Page 472 - Environment
Sisodia stresses on need for community engagement in preserving historical sites
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited a 15th century stepwell in Dwarka on Wednesday and stressed on the need for community engagement in preserving historical sites. According to an official statement the archaeology department has been undertaking work to conserve and preserve monuments in a phased manner and manages and restored 52 known and lesser-known monuments. Sisodia, who also heads the Delhi archaeology department, said that he would visit a number of restored and known monuments out of these 52 monuments this month. "The department is doing conservation of about 16 to 18 monuments every year. In the process, a Pathan-period Baoli (stepwell) has also been unearthed in Sector 12, Dwarka," the statement said. Sisodia said that restoration work of other monuments are on. According to the statement, 18 monuments have been conserved last year while 19 more are being restored this year.
Hry to be freed of stray cattle menace by next Republic Day: official
Roads in Haryana will be free of the stray cattle menace as well as potholes by the next Republic Day, claimed a senior official Wednesday. "Haryana will be made stray cattle-free by January 26 next year," said Chief Minister M L Khattar's Additional Principal Secretary Rakesh Gupta in an official statement. Gupta also said the roads in the state will be made "pothole-free by January 2019". Strict action would be taken against those, whose cattle are found roaming on roads and fines would be imposed on them, said Gupta after a video-conference with various senior officials, including deputy commissioners and superintendents of police. The video-conference was held to review the progress of ongoing developmental works and schemes, the statement added. Gupta said an action plan would be prepared keeping in view the performance of those districts which are doing well in making their areas free of stray cattle. He directed the officers to ensure that roads were properly painted to ensure .
Jewar airport: UP CM meets farmers delegation who agreed to land acquisition
Previous governments in Uttar Pradesh did not favour development in Noida and Greater Noida which is why many firms migrated out of the state leaving no job opportunities for locals, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed on Wednesday. The chief minister said this while meeting over two dozen farmers representing hundreds others from Jewar who have given their consent for the acquisition of their land for a proposed international greenfield airport in the region. The farmers were accompanied BJP MLA from Jewar Dhirendra Singh for the meeting at Shastri Bhawan in Lucknow. "Noida and Greater Noida were seen as areas of bad reputation by the previous governments. No industrialist wanted to set up their industry there out of panic. Several businesses migrated to Gurgaon in Haryana. "A big project like Maruti car, which could have provided work to thousands of locals, slipped away from Noida-Greater Noida," Adityanath was quoted as saying in a statement. "Understand the true meaning of ...
Plan for 21 nuclear reactors on track: DAE Secretary
India's plan to build 21 nuclear reactors by 2030 by using different technologies is on track, Atomic Energy Department Secretary Sekhar Basu said on Wednesday.
Haryana govt gives nod for construction of Kishau dam
The Haryana government has given its go ahead for the construction of Kishau dam on Tons river, a tributary of the Yamuna. With the construction of this dam, Haryana would get additional 709 cusecs of water for drinking and irrigation purposes, an official spokesman said here on Wednesday. According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by six states in the year 1994, Haryana's share in the Kishau Dam is 709 cusecs water out of the live storage capacity of 1,324 million cubic metre (MCM). Notably, the Kishau Multi-purpose project, which includes construction of a 236-metre-high concrete dam across Tons river, a tributary of the Yamuna in Dehradun district with a live storage capacity of 1,324 MCM, will create irrigation potential of about 97,000 hectares, make available 517 MCM drinking water and generate 660 MW of power. Recently, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with his counterparts from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had inked an .
Over Rs 5 cr needed to revive Chendamangalam handloom sector
: Kerala government has estimated that an amount of Rs 5.13 crore was required for rejuvenating the handloom sector in Chendamangalam in Ernakulam district, which suffered extensive damage in the recent floods. This was stated at a review meeting convened Wednesday by Industries Minister E P Jayarajan to take stock of the situation and steps to revive the sector. Around 53 looms in the area were destroyed completely in the floods and it was estimated that at least Rs 50,000 was required to repair a single loom, a government press release said. About 200 looms were destroyed partially and Rs 10,000 would be needed to repair them. Besides, an amount of Rs 25.5 lakh was required to repair 255 looms that were damaged in the flood fury. Cochin Shipyard, PetronetLNG and Hantex will participate in the rehabilitation of the weavers of Chendamangalam. Hantex will supply necessary raw materials to weavers for the next months and will also buy their products, the release ...
