Page 438 - Environment

Over 2,000 bags of illegally hoarded rice found in Punjab

The Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Department found 21,728 bags of illegally hoarded rice in six mills during raids in Sangrur district, officials said. Rakesh Kumar Singla, the chief vigilance officer of the department, said 9,325 bags of ricewere found at Shiva Rice and General Mills, 3,852 at Duggan Rice Mill, 1,193 at Shree Rama Rice Mills, 2,810 at Punjab Paper Board Rice Mills, 1,500in Trishala Food and 3,084 at Bansal Agro in Sangrur during the raid operation. The department has been conducting a drive against unscrupulous rice mills, indulging in illegal activity. These rice mills were allegedly trying to "recycle public distribution system (PDS) rice meant for the poor into the milling process," Singla said. Some rice mill owners procured PDS rice, bought in black market last year from other states, and saved it to recycle it in the coming milling season by showing bogus procurement of the crop through fictitious bills, he said. He said the department was writing to the Mandi

Sonowal urges all stakeholders to protect wildlife population

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Saturday urged all stakeholders to take a pledge to protect and sustain the state's wildlife population. He asked conservationists, people in general, students and government machinery to put up an united effort to create a protective shield for the wildlife population. "Assam has the proud privilege of sustaining a very vibrant wildlife but trespassing into this territory by vested interests including poachers has put their population in peril," Sonowal said at a function organised to mark the 64th Wildlife Week here. He hailed the role of forest guards, conservationists and people living in the fringe districts namely Biswanath, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong of Kaziranga National Park for bringing down incidents of poaching leading to considerable rise in the population of rhinoceros and other wildlife in the state. The Chief Minister also said that Assam has rich reserve of bio-diversity and there should be a well

Met office withdraws extreme heavy rainfall warning

The extreme heavy rainfall warning issued by the Regional meteorological department for south Tamil Nadu has been withdrawn, Deputy Director General S Balachandran said Saturday. The Met office had Thursday forecast extreme heavy rainfall till Sunday, following the formation of an upper-air circulation over Southwest Bay of Bengal adjoining Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Talking to reporters here, Balachandran said the extreme heavy rainfall warning announced for the southern parts of the state was withdrawn since the upper-air circulation had "weakened". However, he said, places like Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari might receive "heavy to very heavy rainfall", instead of extremely heavy rainfall, in the next 24-48 hours. For Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Balachandran said, there might be moderate rainfall in the next 24-48 hours. The fishermen in the Central and South East Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep and Kanyakumari areas were advised not to venture into ..

U'khand CM inaugurates road tunnel on Dehradun-New Delhi route

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat Saturday inaugurated the much awaited tunnel on NH-72 that connects the city with New Delhi. Completed eight months before schedule, the construction of the new tunnel which is close to the old one near Daat Kali temple is expected to decongest traffic on the route that mostly sees prolonged traffic snarls. Named after Bharat Ratna M Vishweshvaraya, the two-lane tunnel is 340 metre long and 5.50 metre high with a 1.5 metre footpath on either side of it. It is the second major project to have been inaugurated by the chief minister in the last two days. Rawat inaugurated the much awaited Mohkampur flyover here on Friday which is likely to rid the Dehradun-Haridwar route of frequent traffic jams.

Delhi's air quality remains poor for second day: Officials

Delhi's air quality remained poor for the second day due to change in direction of wind, which is now flowing from the stubble burning areas, authorities said Saturday. The overall air quality index (AQI) of 211 was recorded at 4 pm Saturday which is in the poor category. Yesterday, the AQI of Delhi was registered at 259. Gurgaon recorded 'very poor' air quality at 330, while other satellite cities Faridabad and Noida recorded poor air quality at 247 and 232 respectively, according Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Earlier, it was predicted that a dust storm will hit the national capital which would further deteriorate the air quality, but, at present, there are no indications of a big storm. Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, a senior official at the Supreme Court mandated body Environment Pollution Control Authority said. The drop in the air quality is due to change in direction of wind, which is now flowing from areas in Haryana and Punjab where stubble ...

Chemicals in sunscreen may cause birth defects, infertility

Scientists have detected chemicals in sunscreen that can cause birth defects and infertility.

