Page 523 - Environment
No indication NKorea nuclear activities stopped: UN's IAEA
The UN's nuclear watchdog said it had not seen any indication that nuclear activities in North Korea have stopped despite its pledges to denuclearise. "The continuation and further development of the DPRK's nuclear programme and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern," said a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), referring to North Korea's official name. The report, published late yesterday, by the director general of Yukiya Amano is to be submitted to an IAEA board meeting in September. In 2009 Pyongyang expelled IAEA inspectors from its Yongbyon nuclear site and has since refused to allow IAEA inspections on its territory. The watchdog has stepped up monitoring through open source information and satellite imagery, it said. "As the Agency remains unable to carry out verification activities in the DPRK, its knowledge of the DPRK's nuclear programme is limited and, as further nuclear activities take place in the country, this knowledge is ...
Guj govt halts process of finalising land records
The Gujarat government today decided to halt the process of finalising the agriculture land records of over 6,000 villages in the state following charges of irregularities and errors in the land mapping work. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar today, state Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel told reporters. He said although the land records of around 11,000 villages have been finalised so far, the administration would take into account all the objections and settle the issues being faced by farmers. "We received representations from farmers and MLAs about irregularities and errors in the land re-survey process. Hence, our government has decided to halt the promulgation of land records, where re-survey has been done but promulgation was yet to be announced," Patel said after the meeting. The land re-survey work has already got over, the minister said adding that while land records of around 11,000 ...
Inclement weather, rain hit tourist arrivals in Kerala:SOTC
The inclement weather and heavy rains in Kerala have hit the tourism sector in the neighbouring state, a senior industry official said. Places like Kottayam and Kumarakom have been largely impacted since these places see large number of international tourist arrivals, SOTC Travel Head-Sales, India and NRI markets, Daniel D'Souza, told PTI. "Impact of floods is there (in Kerala). Actually, tourist arrivals for Onam celebrations is a complete wash out (this time)," he said. To a query, he said, if the rains had occurred during December, it would have had larger impact on tourism because of Christmas and New year celebrations. Responding to a query whether the tourism sector would be affected due to the fluctuation of Indian rupee over USD, he said, "it may be a concern on the long run." "From a customer point of view, if it (INR) continues to be volatile, then he may change (tour) plans. Instead of doing a 10-day tour, he may go for eight-days," he said. D'Souza claimed the
'Portable device could harvest water from thin air'
Scientists are developing a lightweight, battery-powered freshwater harvester that could someday harvest as much as 10 gallons per hour from the air, even in arid locations. The nanofibre-based method developed by researchers from University of Akron in the US could help address modern water shortages due to climate change, industrial pollution, droughts and groundwater depletion. Harvesting water from the air has a long history. Thousands of years ago, the Incas of the Andean region collected dew and channeled it into cisterns. More recently, some research groups have been developing massive mist and fog catchers in the Andean mountains and in Africa. To miniaturise water generation and improve the efficiency, researchers led by Shing-Chung Wong from University of Akron, turned to electrospun polymers, a material they had already worked with for more than a decade. Electrospinning uses electrical forces to produce polymer fibers ranging from tens of nanometers up to one micrometre --
New-born cubs spotted in Panna, number of tigers rises to 37
With the recent birth of three cubs, the number of tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh has gone up to 37, an official today said. "Tigress P-222 was seen with three cubs recently. The cubs, captured by camera along with their mother, seem to be about two months old," PTR field director K S Bhadoriya said. With this, the number of tigers in the reserve has increased to 37, he said. In 2009, not a single tiger was left in the reserve owing to various reasons including poaching. Tigers from other places were then transferred to PTR to revive the population of big cats. According to Bhadoriya, this is the third time tigress P-222 has given birth. She had given birth to two cubs each on two occasions in the past. "It is hard to locate the tigress as she is roaming without radio collar. Therefore we came to know about the birth of cubs slightly late this time," he said.
UN's IAEA says no indication NKorea nuclear activities have stopped
The UN's nuclear watchdog said it had not see any indication that nuclear activities in North Korea have stopped despite its pledges to denuclearise. "The continuation and further development of the DPRK's nuclear programme and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern," said a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen today.
