Page 509 - Environment
Cabinet approves O-Smart scheme aimed to step up ocean research
The Cabinet today approved a scheme aimed at stepping up ocean research and setting up early warning weather systems, a government statement said. The 'Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART)' scheme encompasses 16 sub-projects related to ocean development activities and science for implementation during 2017-18 and 2019-20 at an overall cost of Rs 1,623 crore, the statement said. Under the scheme, the important deliverables envisaged in the next two years include strengthening of ocean observations, modelling, ocean services for fishermen, setting up marine coastal observatories for tracking marine pollution in 2018, setting up Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plant (OTEC) in Kavaratti in Lakshadweep. The scheme also includes acquisition of two coastal research vessels, continuation of ocean survey and exploration of minerals and living resources, technology development for deep ocean mining- and setting up six desalination Plants in ...
Facebook likely to run on 100% renewable energy by 2020
Facebook, in an attempt to combat climate change, has announced that it is deducting its greenhouse gas emission by 75 per cent and is working on making its operations run on 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of 2020.According to The Verge, the company began the efforts in 2013 and has signed contracts for more than 3 giga watts of new solar and wind energy ever since. In a blog post released in 2013 the company wrote, "Our long-term focus on efficiency, smart design, and energy sources mean that over time we expect our emission growth to slow, our energy mix to get cleaner, and our carbon intensity to decrease."According to the social networking website, they have already met their 2015 goal of running 50 per cent of its facilities using renewable energy by 2018.Many other tech companies including Apple, Google and Samsung are also attempting to go green.
Cabinet approves O-SMART Umbrella scheme
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the umbrella scheme which comprised of ocean services, technology, observations, resources modeling and science under the O-SMART nomenclature.The scheme is charted for implementation during the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at an overall cost of Rs.1623 crores, and would encompass a total of 16 sub-projects addressing ocean development activities like services, technology, resources, observations, and science.The services under this O-SMART will provide economic benefits to a number of user communities in the coastal areas, namely fisheries as this will help in reducing the search time for fishermen resulting savings in the fuel cost. Currently, five lakh fishermen communities are 1receiving this information daily through the mobile, which includes allocation of fish potential and local weather conditions in the coastal waters. Apart from this offshore industry, coastal states, defence, Shipping, ports are also ..
Jain Irrigation Systems bags order worth Rs 127 cr from Rwanda Agriculture Board
The project is financed by EXIM Bank of India under Gov. of India Line Of Credit (LOC) program. Rwanda as a country is investing in modern agriculture project and is at the forefront of using latest technology to improve productivity. They have taken impressive strides in value added agriculture.
'MoU with UK will promote cooperation in dairying, fisheries'
An MoU signed between India and the UK in April will help promote cooperation in the fields of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries and increase production and productivity of Indian livestock and fisheries, the Union Cabinet said on Wednesday.
Cabinet apprised of tripartite MoU on animal husbandry
The Union Cabinet was today apprised of an agreement between India, the UK and Northern Ireland for cooperation in the field of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. As per the MoU signed on April 17, 2018, a joint working group consisting of representatives of each country will be created, an official statement said. The group will chalk out joint programmes and facilitate cooperation and consultation. The MoU would promote consultation and cooperation in matters of mutual interest, collaboration in livestock health and husbandry, breeding dairying and fisheries management. Besides, the agreement would put in place a mechanism to enrich feed and fodder nutrition and its bulk transportation in deficit areas to realise higher productivity and production in livestock. It will also help in developing high tech fodder tree species nurseries with fodder crops. Among others, the MoU will encourage collaboration for joint research for cross-learning with regard to innovative agriculture .
Failure of administration led to death of children in Gorakhpur: NGT
The National Green Tribunal has rapped the Uttar Pradesh government for not taking adequate steps to prevent discharge of pollutants in Rapti river, saying the "failure of the administration" resulted in death of more than 500 children in Gorakhpur in 2014, and announced setting up of a monitoring committee to address the situation. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that in this "crisis situation of failure of law", it was left with no alternative but to constitute a credible mechanism to oversee planning and execution of steps on urgent basis. The green panel said the authorities have failed in performing their duties to protect environment and they have taken "very little and insignificant steps" despite its direction in the last four years. "We are of the view that there is undoubtedly failure of the administration for preventing pollution which has resulted in death of children as already noted. There is continued violation of environmental norms for
In Chilean desert, global thirst for lithium is fuelling a 'water war'
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - On Chilean water regulator Oscar Cristi's desk, a small white espresso cup teeters atop piles of documents and loose folders that appear on the point of collapse, perhaps an apt metaphor for the growing water crisis in parts of the Andean country.
Ducks raise oxygen level in water: Tripura CM
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said that the oxygen levels in water bodies increase when ducks swim in it which was corroborated by some experts. Deb had said at a programme at the water palace of Neermahal in Tripura's Sepahijala district that when ducks swim in water bodies they recycle water and their swimming increases the oxygen level in it. His statement made on Monday went viral in the social media. He also said that he wants to distribute 50000 ducklings among the villagers who live near Rudrasagar lake, where the water palace is situated, to provide an alternative source of income for the,. According to Deb, at least Rs 6 crore could be generated per year by properly rearing the ducklings. BJP spokesman in Tripura, Ashok Sinha came out in support of the chief minister's claim that oxygen level in water bodies increases when ducks swim in it. "What Biplab Kumar Deb has said is 100 per cent correct. People who are laughing are the ones who should be
US praises Haryana for curbing pollution
The US on Wednesday appreciated the Haryana government for measures to curb vehicular and crop burning residual pollution especially in the National Capital Region (NCR) and offered all technological expertise to effectively deal with toxic air.