Guj lion deaths: Congress leader Ahmed Patel writes to PM Modi

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday, suggesting measures to tackle large-scale deaths of Asiatic lions in Gujarat's Gir forest and calling it an example of "ecological neglect" by the state government. In his letter, the Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat said the death of Gir lions is a "manifestation of negligence" and "result of the state government's prolonged mismanagement and poor oversight." Among the measures he suggested to save lions were to expand eco-sensitive zones to 10 kilometres from protected areas of Gir National Park the abode of Asiatic lions, removal of illegal resorts, and better healthcare facilities for the big cats. Patel also suggested creation of a Rs 1,000-crore fund for protection of Gujarat's lions on lines of Project Tiger, a centrally-sponsored umbrella scheme covering 18 tiger range states. Patel said eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) in Gujarat, extending only up to 0.5 km from protected areas, as against 10 km ...

Traffic snarls forces one-way movement on Jammu-Srinagar highway: Officials

Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was restricted to one way on Saturday to ensure smooth movement of vehicles as commuters over the past fortnight were complaining of nightmarish experience owing to frequent and massive traffic jams, officials said. Only Srinagar-bound vehicles were allowed to move on the 270-km highway, Saturday morning. Traffic from Srinagar will be allowed to ply on the highway on Sunday, they said. According to the Senior Superintendent of Police, National Highway, Shakti Kumar Pathak, "The decision to restrict the traffic between Srinagar and Jammu to one-way on alternate days, was taken to avoid frequent and massive traffic snarls." He said the transportation of fruit from Kashmir to outside markets and movement of nomadic families with their animals, coupled with the work on four-laning the highway were the main reasons for the traffic jams, especially between Banihal and Ramban sectors. The nomadic families, mostly Gujjars and Bakerwals, undertake

Iconic Tokyo fish market shuts after 83 years

Japan's iconic Tsukiji fish market, considered the world's largest, closed its doors permanently on Saturday after 83 years ahead of its relocation next week.

S Arabia threatens to block key UN climate report: Sources

Oil giant Saudi Arabia is seeking to block adoption of a key UN climate change report unless a passage highlighting the inadequacy of national carbon-cutting pledges is removed or altered, multiple sources told AFP. Already in overtime, a meeting of the 195-nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Incheon, South Korea is vetting a major report that traces pathways for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Most of these scenarios involve a sharp reduction in the use of fossil fuels -- Saudi Arabia's key export. "We are very concerned that a single country is threatening to hold up adoption of the IPCC Special Report if scientific findings are not changed or deleted according to its demands," said an informed observer who asked not to be named. The source, along with two other persons with direct knowledge of the situation, identified the country as Saudi Arabia. "This has become a battle between Saudi Arabia, a rich oil producer, and

Deficit rainfall in northeastern India, crop production could fall

Mountainous northeastern India experienced a 26 per cent deficit during the monsoon, causing fears of falling crop production and scarcity of water, experts said. According to officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), this year's deficiency during the four-month monsoon (June-September) is the highest in the last five years.

2 lunar craters named in honour of Apollo 8 mission

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named two lunar craters to honour NASA's Apollo 8 spacecraft, 50 years after the historic voyage carried three astronauts into orbit around the moon for the first time in 1968.

UP govt aims at doubling farmers' income through modern techniques of farming: Shahi

Uttar Pradesh minister Surya Pratap Shahi said Saturday the BJP government in the state aims to double farmers' income by introducing technology and modern techniques of farming. For this, the Uttar Pradesh government will hold a three-day event ' Agriculture Kumbha', starting October 26, in state capital Lucknow to bring farmers, experts and scientists on one platform, he said. This is the first time this event is being held and it will also see the participation of agro companies, the state agriculture minister told reporters here. During the event, farmers will be apprised about modern techniques through mechanization stalls, which will tell them about controlling post-harvest damage, he said. Terming agriculture as the backbone of Uttar Pradesh's economy, Shahi said he expects that at least one lakh farmers will attend the event. Efforts are on to ensure participation of farmers from all the districts, he said. Shahi said animal husbandry is essential for increasing the income of .

