Page 439 - Environment
India, Russia agree to expand nuclear collaboration in third countries
India and Russia Friday signed a pact to further enhance cooperation in the area of nuclear energy and agreed to expand collaboration in the arena in third countries. A joint statement said the two sides reiterated their commitment to further strengthen global non-proliferation, and Russia expressed its support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. "The sides noted the progress achieved in the construction of the remainder of the six power units at Kudankulam NPP as well as the efforts being made in the components manufacturing for localization. The sides welcomed consultations on the new Russian designed NPP in India, as well as on the NPP equipment joint manufacturing of nuclear equipment, cooperation in third countries," the joint statement said. Russia has build two VVER reactors with a capacity of 1000 MW each at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. Work on building four more reactors is underway. "We have discussed in detail the flagship project of Kudankulam on the ...
With rights under threat, Brazil's indigenous run for office
The number of indigenous Brazilians running for office has surged this year at a time when many feel their cultures and lands are more threatened than they have been in decades. At least 120 indigenous people are running in Sunday's elections for offices at state and federal levels. While that's a tiny fraction of the more than 25,000 people running overall, it's a 60 per cent increase over the number of candidates in the last elections in 2014, the first year in which authorities collected information about candidates' ethnicities. "We're tired of being invisible. We're tired of people speaking for us. We want a voice," said Airy Gaviao, an indigenous candidate for the local legislature in the capital of Brasilia. Only one indigenous person has ever been elected to Brazil's Congress: Mario Juruna from the Xavante people, who served one term in the 1980s. It's unclear if any of this year's candidates can end that drought, though widespread anger at Brazil's traditional ruling class ...
Talcher coalfields to produce record 100 MT this fiscal
Talcher coalfields in Odisha's Angul district will contribute a record 100 million tonnes of coal as against a target of 162.5 million tonne of MCL, said an official on Friday.
Community role key to sustained management of solid waste: Minister
The key to sustain projects related to management of municipal solid waste is the behavioural change and citizen or community participation in Solid Waste Management (SWM), said Minister of State of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri here on Friday.
Global RE Invest Meet sees participation of 20,000 delegates
A three-day long 2nd Global Re-Invest India-ISA Partnership Renewable Energy Investors Meet & Expo saw participation of over 20,000 delegates, including representatives from over 77 countries of which 40 were at the ministerial level, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said. Over 50 plenary and technical sessions were held at the event in which 150 speakers (including 55 international speakers) participated. There were nine different country sessions, eight state sessions and over 500 business to business bilateral meetings, a ministry statement said. The MNRE hosted the First Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA), 2nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Energy Ministerial Meet, 2nd Global RE-Invest Meet & Expo that concluded today at the India Expo Mart in the National Capital Region. The three events were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on October 2, 2018 in Vigyan Bhavan, .
North Indians misused Goa land laws to build farmhouses: Minister
North Indian investors used a loophole to convert small tracts of land in Goa to build farmhouses where no farms exist in reality, Goa's Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai said on Friday.
TN parties urge NGT panel to endorse Sterlite's closure
: Tamil Nadu parties, including the main opposition DMK and also an anti-Sterlite body Friday urged a panel set up by the National Green Tribunal to recommend endorsing the state's closure of Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin. At the sitting of the panel here, headed by former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court Tarun Agrawal, DMK's R S Bharathi in a representation submitted that Vedanta's appeal before the NGT against the closure should be recommended to be dismissed. The April 9 orders of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), rejecting consent for renewal of the plant and the May 24 order, disconnecting power supply, should be recommended to be "valid and final," Bharathi, an advocate and Rajya Sabha MP submitted. Listing out arguments against the plant, including those on environment related points, the opposition party said the unit's operation involved alleged emission of sulphur dioxide along with other toxic gases. "...such harmful and ...