Heavy to very heavy rainfall warning in Odisha
Heavy to very heavy rainfall in likely to lash several parts of Odisha over the next two days with the low pressure area over Bay of Bengal set to intensify into a depression and then deep depression on Thursday, the weatherman said. Under its impact, rain and thundershower is likely to occur at many places in the next 24 hours and at most places of the state during the subsequent 48 hours and decrease thereafter, the meteorological centre here said. Heavy to very heavy rainfal is likely to take place at some places with isolated extremely heavy downpour over Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Koraput districts on Thursday, it said. The Met office also forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Rayagada, Kalahandi, Koraput districts and some places in Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Balangir, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts on Friday. In view of the adverse weather conditions the Met office has advised .
States told to frame solid waste management rules
States in northern India were told on Wednesday to frame solid waste management rules by next year, an official said.
905 trains delayed by stray animals on tracks till August this year in the North Western division
Incidents of stray animals on railway tracks have delayed 905 trains in the North Western Railway division this year till August. Train movement had to be slowed due to the presence animals on tracks on 607 occasions during the first eight months of the year, an official spokesperson said Wednesday. Awareness drives will be conducted to stop such incidents and action would be taken against the owners of the animals, he added. Till August, 905 trains were delayed due to 607 such incidents, including 250 incidents in Jaipur division, 120 in Ajmer division, 96 in Bikaner division and 142 incidents in Jodhpur division, the official added. Two trains were derailed in the past three years due to the menace, he said, adding that such incidents also damage the engines. The spokesperson said the Railways might take legal action against people who leave their animals open for grazing.
HC prohibits Nilgiri wildlife assn members from entering reserve forest area
The Madras High Court has banned until further orders members of the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association and the general public from entering the reserve forest area in Nilgiris district. Stating that the court was interested in protecting the reserve forest area and its animals, Justice N Kirubakaran on Tuesday said officials shall enter the area for discharging their official functions alone. "This court is interested in protecting the reserve forest area and also the animals. Therefore, interest of justice requires prohibiting any person, including the members of the association, from entering the reserve forest area, except forest officials, until further orders," Justice Kirubakaran said. He passed the interim order on a plea filed by advocate L Seetharaman, who sought a direction to authorities to verify the antecedents of newly admitted members of the association in the interest of forest, wildlife and nature. The petitioner sought removal of those with criminal ...
Tripura CM meets Paswan; demands rice procurement in state to meet PDS demand
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb Wednesday met Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to demand that 2.5 lakh tonnes rice required for ration shops should be procured from the state itself in order to ensure that farmers get minimum support price fixed by the Centre. Paswan said the Centre has in-principal agreed to the demand of Tripura government and a team of Food Corporation of India (FCI) will soon visit the state to fix the modalities. "We send rice to Tripura from states like Haryana and Punjab. We will save transportation cost if the grains are procured from farmers in Tripura only," the food minister told reporters here. However, the food minister said the state government will have to set up rice mills to convert paddy procured from farmers into rice. The chief minister thanked Paswan for agreeing to his demand and assured that rice mills would be set up across the state by roping in private players. Deb said the total rice production in the state is 8.5 lakh tonnes and rice
India can produce 100 tonnes of gold per year: Expert
India has the capacity to produce over 100 tonnes of gold per year to better satisfy the country's enormous demand for the precious metal which is mostly met by imports, a foreign expert said on Wednesday.
