Page 433 - Environment
EU nations lock horns over 2030 CO2 curbs for cars, vans
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union environment ministers will seek a compromise on Tuesday over how tough to be on curbing carbon dioxide emissions from cars and vans, with Germany warning too tough targets could harm industry and cost jobs.
Dutch appeals court upholds landmark climate case ruling
A Dutch appeals court has upheld a landmark ruling that ordered the Dutch government to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020 from benchmark 1990 levels. The original June 2015 ruling came in a case brought by the environmental group Urgenda on behalf of 900 Dutch citizens. Similar cases are now underway in several countries around the world. Cheers and applause rang around the packed courtroom Tuesday as Hague Appeals Court Presiding Judge Marie-Anne Tan-de Sonnaville rejected the government's appeal. The court said the government is under a legal obligation to take measures to protect its citizens against dangerous climate change. Since the original judgment, a new Dutch government has pledged to reduce emissions by 49 percent by 2030.
29 tested positive for Zika virus in Jaipur colony: official
As many as 29 persons, including three pregnant women, have been tested positive for Zika virus in Shastri Nagar locality of Jaipur so far, an official said Tuesday. Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Veenu Gupta told reporters that 29 persons have been tested positive for Zika virus in the city and efforts are on to contain the spread of the virus. She said several Health Department teams conducted household surveys in Shastri Nagar area, where fogging was done besides taking up other measures for the vector control. The officer said blood samples of 450 people, including 168 pregnant women were taken for examining the presence of Zika virus and 29 of them were tested positive. She also said the Centre's Vector Borne Disease Control Programme team was presently in Jaipur to monitor the situation.
'Dryer, less predictable environment may have spurred human evolution'
A progressively drying climate punctuated by variable wetter episodes may have caused the transition from our hominin ancestors to anatomically modern humans, according to a study. Since the discovery of a rich assemblage of human fossils as well as stone tools in the rift valley of East Africa, a region often referred to as the cradle of humanity, scientists have attempted to piece together the complex puzzle about the history of our human origins. Published in the journal PNAS, the study based on lake sediment cores is the first to provide a continuous environmental context for the diverse archeological evidence recovered from nearby localities in the rift valley basins of southern Kenya. The cores were sampled from Lake Magadi, a shallow, periodically dry lake, close to the Olorgesailie basin in Kenya, one of the most productive sites for archaeological evidence of human evolution in Africa, said Andrew Cohen, a professor at the University of Arizona in the US. The researchers ...
Pollution alert over north India: Anti-stubble burning moves go up in smoke in Punjab, Haryana
When Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh flew over Punjab and Haryana last week, he admitted he saw agriculture fields emitting plumes of smoke at several places -- meaning that stubble-burning of the harvested paddy crop was taking place with impunity in both agrarian states despite official strictures.
Ashoka Buildcon update on Vadodara Mumbai Expressway project
Construction of Eight (8) Lane 1,155.84 1,687.00 Construction period: 910 days Vadodara Kim Expressway from Operation Km 279.00 to Km 292.00 (Ankleshwar to Manubar Section of Vadodara Mumbai Expressway) in the State of Gujarat under NHDP Period : 15 years from COD Phase - VI on Hybrid Annuity mode (Phase IA-Package IV) (Project)
Cake rusk crumbs used to create supercapacitors
Scientists have used cake rusk leftovers to develop low-cost supercapacitors -- a electronic component that is used to store charge and has a wide range of applications in everyday modern devices. Owing to the ever growing energy demand, electrochemical energy storage systems with higher energy and power densities such as lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors have attracted tremendous attention in recent years. The researchers from SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai wanted to create low cost alternatives by recycling waste materials and converting them into products that have high demand. For a study published in the journal Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, they collected waste cake rusk crumbs from local bakeries and heated them in nitrogen gas to obtain highly porous carbon with very high surface area. "The carbon materials obtained from Indian cake rusk have very high porosity, surface area and pore volumes which are superior than the other waste ...
Two suspected rhino poachers killed in encounter with police
Two suspected rhino poachers were killed in an encounter with Special Task Force of police in central Assam's Morigaon district early on Tuesday, police said. A STF team went to Sitalmari char near Orang Wildlife Sanctuary in adjacent Darrang district based on specific input of rhino poachers taking shelter there, the sources said. As soon as the team reached Sitalamari char at about 1.20 am the suspected rhino poachers fired at them forcing the STF team to return the fire, they said. In the exchange of fire two suspected rhino poachers were killed while the others fled under of cover of darkness, they said, adding no police personnel was injured in the encounter. During search operation in the area one .303 riffle, one silencer, swimming tube and a bag were recovered. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Birinchi Bora along with an executive magistrate visited the Police Outpost at Sitalmari char and conducted inquest under videography there in presence of local ...
Parts of Maharashtra to face load-shedding in festive season
Parts of Maharashtra are likely to face power load-shedding in the coming days in view of the rise in electricity demand, Power Minister Chandrashekhar Bavankule has said. The load-shedding is likely to coincide with the upcoming festive season. The average requirement in this season is generally about 16,000 MW. But this time, due to the rise in demand, the actual requirement is around 20,000 MW, Bavankule told PTI. "There is no power shortage but in some areas recovery of electricity bills from consumers is very low. So, the department has decided to reduce power supply in those areas as a measure to force consumers to pay their bills," he said. The minister, however, did not specify which parts of the state will face load-shedding. "On power supply worth Rs 100, the return is only Rs 27. This has led to recovery of around Rs 30,000 crore lying pending and we cannot give more time to defaulters. Hence, we have to cut power supply in some areas," he said. Power trading ..