Potable water crisis in parts of Gurgaon: Rampant groundwater extraction, erratic supply blamed

Rampant groundwater extraction and erratic supply from treatment plants and has deepened potable water crisis in several parts of Gurgaon, residents claim. People living in DLF phase one, two, three, four and five, south city one and two, Nirvana city, sector 44, 56, 57, 58, Palam Vihar, sector 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and many other areas have been hit by water shortage. This is mainly due to work on master pipeline by Gurgaon Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) city's sector 16 area, an official said. This line supplies water to localities in old and new Gurgaon. "We have installed an upgraded pipeline in sector 16 keeping in view future needs. We had alerted residents about it well ahead of the commencement of work. before this exercise," executive engineer of GMDA Sandeep Dahiya said. Besides, the pipelines connected to the Basai and Chandu Budhera treatment plants, having a capacity of 60 and 22 MGD respectively, are also under maintenance. "The complaints pertaining to water ...

41-year old NASA probe may be near interstellar space

NASA's Voyager 2 probe that was launched in 1977 has detected an increase in cosmic rays that originate outside our solar system, indicating that it is near the interstellar space.

Indian renewable energy sector will lead world in clean energy: Goyal

Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal on Friday said India's renewable energy sector will lead the world to the next level of clean energy."This is the take-off point for the next phase of renewable energy. I look forward to a day when sun, wind and biogas become the main source of energy. Let us lead the world to the next level of clean energy", Goyal said while speaking at Second Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo.He also hailed Indian renewable energy sector for helping the entire world to reduce energy costs and said, "The renewable energy sector in India has brought the cost of solar energy lower than thermal or coal-based power costs. This has helped the entire world in bringing down the energy costs."Goyal also stressed on the significance of solar energy and how it would transform the energy segment of India."An Empire used to say "The Sun never sets on our Empire". India will provide the kind of infrastructure to make sure the Sun never sets when it ...

How hunting is related to job searching

Turns out the same decision-making process that goes into searching for a job also applies to hunters searching for prey, and the knowledge can be used in conservation.In a new study, researchers used a job search theoretical model to better understand hunters' decision-making in order to develop conservation tools to address overhunting in the tropics, where more than three-quarters of all plant and animal species live.Just like a job applicant goes through a series of decisions each time a potential job is on the table, a hunter also faces series of decisions: shoot and gain a reward or delay and wait for another potential prey.Optimal decisions have been used in ecology to address questions about a mate or food choice. In this case, an ecologist from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis and a mathematician from Princeton University used it to study hunter diet to determine the optimal stopping point.Mathematically, the decision to shoot yields what the ..

Karnataka hosting trade fair to promote organics, millets

The Karnataka government will hold an international trade fair on organics and millets on January 18-20, 2019 in Bengaluru to promote them in a big way, a state minister said on Friday.

'Development should not be done at cost of environment'

Development is important but not at the cost of environment, Union minister Radha Mohan Singh said Friday. He was addressing a conclave of chief ministers and parliamentarians of 12 Himalayan states here. The theme of the meet is "Wellbeing of the next generation of Himalayan people". The conclave was inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. The agriculture minister said climate change adversely affected the day-to-day life in the country in general and in Himalayan states in particular. The representatives of Himalayan states should hold a meeting with Niti Aayog to formulate a policy to tackle bad effects of climate change. Rijiju stressed the need of cultivating specialised crops in Himalayan states to compete with other states. He said violence in northeastern region has declined by 80 per cent since he became the union ...

All future projects under land use plan in Goa must abide by

The Goa government announced Friday that all future projects to be approved under its land use plan or under conversion of zones rules will get the nod only if they are "green buildings". Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai told a gathering of professionals organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries and Indian Green Building Council that the state would be the first in the country to make such a provision. Instructing the Town and Country Planning officials not to allow any project which does not adhere to the "green code", the minister said from today all future projects under the Regional Plan has to follow environmental ("green") norms. The "Green Code", however, will not be applicable for individual houses, he said. "We will be the first state in the country which will make green buildings not only fashionable but compulsory. If you want to take forward this green movement, you have to make it compulsory," he said. "We will not even allow the .