Impose 50pc of solar tariff as penalty for not buying power: Developers to MNRE
Solar power developers have urged the power ministry to impose 50 per cent tariff penalty on distribution companies that are not buying clean power despite their purchase agreements, sources said. At a meeting of stakeholders called by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Wednesday, solar power developers proposed that discoms should be penalised 50 per cent of the agreed tariff for the part of renewable energy that they refuse to use, they said. The ministry had called the meeting of renewable energy project developers, bankers and financial institutions and other officials to deliberate on difficulties being faced by the investors in view of India's ambitious target of having 175 GW of clean energy capacities by 2022. "There has been back down of operational solar plants by discoms. The ministry is thinking to impose penalties on discoms to pay 50 per cent tariff for units not purchased," the sources said. The renewable energy project developers are facing issues related .
Haryana gives NOC for Kishau dam
Haryana has given a no-objection certificate for the construction of the Kishau dam on the Tons, a tributary of Yamuna river along the borders of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, official sources said on Wednesday.
GRSE expects to get orders of building 2 bridges in Kolkata
State-run Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), which was approached by the West Bengal government for erection of two bailey bridges in the city after the partial collapse of a bridge at Majherhat in South Kolkata, is hopeful of bagging the order, an official said on Wednesday.
Ker to take crowd funding route to raise money to rebuild
: The Kerala government Wednesday decided to take the crowd funding route to rebuild the state in the aftermath of the deluge which wrecked havoc last month. For construction of houses, providing means of livelihood and basic infrastructure, it has been decided to accept sponsorship after imposing certain conditions. The decision to go in for crowd funding was taken at a cabinet meeting here on the suggestion of KPMG, one of the largest professional service companies in the world, appointed as project consultant partner last month to rebuild the state. The government also decided to set up a body to implement various projects. The cabinet meeting was the first one to be chaired by Industries minister E P Jayarajan in the absence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is away in the U.S for medical treatment. A decision was taken to organise an intensive drive from September 24 to October 2 as part of continuing efforts to clean up the state after the flood ravage, a ...
Renewable energy need for sustainable development: Bihar Energy Minister
Bihar Energy Minister Bijendra Yadav on Wednesday said renewable energy is a need for sustainable development in view of global warming posing a big challenge worldwide.
CCEA nod for Rs 1,000 cr infusion in Talcher Fertiliser Ltd
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to undertake works for revival of the Talchar fertiliser project with an investment outlay of Rs 1,033.54 crore.
15th Fin Commission: Maha seeks Rs 50,000 cr for Mumbai region
In a meeting with the 15th Finance Commission, the Maharashtra government Wednesday sought Rs 50,000 crore as a special support for the Mumbai city and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). "Mumbai is the backbone of our economy. We must strengthen Mumbai's infrastructure. We need to acknowledge the importance of Mumbai in the nation's GDP," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a memorandum to the commission. Demanding Rs 50,000 crore for Mumbai and the MMR (which includes surrounding townships), he also sought special grants of Rs 32,327 crore for various other development projects. Of these Rs 32,327 crore, Rs 25,000 crore would be needed to improve living standards in the economically backward Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, he said. The demand for special grants included Rs 1,400 crore for environmental management, Rs 200 crore for ecosystem conservation and protection and wetland conservation, Rs 1,000 crore for conservation and protection of rivers and Rs 200
'Manimahesh Lake pilgrims to have more facilities next year
The Chamba district administration has decided to build over 250 semi-permanent toilets for pilgrims to the Manimahesh Lake, one of the major pilgrimage spots in Himachal Pradesh. The project would be funded by the Manimahesh Trust and completed before the annual pilgrimage begins next year, said Bharmour Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Prithi Pal Singh, who is also the Trust's chairperson. The Manimahesh Lake is situated 26 kilometers from Bharmour in the Budhil valley. The lake is situated at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Every year, on the eighth day of 'Bhadon' month of the Hindi calendar, a fair is held at the lake, with thousands of pilgrims assembling to take a holy dip. This year, the yatra to Manimahesh Lake began on September 3 and ended on September 17. The Bharmour ADM said the Trust would be building toilets at various halting points en route the Lake, including Dhanchho and Gauri Kund, besides providing for other arrangements for the pilgrims . This year, the ...