro as sustainable urban transport', the release said. He said the Delhi Metro was adopting new technologies to reduce electricity cost like dynamic train scheduling, regenerative braking system and roof-top solar power. The Delhi Metro needs to keep innovative tools to improve operational efficiency, he said. Singh, who has successfully headed the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects of the Delhi Metro the only such successful project in the

Sikkim's 100% organic farming wins FAO's Future Policy Gold Award

Sikkim has won the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) Future Policy Gold Award for its achievement in becoming the world's first totally organic agriculture state.

Three arrested for trying to sell pangolin in Thane

The Thane Crime Branch Friday arrested three persons and seized an adult Indian pangolin, an endangered mammal, valued at Rs 40 lakh here in Maharashtra, a police official said. Acting on a tip-off, sleuths of the Crime Branch Unit 1 kept a vigil at Saket Bridge in the Rabodi area since Thursday night and nabbed the trio when they arrived to sell the pangolin, senior inspector Nitin Thakre said. The rescued creature, weighing around 10kg and 92cm in length, is worth Rs 40 lakh, he said. The trio was identified as Devji Namdeo Sawant (42), Sanjay Namdeo Bhosle (46) and Ramdas Padma Patil (56), all residents of the adjoining Raigad district, he said. According to the police, the trio had come down to Thane for selling the animal to a customer. Assistant police inspector Sandeep Bagul said the animal was captured from the coastal Konkan region and brought to the city for sale. The police are trying to find out if there was a big gang behind the smuggling and sale of rare ...

NGT directs DJB to prepare action plan for utilisation of treated waste water

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to prepare an action plan for utilisation of treated waste water from the sewage treatment plants (STP) in the national capital within a month. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar said efforts should be made to ensure that the treated water is used as resource and not wasted. "We also direct the Chief Secretary, Delhi to oversee this aspect of working of DJB i.e. plan for utilisation of treated waste water for secondary purposes. "It may also be ensured that ground water is not used for horticultural purposes for parks and the green belts by authorities concerned including the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the Delhi Development Authority and the NCT of Delhi," the bench said. The tribunal directed the Delhi chief secretary to call a meeting of all the parties within two weeks on the issue. The matter is posted for next hearing on November 13. The tribunal has directed the Delhi government to ...

Astronauts from aborted Soyuz rocket to fly to ISS next spring

The two astronauts aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) that failed mid-air, are likely to go into space in the spring of 2019, the media reported on Friday.

Ker to increase IT parks' space from 1.3 to 2.3 cr sq ft

: Plans are afoot to increase IT parks' space in Kerala from 1.3 crore square feet to 2.3 crore square feet, Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said here Friday. The massive expansion in the IT parks space would enable creation of 2.5 lakh direct jobs, besides increasing software exports and attracting investors to the state, he said. "As a priority sector, the government is placing emphasis on creating a necessary social milieu and basic infrastructure in the IT sector, aiming at increasing software export and attract investors," Vijayan said. Speaking after inaugurating work on the Rs 1,500-crore Taurus Downtown Trivandrum project at Technopark, he said the first phase would be completed by 2020. The Chief Minister also unveiled a model of the project. Prof Lorenz Reibling, Chairman, Taurus, was among those present. The Rs 1,500-crore project envisages construction of Embassy Taurus TechZone, a 33lakh square feet IT space, Taurus Zentrum, a 12-lakh square feet ...