Page 455 - Environment
India's rapeseed output could jump 17 percent: Emami Agrotech CEO
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's rapeseed mustard production in 2018/19 could jump nearly 17 percent from a year ago to 7 million tonnes as higher prices are likely to prompt farmers to expand areas under planting, a leading Indian edible oil importer said.
Awareness campaign against straw burning by Parijat in UP
To create awareness and sensitize farmers about environmental hazards of burning post-harvest agricultural residue, agrochemical company Parijat industries in association with department of agriculture conducted farmer training in the villages of Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh.The special focus of the campaign was to create awareness among farmers about proper management of crops residue and the ill effects of stubble burning after harvesting."Crop residue burning is one of the major issues of concern not only for agriculture but for the society as a whole. This cannot be dealt in isolation and technologies alone are not enough to address this challenge until there is awareness in society. Several efforts are being by government to provide various residue management implements on subsidy to the farmers. I appeal to the farmers to follow and spread the message" Said Ramcharit Chaudhaury ADO Agriculture.He also urged farmers to adopt straw management technologies and sensitized the
IRB Infra's SPV achieves financial closure
IRB Infrastructure Developers Friday said its special purpose vehicle (SPV) IRB PP Project has achieved financial closure for its Rs 1,319-crore four-laning project on the Puducherry-Poondiyankuppam stretch. The project, which was bagged under the hybrid annuity model (HAM), will be receiving a financial support of Rs 543 crore from the NHAI, an equity of Rs 159 crore from the company and project financing of Rs 617 crore from lenders, IRB said in a statement. The project, which involves four laning of a 48-km stretch on NH-32 between Puducherry and Poondiyankuppam, will have a concession period of 15 years, and the tolling and construction will be commenced from the appointed date. "We had won three HAM projects totalling up to Rs 5,500 crore, and we are on track to achieve financial closure for all of them, starting with Puducherry-Poondiyankuppam. Despite the current lending environment, the company has received the financial closure mainly due to our execution ...
Hydroponics and the art of helping farmers increase their incomes (Comment)
Hydroponics is not a new concept. In ancient times, the plants lining the walls of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were grown using hydroponics. Only over the last century, however, has it gained popularity as a method of commercial cultivation, mainly in the West. It is now in the early stages of becoming popular in India as well.
Punjab, Himachal sign pact on ropeway between Hindu, Sikh shrines
The Punjab and Himachal Pradesh governments on Friday signed an agreement to build a Rs 250 crore ropeway project connecting popular Sikh and Hindu shrines in both states.
Nine CETPs in TN to be modernised soon: CLRI official
Nine common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) associated with leather industries in Tamil Nadu will be modernised soon, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute Director B Chandrasekaran has said. There are about 18 CETPs located in leather industry corridors across the country and 13 are associated with nearly 600 tanneries in the southern state, he said. "Nine of the 13 plants in Tamil Nadu have been selected to receive about Rs 300 crore from the Central government in the first phase," Chandrasekaran told PTI. Most of them are about 10-15 years old and needed modernisation, he said adding work on the remaining plants would be completed by 2020. Speaking on the sidelines of 76th CSIR Foundation Day here Thursday, he said the modernisation measures were aimed at making the leather sector sustainable, not only in environmental terms, but also to make them economically viable. Five other CETPs are located in Kolkata, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir. The .
Bachendri Pal to lead month-long rafting expedition to clean
A 40-member team, including 20 women, will undertake a month-long rafting expedition "Mission Gange" in October, Bachendri Pal, chief of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) has said. The team would be led by Pal, the first Indian woman to climb the Mount Everest. Twenty-six employees of Tata Steel would be part of the expedition. The objective of the "Mission Gange" was to clean the river Ganga and spread awareness on waste management, Pal said at a press conference here Thursday. Pal said the team would move to Haridwar after assembling at Delhi on October 3. The expedition will start from Haridwar on October 5 and traverse through Bijnor, Farukhabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Buxar and end at Patna on October 30, she said. The team will be covering a distance of 1500 km downstream during the expedition. The members of the team will stay at each destination for 2/3 days, when they will organise cleaning and awareness drives with the help of local support, she ...
