Page 461 - Environment
Reverse bidding to continue in green energy auction: Minister
The government will continue to conduct auctions in renewable energy through the transparent mechanism of reverse bidding and will not accept any unreasonable bids for renewables like solar and wind, Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh said on Tuesday.
ADB board okays $500 mn loan for climate resilient infra development in Tamil Nadu
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a USD 500 million loan to build climate resilient infrastructure in several cities of Tamil Nadu, the multilateral funding agency said. The Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved financing of up to USD 500 million for a multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) that will develop climate-resilient water supply, sewerage, and drainage infrastructure in at least 10 cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, ADB said in a statement. "With almost half of the state population living in cities, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised of India's large states," said ADB Senior Urban Development Specialist Ron Slangen. Managing this rapid urbanization is essential for sustaining its economic growth and alleviating poverty. The state suffers from recurring droughts and erratic monsoons linked to climate change resulting in severe water scarcity and urban flooding. ADB's support will help address these complex urban challenges through ...
NE states get Rs 190,000 crore for road projects
Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the central government has sanctioned a whooping Rs 190,000 crore to develop 12,000 km road projects in the northeastern states.
Germany to hold another diesel summit to try to break deadlock
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government will hold another summit on Friday to try to agree a way to tackle pollution from diesel vehicles without resorting to bans, with the transport minister saying his top priority is to ensure owners can swap old cars for cleaner ones.
Companies that use cleaner energy more profitable: Report
Companies that use cleaner and smarter energy are more profitable than their peers, a new report said on Tuesday, underlining the business case for putting sustainability at the heart of corporate growth strategies.
No payment from JICA for bullet train project is pending: NHSRCL
No payment from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for India's bullet train project is pending, National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said on Tuesday, amidst reports that the agency had stopped its funding for the project following various issues raised by farmers. NHSRCL, the nodal agency for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, said it is committed to care of the interests of the affected farmers and added that all necessary steps with regard to submission of various reports such as social impact assessment, environment impact assessment and indigenous people plan have already been taken by the Indian side and the reports already submitted to JICA. "In fact, the Government of India and JICA have already signed a loan agreement of about 10 billion yen and no payment is pending from JICA as on date," NHSRCL said in a statement. NHSRCL has failed to make any headway in several areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra. It is facing several issues over land acquisition in ...
Odisha govt doing nothing to stop cattle smuggling: Maneka
Union minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi Tuesday said the Odisha government should take steps to check cattle smuggling. The minister for women and child development said this on the sideline of a national conference on animal and environmental welfare at the National Law University here. "A huge number of cattle are going out of Odisha everyday to Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal from where they are being sent to Bangladesh," the Union minister said. She alleged the Odisha government was doing nothing to check this. Accusing the police of allowing the racket to continue, Gandhi urged the state government to take charge of the situation. Speaking on the use of formalin in pisciculture, the minister said it was not only dangerous but also criminal. Expressing satisfaction over the decision of Airports Authority of India (AAI) to cancel its water aerodrome project in Chilika lake, the BJP leader said, "Chilika is not only the treasure of Odisha or India, it is a world ...
India-UK research finds sustainable construction industry solution
A joint research conducted by India and the UK has shown that waste plastic can be a viable partial replacement for sand in structural concrete, providing a possible solution for sustainable construction work in India. The research, conducted by the University of Bath in partnership with Goa Engineering College, has shown how replacing 10 per cent of sand in concrete with waste plastic may help to reduce the vast amounts of plastic waste on Indian streets and deal with the country's sand shortage. "Typically, when you put an inert, man-made material like plastic into concrete, you lose a bit of strength because the plastic material doesn't bond to the cement paste in the material in the same way that a sand particle would, explains Dr John Orr, the principal investigator and Cambridge University lecturer in Concrete Structures -- who completed the research during his time at the University of Bath. "The key challenge here was to have a limit between a small reduction in strengths, ...