Jain Irrigation bags Rs 127cr contract from Rwanda
Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL) today said it has received a contract worth Rs 127 crore (USD 18.7 million) from the Rwandan government for developing irrigation and watershed facilities. The contract has been awarded by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) for irrigation and watershed development in Mahama sector under the export targeted modern irrigated agriculture projects in the country, JISL said in a regulatory filing. The project, which will be executed near Rusumo (Rwanda Tanzania border), is financed by the EXIM Bank of India under the government's Line Of Credit (LOC) programme, it added. This is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract and JISL aims to complete the project in next 18 months. The total area under irrigation will be 1,220 hectare. There is also a component of watershed development and capacity building for over 1,752 hectare, it added. Rwanda is investing in modern agriculture project and is at the forefront of using latest technology to ...
The pink bollworm menace adds to Maharashtra cotton farmers' distress
Mumbai, Aug 29 (IANS/Mongaday) On August 10, when Sanjay Rathod walked to his lush cotton field in Lasina village in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, he noticed some closed yellow flowers. Opening them, he found to his horror the tiny larvae of the pink bollworm. He shared a photo with other farmers on Whatsapp groups and immediately got a response on what pesticides he should use. Accordingly, he sprayed an insecticide Larvin and some neem spray. They didnt have any effect. He is now terrified of a repeat of last year when he lost half the cotton on his six acres of land, to the pink bollworm menace.
'NASA mission to find how giant Mars mountains formed'
NASA said its Insight mission to Mars will measure the red planet's temperature for the first time to decode how the massive mountains on the martian surface formed. Mars has some of the tallest mountains in the solar system. They include Olympus Mons, a volcano nearly three times the height of Mount Everest, NASA said in a statement. The mountain borders a region called the Tharsis plateau, where three equally awe-inspiring volcanoes dominate the landscape. NASA and DLR (German Aerospace Center) plan to take the planet's temperature for the first time ever, measuring how heat flows out of the planet and drives this inspiring geology. Detecting this escaping heat will be a crucial part of InSight mission, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). InSight, which is scheduled to land on Mars on November 26, will be the first mission to study its deep interior. The probe will use its Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument to measure heat as it is conducted ...
India's April-July buffalo meat exports rise: government body
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's buffalo meat exports between April and July rose 2.8 percent from a year earlier to 384,096 tonnes on robust demand from Indonesia and Malaysia, a government body said on Wednesday.
China's swine fever outbreak threatens other Asian countries
Rome, Aug 29 (IANS/AKI) The rapid onset of African Swine Fever in China - the country's first reported outbreak - and its detection in areas more than 1,000 km apart, could mean the deadly virus may spread to other Asian countries anytime, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned, urging regional cooperation to guard against the disease.
'Three unknown ancient primates identified'
Scientists say they have identified three new species of ancient primates that were previously unknown to science. The primates lived 42 million to 46 million years ago, said researchers from The University of Texas at Austin in the US. Primates is a group that consists of all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, including humans. The species, described in the Journal of Human Evolution, were residents of San Diego County in the US at a time when southern California was filled with lush tropical forests. The researchers named these new species Ekwiiyemakius walshi, Gunnelltarsius randalli and Brontomomys cerutti. These findings double the number of known primate genera represented in the Friars Formation in San Diego County and increase the total number of known omomyine primates of that period from 15 to 18. "The addition of these primates provides for a better understanding of primate richness in the middle Eocene," said UT Austin graduate student Amy ...
Select grains fall on subdued demand
Weak conditions prevailed at the wholesale grains market today as prices of rice basmati and a few other bold grains fell by up to Rs 100 per quintal on sluggish demand. Traders said subdued demand against sufficient stocks position mainly led to the fall in rice basmati and a few other bold grain prices. In the national capital, rice basmati common and pusa-1121 variety fell by Rs 100 each to Rs 7,700-7,800 and Rs 6,750-6,850 per quintal, respectively. Non-basmati rice permal raw, wand and sela also settled lower at Rs 2,375-2,400, Rs 2,500-2,525 and Rs 2,950-3,000 from previous levels of Rs 2,425-2,450, Rs 2,525-2,575 and Rs 3,050-3,150 per quintal, respectively. Other bold grains like, bajra and barley declined by Rs 20 each to Rs 1,400-1,405 and Rs 1,560-1,570 per quintal, respectively. Maize, too, shed Rs 20 at Rs 1,340-1,345 per quintal. Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal): Wheat MP (desi) Rs 2,320-2,420, Wheat dara (for mills) Rs 1,970-1,975, Atta ...
NASA's InSight will decode how mountains formed on Mars
NASA's InSight spacecraft, that has passed the halfway mark to Mars, carries a unique instrument that will enable scientists to understand what geological processes created the massive mountains on the Martian surface.
How ecosystems can keep pace with rising sea level
Mangrove expansion and climatic warming could facilitate ecosystems to keep pace with rising sea level, according to a landmark study.In the research, the team of Villanova University biologists have documented that coastal wetlands in the southeastern United States are responding positively to rising temperatures both in their growth and in their ability to build soil to keep pace with sea level rise.The Villanova researchers found that experimental warming both doubled plant height and accelerated the transition from marsh to mangrove. Mangroves are woody trees with more complex roots than their grassy marsh plant counterparts. When subjected to temperatures similar to those that will occur in a warmer future, mangrove plots showed increased surface elevation which is a measure of the wetland's ability to build soil and keep pace with sea level rise."Our study provides some evidence that the ongoing reshuffling of species on earth's surface could allow for some adaptation to the ...
Facebook vows to run operations with 100% renewable energy by 2020
Aiming to make its energy-guzzling data centres environment friendly, Facebook has pledged it would power its global operations with 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of 2020.