Russia extends cooperation for India's proposed manned space flight
Russia on Friday extended cooperation in India's efforts to send a manned space mission by 2022. "Russia has always been with us in the development journey of India. The next goal in our space journey is to send an Indian astronaut in Gaganyaan. I am very happy that you have assured full cooperation of Russia in this mission," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a press statement he made in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the two leaders held talks here. The two sides also signed an agreement on 'joint activities in the field of human spaceflight programme'. The memorandum of understanding was signed between Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Federal Space Agency of Russia (ROSCOSMOS) on Friday. In his Independence Day address this year, Prime Minister Modi had announced an ambitious mission of sending an Indian astronaut to space by 2022 on board 'Gaganyaan'. "Our country has been making a lot of progress in the area of space (science). When ...
Ask states to act on pollution, Delhi minister tells Centre
The Delhi government on Friday requested the Centre to direct neighbouring states -- Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- to take air pollution control measures.
Sembcorp commissions 250 MW wind project in Tamil Nadu
Sembcorp Energy India (SEIL) and Suzlon Group Friday announced completion of a 250 MW wind power project, which was the first wind energy project auctioned by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The wind power project was dedicated to the nation by Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh at the 2nd Global RE-INVEST summit at Greater Noida, a company statement said. Sembcorp Green Infra Ltd, an arm of the SEIL, won this project in the first round of wind energy auction conducted by the SECI in April 2017. The Sembcorp's 250 MW project is the first wind power project, under the first reverse wind auctions in India, with the entire capacity completed ahead of the SECI timelines. Suzlon is the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partner for the project. The wind project located at Chandragiri in Tamil Nadu consists of 119 units of Suzlon's 2.1 MW S111-120m Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs). Under long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between ...
Russia signs pact for six nuclear reactors on new site in India
NEW DELHI/PARIS (Reuters) - India and Russia on Friday signed a pact to build six more nuclear reactors at a new site in India following summit talks between their leaders in New Delhi.
NGT allows Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna, forms committee to monitor project
The National Green Tribunal has cleared the 'Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna', which proposes to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns of Uttarakhand, but formed a committee to monitor the project. The green panel said it was inclined to clear the project -- for connecting Yamnotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath -- with requisite safeguards in view of the larger public interest and the country's security in the construction of highway. "We are of the view that all environmental concerns can be addressed by having a responsible and independent oversight mechanism which may monitor the environmental safeguards during the execution of this project," the bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said in an order on September 26. The bench, also comprising Justices Jawad Rahim and S P Wangdi, made it clear that statutory environmental impact assessment under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 was not required in view of exemption granted through ...
Sanitation coverage risen to 94 pc in last four yrs
Sanitation coverage in the country has risen to 94 per cent in the last four years after launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Friday. Speaking at a workshop on the occasion of 'World Habitat Day' here, the minister said there has been "good progress" in solid waste management, but there is need to do more hard work. "Sanitation coverage was below 40 per cent before launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, but it has now risen to 94 per cent," Puri said. A workshop titled 'Municipal Solid Waste Management' was organised in the national capital where experts from different fields held discussions on waste management. The housing and urban affairs minister said in the next two-three months, hard work needs to be done. He added the coverage of solid waste management in the country has risen from 17 per cent to 35 per cent.
Ensure sewage, other wastes are not discharged in Ganga after Dec 15: UP CM
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed the officials concerned to ensure that sewage and other wastes are not discharged in the Ganga river after December 15, in view of the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad early next year. According to an official release, the chief minister reviewed the work plan for cleaning tributaries of the Ganga, check on drains discharging into the river as well as shifting tanneries in Kanpur. He directed the officials to ensure that no sewage or other wastes are discharged into the Ganga after December 15, it said. Adityanath directed the officials to complete work on sewage treatment plants according to schedule. Asking the officials to pay special attention on cleanliness and flow of river water, especially in view of the Kumbh Mela, he directed that arrangements be made for availability of adequate water on the main bathing days during the religious congregation in Allahabad.