Cdr Tomy's condition stable after mid-ocean rescue: Mentor
Commander Abhilash Tomy of Indian Navy Tuesday reached the southern Indian Ocean island Ile Amsterdam, a day after being rescued by a French vessel and his condition is stable, his mentor and race manager said. French patrol vessel Osiris got Cdr Tomy and fellow sailor Gregor McGuckin to the island after a rescue on the high seas Monday following damage to their non-motorised sailing yachts in a storm Friday. "Cdr Tomy is stable and in safe hands. The doctors have given him sedatives but the good news is that there is no spinal injury," Cdr (Retd) Dilip Donde told PTI over phone from Goa. Further course of action will depend on the medical advice, he said, adding the tiny island has sound medical facilities. The island does not have an air strip and Cdr Tomy will have to be taken by the sea route itself, Cdr Donde said, adding he can be taken to either Mauritius, the Reunion Island or Australia. He said an Australian naval ship is reaching the island, while the progress
EU, India actively dealing with terrorism, says EU envoy
The European Union (EU) and India have a common understanding on the issue of terrorism and are collectively playing an active role to deal with such threats, said EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski on Tuesday.Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of 'Clean E-Bhubaneshwar' programme here, Kozlowski said, "We are dealing with the threats of terrorism through bilateral cooperation in the international arena. Our leaders adopted a joint declaration on fighting terrorists and we have listed a number of ways and instruments through which we can cooperate together and deal with this challenge."On climate change, the envoy underscored that the issue is a major challenge for both the EU and India, and that the two are working through active and result-oriented cooperation."Our leaders agreed to establish an EU-India partnership on climate change and clean energy and another on sustainable mobilisation. We cooperate in various issues like renewable energy, clean energy, greenhouse, electrical .
Nine new items added to Tripura's list of exports to B'desh
Nine new items have been added to the list of export items to Bangladesh from Tripura, taking the total number of products to be shipped to the neighbouring country to 30, official sources said. In a notification issued Tuesday, the director of Industries and Commerce Department, Sandip R Rathore, said the nine approved items, including rice, dry fish and soyabean seeds, will be exported to the neighbouring country through three land custom stations of the state. The state so far had been exporting 21 commodities to Bangladesh through eight land custom stations. "While rice, betel leaves and dry fish would be exported through Srimantapur station in Sipahijala and Manughat station in South Tripura, rubber latex, bamboo-based products, broomstick, soyabean seeds, spare parts of CNG-run vehicles and maize would reach the neighbouring country through Agartala-Akhaura International Check Post," he said. Debashish Nandi, the manager of Agartala-Akhaura ICP, asserted that fish .
Cabinet may consider Rs 4,500-cr package to sugar sector on Wednesday
The Cabinet is likely to consider Wednesday the Rs 4,500 crore package for the cash-starved sugar sector, which includes doubling production assistance to growers and transport subsidy for export up to 5 million tonnes in the next marketing season starting October, sources said. With assembly elections due in some states and upcoming general polls in mid-2019, the government has worked out a second package to bail out the sugar industry which is facing a glut-like situation because of record production of 32 million tonnes in the 2017-18 marketing year that ends this month. The last financial assistance announced in June was to the tune of Rs 8,500 crore. "The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is scheduled for tomorrow and the Food Ministry's 'Comprehensive policy to deal with excess sugar production in the country' is on the agenda of the meeting," the sources said. Under the proposed policy, the ministry has recommended offsetting cost of sugarcane to sugar mills by ...
Pb govt to plant 550 saplings in each village to mark Guru Nanak's birth anniv
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Tuesday announced that his government would undertake a massive plantation drive to mark Guru Nanak Dev's, founder of Sikhism, 550th birth anniversary. According to an official release here, the government plans to plant 550 saplings in each village of the state starting September 30, 2019. Underlining the need to plant more trees, Amarinder has appealed to the public to participate in the drive as the initiative could help make Punjab clean, green and pollution-free. He asked the people to make this plantation drive a grand success as this gigantic task could not be accomplished without their active support and participation. The CM said nearly 66 lakh saplings of seasonal trees would be planted in 12,700 villages. The departments of forests and rural development and panchayats are the nodal agencies for the drive and the departments have been entrusted with the task of supplying 550 saplings to each village under this year-long drive beginning ..