Chemical pollution threatens to wipe out killer whales: Study
Chemical pollutants could lead to the disappearance of half of the world's populations of killer whales from the most heavily contaminated areas within a period of just 30 to 50 years, according to a study. More than 40 years after the first initiatives were taken to ban the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the chemical pollutants remain a deadly threat to animals at the top of the food chain, according to researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) form the last link in a long food chain and are among the mammals with the highest level of PCBs in their tissue. Researchers have measured values as high as 1300 milligrammes per kilo in the fatty tissue (blubber) of killer whales. For comparison, a large number of studies show that animals with PCB levels as low as 50 milligrammes per kilo of tissue may show signs of infertility and severe impacts on the immune system, researchers said. The study, published in the journal Science, documented that the
Chemical pollution could wipe out half of all killer whales
Chemical pollutants banned more than 40 years ago are still having a devastating effect on marine life and could lead to the disappearance of half of the world's killer whale populations before the end of the century, a new study revealed.
Give due compensation to 2017 rain-affected farmers: Punjab CM
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed all the Deputy Commissioners to immediately release any pending compensations to farmers, who suffered losses during the 2017 floods in the state.While chairing a meeting to finalise the modalities for the early release of compensation to the people affected by the recent floods, Singh ordered that an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh each should be immediately released to the five families whose members had lost their lives in the incessant rains, read a statement.The Chief Minister was informed that five people lost their lives in the state - two in Tarn Taran and one each in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Moga.Meanwhile, expressing concern at the delay in the disbursement of 2017 compensation by the Deputy Commissioners, despite having received the money from the Revenue Department, Singh directed the Financial Commissioner Revenue to seek an explanation from them.Singh also asked his Chief Principal Secretary to get detailed ...
India should not miss electronic revolution: Karnataka Minister
Citing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's lament that India had missed the industrial revolution, Karnataka IT and Biotech Minister K.G. George said on Thursday that the country should not miss the electronic revolution at least.
VP lays foundation stone of drinking water scheme
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Thursday laid foundation stone for a drinking water supply scheme at Chand village near Ranchi under 'Swajal Programme' through online, an official release said. Naidu, who met members of Sakhi Mandal, also planted trees to make people aware of environmental protection. On this occasion, five districts of Jharkhand, 50 blocks and 1,000 panchayats of 11 other districts of the state were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). Under the sanitation campaign, 32.7 lakh toilets were constructed in Jharkhand till date, the release said. Vice President honoured five women of the state with a citation and shawl for their excellent contribution in Clean India Mission, Rural, it said.
Odisha to allot land acquired for Posco to JSW Steel: Minister
The Odisha government has decided to allot land acquired for South Korean steel major Posco near Paradip to JSW Steel, which has proposed to set up a 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) green field steel plant at an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, a state minister said Thursday. Odisha Industries Minister Ananta Das told PTI that the state government has decided to allot the land to JSW steel. "Since Posco India has not been progressing with its proposed project, the government has decided to allot the land to JSW Steel which is interested to set up a mega steel plant," Das said. The minister said JSW Steel in 2016 had submitted a proposal to the state government to set up a greenfield steel plant. "As we have already acquired 2900 acre of land near Paradip, the state government will allot the land to the new company," the minister said. The JSW Steel has been told to deposit the money towards the acquisition of the land at the earliest, he said. Earlier, Industries Secretary Sanjeev ...