Methanol as alternate coking gas can change India's economy: VK Saraswat
Member of NITI Aayog and eminent scientist V.K. Saraswat on Friday launched the country's first project with methanol as alternative cooking gas, saying methanol as cooking gas can change the country's economy for better.
Ker govt machinery on alert as state braces for heavy rains
The Kerala government has put its state machinery on alert Friday in view of the possibility of heavy to heavy rain in the state for the next four days under the influence of a low pressure area over the southeast Arabian sea. According to an India Meteorological Department bulletin, the low pressure is very likely to become more marked during the next 12 hours and concentrate into a depression. It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and move towards Oman Coast thereafter. The IMD has also issued a red alert for Idukki and Malappuram districts on October 7. Some parts of the state including Kochi, Thrissur and Malappuram received rains Friday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have arrived in the state and they would be deployed in Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Kozhikode. The shutters of the Neyyar and Aruvikara dams here and Malampuzha dam in Palakkad were lifted Friday to release ...
Tokyo 2020 says venue water safe after 'screens' installed
Tokyo 2020 Olympic organisers said Friday that tests using underwater "screens" to filter water had successfully reduced bacteria at a venue for triathlon and marathon swimming. The announcement comes after organisers revealed last year that prolonged summer rain had temporarily brought high levels of bacteria into the waters in Tokyo's Odaiba Bay. Samples taken between July and September last year showed levels of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher than international standards, raising concerns about the safety of the venue. In a bid to reassure competitors, organisers began testing this summer a system that uses screens to effectively quarantine an event area and filter the water inside. They tested the use of single and triple-layer underwater screens, reportedly 20 metres (66 feet) long and three metres wide, during July and August, when the Games will be held in 2020. "The triple-layer screens were shown to reduce the quantity of coliforms to well within targeted levels,' .
National Dolphin Research Centre to be set up in Patna: DyCM
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi Friday said the 'National Dolphin Research Centre' will be set up at Patna University premises here. He said the foundation stone of the centre would be laid by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar soon. "The work for setting up of National Dolphin Research Centre will soon start. The centre will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 28 crore in Patna University premises. CM Nitish Kumar will lay the foundation stone for the centre very soon," the deputy chief minister said. He was speaking at a function organised on the occasion of 'dolphin day' at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Patna. The state government observes October 5 as 'Dolphin Day' in Bihar for protection and conservation of Gangetic river dolphin to create awareness to save the endangered species. A survey would be conducted by three prestigious institutions to ascertain the availability of dolphins and their numbers in river Ganga between Chausa and Sahebganj from
Central team sent to Jaipur after 8 more people test positive for Zika infection
A five-member central team has been sent to Jaipur to review the situation and formulate a strategy to contain the outbreak of Zika virus in the Rajasthan capital after eight more persons, including three pregnant women, tested positive for the infection, a health ministry official said Friday. An elderly woman was diagnosed with Zika infection in the last week of September in the first such case in Jaipur. Since then, eight more persons, including three pregnant women, have tested positive for the infection, the official said. "It will be very difficult to identify the source of infection as majority of those infected with Zika virus disease remain asymptomatic. In all probability whosoever brought the infection remained asymptomatic and transferred the virus to someone else," the official added. The central team includes P Ravindran, director, Emergency Medical Responder at the Heath Ministry, Sujeet Kumar Singh, director of National Centre for Disease Control and Ashutosh Biswas ...
HP governor advocates separate ministry for Himalayan states
A separate ministry should be created at the Centre to resolve the common issues of the Himalayan states as the problems of this region are different from those faced in the plains, Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat 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 governor said, "Nowadays, we talk about global warming, while its main reason is chemical farming. Various departments and organisations are promoting chemical farming though they are aware of the fact that companies producing chemical products are responsible for pollution and global warming." Dev Vrat said he appreciated the efforts of CM Jai Ram Thakur in