EU nations divided on 2030 CO2 curbs for cars, vans
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union environment ministers will seek a compromise on Tuesday over how tough to be on curbing carbon dioxide emissions from cars and vans, with Germany warning too tough targets could harm industry and cost jobs.
China successfully launches two remote sensing satellites
China on Tuesday successfully launched two remote sensing satellites to conduct electromagnetic environmental probes, state-run media reported. The satellites, both belonging to the Yaogan-32 family, were launched by a Long March-2C rocket with an upper stage on its top, at 10:43 am (local time), Xinhua news agency reported. The remote sensing satellites were successfully sent into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the report said. The satellites have entered the planned orbits, and will be used for electromagnetic environment surveys and other related technology tests, the report added. This was the first flight of the upper stage named Yuanzheng-1S, or Expedition-1S. It cooperated well with the Long March-2C rocket and much improved the carrying capacity of the rocket, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The launch was the 286th mission of the Long March rocket series. Remote sensing generally refers to the use of sensor ...
Australia rejects calls to phase out coal-fired power
The Australian government has rejected calls from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to phase out coal-fired power by 2050.
White tiger kills Japan zookeeper in rare attack
A white tiger attacked and killed a zookeeper in its enclosure in southern Japan, officials said Tuesday. "A zookeeper was found collapsed in a cage, bleeding," a local police official told AFP, adding the man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The attack happened late Monday at the Hirakawa Zoological Park in the southern city of Kagoshima. Akira Furusho, 40, was discovered bleeding from the neck and officials believe he was mauled by one of the zoo's four rare white tigers, media reports said. The zoo said the tiger was sedated with a tranquiliser gun after the attack, as rescue workers and police rushed to the scene. There was no immediate word on the fate of the tiger responsible for the attack.
Despite US sanctions, India to purchase oil from Iran
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said that despite the sanctions imposed by the United States, Indian companies have made nominations to purchase oil from Iran.Delivering the opening remarks at the inaugural conference of The Energy Forum here on Monday, Pradhan said: "Two days ago, two of our companies made nominations to purchase Iranian oil in November. We do not know if we will get a waiver (from US sanctions) or not. Isn't it new diplomatic power and recognition of the new leadership of India?"Stressing on the need to lower carbon footprint and enhance self-sufficiency in terms of energy, Pradhan noted that the Centre is focusing on achieving a significant reduction in the import of carbon molecules."Energy is an important component for any economy. India, being the third largest energy consumer in the world, imports nearly 300MMT of carbon molecules every year. Our challenge is to lower this import volume, enhance self-sufficiency and lower our ...
UN chief calls for urgent climate action in response to IPCC report
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for urgent climate action after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report that asks to keep global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
French prosecutor demands hefty fine for cruise ship pollution
French prosecutors called for a 100,000-euro fine against a US cruise ship captain and the vessel's owners for having deliberately flouted European air pollution limits. The company "...wanted to save money at the expense of everyone's lungs, in the context of major air pollution, caused partly by cruise ships," prosecutor Franck Lagier told the court in Marseille. A spot check of The Azura in March found it was burning bunker fuel containing 1.68 per cent sulphur, above the 1.5-per cent European limit. The ship's captain, Evans Hoyt, knew perfectly well that the fuel he had filled up with in Barcelona was illegal, said the prosecutor. Owners Carnival had simply not wanted to respect the law, and they should pay 80,000 euros (USD 92,000) of the fine, said the prosecutor. Lawyers for Carnival argued that the strictest laws on pollution were reserved for passenger ships using a regular route and so did not apply to the Azura. The court will delivers its verdict on November 26. The ...
19 smuggled exotic birds seized in Pune
Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have seized here 19 exotic birds of various species which were allegedly smuggled into India for sale, an official said Monday. The seized avians include 15 birds of species Agapornis, commonly known as 'Love birds' of African origin, one Sun parakeet, two great Billed parrot of Philippines origin and one white cockatoo of Indonesian origin, he said. The birds were seized from the premises of one Dominic Sequira, a resident of Vadgaon Sheri, the DRI official told PTI. "On the basis of specific information, the Pune unit of the DRI, with assistance of officers of the Pune Customs Commissionerate, on October 7 recovered illegally imported foreign exotic birds," he said. The birds were handed over to the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park here for safe custody. "The above mentioned live exotic birds command very high price, as they are sold in illegal markets after being smuggled," said the officer. All these birds appear
IPCC report: India to be highly impacted by climate change, says CSE
With inadequate climate efforts, global warming is likely to reach 1.5C between 2030 and 2052
 "IPCC report: India to be highly impacted by climate change, says CSE")
Coal India, Neyveli sign MoU for stepping up solar power generation
Coal India Limited (CIL) and NLC India Limited (NLCIL), formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited, on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for formation of a joint venture (JV) company for solar power generation of 3,000 MW and thermal power projects of 2,000 MW capacity.
Global sea level may rise 50 feet by 2300: Study
Owing to continuous emissions of greenhouse gases, increased global average sea-level is likely to rise by nearly 8 feet by the year 2100 and 50 feet by 2300, as per a new study.