World in 'outrage' over inability to end wars in Syria, Yemen: UN chief
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said there is "outrage" in the world over the inability of the international community to end the wars in Syria and Yemen, address the Rohingya refugee crisis, and to combat terrorism. He said the threat of a new arms race looms, while nations close their borders to those in need and concerns grow over weaponisation of artificial intelligence. Addressing world leaders at the start of the General Debate at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, Guterres said in his address last year, he had highlighted seven challenges that sadly still remain unresolved. "There is outrage at our inability to end the wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. The Rohingya people remain exiled, traumatised and in misery, still yearning for safety and justice. Palestinians and Israelis are still locked in endless conflict, with the two-state solution more and more distant," he said. He voiced concern that the threat of terror looms, fed by the root causes of ...
Delhi cabinet approves rooftop solar power for housing societies
The Delhi cabinet on Tuesday approved the 'Mukhyamantri Solar Power Scheme' to set up solar panels on rooftops of group housing societies in Delhi.
China to start buying more Argentine soybeans: Oil World
HAMBURG (Reuters) - China is starting to buy more Argentine soybeans because of China's trade war with the United States, and Argentina will in turn purchase more U.S. soybeans to meet its own needs, oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.
Project report on Enayam port released: Union Minister
A detailed project report on the new port scheduled to come up in Kanyakumari district has been released, union minister of state for finance and shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan said Tuesday. Under the Ministry's Sagarmala programme, it was announced that the new port (an international container trans-shipment terminal) at Enayam in Kanyakumari district would be set up, he said. "The detailed project report has been released. We have to wait and see what are the steps that need to be taken to implement the project", he told reporters at the sidelines of an event organised by CII here. He said several steps have been taken under the Sagarmala programme for developing various ports, including the V O Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin. Soon after the Centre announced the setting up of "Enayam Port", the project ran into rough weather with opposition from a section of locals. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced in the Assembly that a special officer has been ...
Delhi records year's best air quality on Tuesday: Authorities
The national capital recorded its best air quality this year on Tuesday as incessant rains removed pollutants from the air, authorities said. This was the third time this year that the quality of air was registered as good. The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday was recorded at 38, which is the lowest this year, according to the Centre's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research institute (SAFAR). Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said due to concerted efforts by the government, the Air Quality Index of Delhi has improved during the last three years. "With the concerted efforts by the government, the Air Quality Index of Delhi has improved during the last three years. The Good to Moderate categories days have increased from 99 in 2016 to 142 in 2017 and 147 till September 24," he tweeted. An official of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said rains in the last few days removed pollutants from the air leading to improvement in air quality. Last Saturday
130 acres of govt land encroached by farm houses freed
The South Delhi district administration Tuesday carried out demolition of illegal structures, freeing nearly 130 acres of government land that was encroached upon by farm houses. In a statement, the administration said that the majority of farm houses were constructed in collusion with local land mafia occupying surrounding government land. An official said that the notice was given on September 13 to all the encroachers on government land in Bhati village to remove their encroachment Officials from the forest department, irrigation and flood control department and gram sabha were part of the operation. Heavy police deployment was provided by the Delhi Police, the statement said. It also stated that similar action is planned in other villages of Sahoorpur, Deramandi and Asola. About 400 acres of land was found encroached in these three villages. Public notices will be issued for these villages before taking action. By November 2018, these actions will be completed by District Task ...
Reverse bidding in renewable sector to continue: R K Singh
The government will not accept any unreasonable bids for renewables like solar and wind and continue to conduct auctions via reverse bidding as it is transparent, Union Minister R K Singh said Tuesday. The statement assumes significance as the renewable energy ministry has planned to auction 61 GW of renewables capacity in 2018-19 and 56 GW in 2019-20. The capacities that will be auctioned include that of solar, wind, small hydro, bio-mass, floating solar, solar wind hybrid and offshore wind. "We will accept bids which are reasonable. If we come across bids which we consider to be excessive, we will cancel them," the renewable energy minister said at an event here. About introduction of close bidding for the sector, the minister said:"We had commissioned a study. They have said the reverse bidding system would be totally transparent and good for the sector." Singh was speaking at a curtain raiser press conference of 2nd Global RE-INVEST. Under the close bidding, the bidder cannot ...