Smart City's CITIIS prog strong platform for India, France to achieve their shared vision: Envoy
The CITIIS programme under the country's Smart Cities Mission provides a "strong platform" for both India and France to achieve their shared vision of a sustainable future and a more equal and just society through collaboration, French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler has said. Under the CITIIS (Cities Investment To Innovate, Integrate and Sustain) challenge programme, cities are encouraged to propose projects in areas of sustainable mobility, urban e-governance and information and communications technology (ICT), public open spaces and social and organisational innovation for low-income settlements. Ziegler was speaking here at a two-day preparatory workshop held for the 100 cities shortlisted to become the country's next Smart Cities. The event, organised by the National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA) along with the French Development Agency (AFD), was held at the India Habitat Centre from September 25-26. "The CITIIS programme provides a strong platform for both India and
SECI's auction for 5GW solar manufacturing gets one bidder
State-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) got poor response to its tender for 5GW/year solar manufacturing here as only one bidder Azure Power turned up for the auction on Thursday. The SECI being the nodal agency of the government had invited bids for selection of solar power developers for setting up of 5GW (Per Annum) solar manufacturing plant linked with power purchase agreements (PPAs) for ISTS (Inter State Transmission System) connected Solar PV Power Plant. "The auction for the solar manufacturing of 5GW capacity got poor respose as only one bidder Azure Power turned up for bidding today," a source said. As part of the government's targets of achieving a cumulative capacity of 100 GW Solar PV installation by 2022, the SECI had invited bids from developers. It was a tariff based competitive bidding followed by e-Reverse Auction. As per the tender document, the bidders were allowed to bid for a minimum capacity of 1GW of manufacturing linked to 2GW of assured off take of
Harmohan hits out at Chandigarh civic body for taking over garbage collection duty
Senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan Thursday hit out at the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, saying the civic body had "acted in haste" and was "ill-prepared" when taking over waste collection duties from private players in the city. In a letter addressed to Punjab governor and Chandigarh's Administrator V P Singh Badnore, the former union minister said, "Fifteen days ago, the municipal corporation in haste and without preparation decided to take over the responsibility of door-to-door garbage collection. Following this decision, about 3,000 door-to-door garbage collectors have gone on an indefinite strike. Heaps of garbage are lying on the side of roads and in greenbelts. There is a stink all around. The corporation has miserably failed to lift garbage from the various sectors in Chandigarh." In the last two weeks, garbage collection has been hit in Chandigarh. The waste collectors' indefinite protest reportedly started when the municipal corporation decided to take over garbage ...
Meghalaya Congress MLA demands action against illegal mining
Meghalaya's Congress legislator George Lyngdoh on Thursday demanded swift action against the illegal limestone mining in Nongtalang area near the India-Bangladesh border.
VW will support retrofitting of older diesel cars in Germany: source
HAMBURG (Reuters) - Volkswagen is prepared to support hardware retrofits for older diesel vehicles and offer incentives for drivers to swap some older diesel vehicles for newer ones, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Ker govt decides to raise rs 15,900 crore as loans from WB,ADB
The Kerala government Thursday decided to raise Rs 15,900 crore as loan from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and other funding agencies to rebuild the prime sectors of the state devastated by the recent deluge. A decision in this regard was taken at the cabinet meeting, a government press release said. The amount would be utilised for repairing and reconstruction of roads under Public Works Department, local self government institutions, water supply, flood control and irrigation systems, coastal area protection, rehabilitation of people in coastal stretches, and others chief minister, Pinarayi vijayan told reporters here. It was also decided to tabulate the losses suffered by the agricultural and plantation sectors in the floods and explore the possibilities of raising resources for their reconstruction. For mobilising resources to rebuild Kerala, the state government had approached the World Bank, ADB, other agencies and banks for taking loans and the ...
Bullet train: Guj govt doubles compensation for agri land in
The Gujarat government Thursday announced the doubling of compensation for farmers whose agricultural land situated in urban areas will be acquired for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor. As per the Union government's prevailing compensation rates for land acquisition, land owners in rural areas get four times the market rate while the same is two times the market rate for agricultural land parcels falling in Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) and Area Development Authorities(ADAs). Gujarat Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel Thursday said that the state government had decided that farmers having their land under UDAs or ADAs would also get four times the market rate like their rural counterparts. "We have taken this decision to expedite the land acquisition process for the bullet train project. Now, villages which fall in urban regions would also be entitled to get compensation four times the market rate" said Patel. In addition, the farmers would also get an ...