New Kerala has to be built, UAE to give $100 mn: Vijayan
The UAE has pledged $100 million for flood-battered Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday, adding "a new Kerala" needed to be built following the widespread destruction.
GE to supply gas turbines for HPCL Vizag refinery expansion
GE Power today said it has got a Rs 220 crore order to supply gas turbine and generator for a captive power unit planned at Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's (HPCL) refinery at Visakhapatnam. The order for the supply of a 6F.03 gas turbine and a generator was placed on it by state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) - the principal contractor for the project. "The order, worth Rs 220 crores, is part of the capacity expansion plan of HPCL refinery from the current 8.33 million tonnes per annum to 15 million tonnes. The gas turbine will generate close to 60 MW of power to run the plant operations, while the exhaust steam energy generated will be used for process applications," GE Power said in a statement here. The HPCL Vizag order also marks the foray of GE's F-class technology into India's refinery segment, which offers a significant opportunity for technology upgrades in future, it said. Delivering the heat rate improvement of more than 25 per cent over the traditional Frame 5 ...
Ecogreen Energy to make Gurugram garbage free
Ecogreen Energy, the company responsible for the integrated solid waste management in the city, has achieved significant progress towards making the city garbage free. Over 1200 tons of waste is being generated in Gurugram every day and considering the rain condition in Gurugram, the situation of garbage even worsens.Ecogreen Energy has changed the condition considerably by ensuring that the garbage is properly dumped in dustbins and then taken to transfer stations for segregation.Major steps taken till date by Ecogreen Energy:-Appointed ward managers in all 35 wards-Three transfer stations already operational in the city, three under process, to be commissioned soon-Closes 2 open dump yards in Gurugram in Sector 17 and near Old MCG OfficeCity's waste predicament presents numerous health and environmental challenges. A noteworthy step has been taken by Ecogreen of door to door garbage collection. Ecogreen has deployed total 430 vehicles including 170 rickshaws to ensure 100% ...
NASA's InSight spacecraft crosses halfway mark to Mars
NASA's InSight spacecraft that is en route to Mars, has passed the halfway mark to its destination and all its instruments are working well, the US space agency said.
NASA's InSight completes halfway to Mars
NASA's InSight spacecraft, en route to land on Mars this November, has passed the halfway mark, covering 277 million kilometres since its launch 107 days ago. In another 98 days, it will travel another 208 million kilometres and touch down in Mars' Elysium Planitia region, where it will be the first mission to study the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. The InSight team is using the time before the spacecraft's arrival at Mars to not only plan and practice for that critical day, but also to activate and check spacecraft subsystems vital to cruise, landing and surface operations, including the highly sensitive science instruments. InSight's seismometer, which will be used to detect quakes on Mars, received a clean bill of health on July 19. The SEIS instrument (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) is a six-sensor seismometer combining two types of sensors to measure ground motions over a ..
Green cremation system operationalised in two places in south Delhi
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has operationalised an eco-friendly cremation system at Green Park and Dwarka, which uses less wood than needed in a traditional pyre, officials said. South Delhi Mayor Narendra Chawla has urged families to use this new facility as it helps in checking pollution. The 'Mokshda green cremation system' gives control over the temperature and circulation of the air around the flames. "The SDMC has made functional two units each of Mokshda green cremation system at Green Park and Dwarka Sector-24. This green facility consumes only around 150 kg wood instead of 450 Kg wood being used in the traditional pyre," he said. Under Mokshda system, wood is still required, hence it is like the traditional system of cremation. So, the last rites are performed by igniting fire to a pyre, Chawla said. The mayor, yesterday said, the Mokshda green cremation system has been installed and commissioned with the help of an energy PSU. The SDMC staff is operating the
Dilip Buildcon bags metro rail project worth Rs 247.06 cr in Madhya Pradesh
Highway developer Dilip Buildcon (DBL) today said it has bagged a Metro rail project worth Rs 247.06 crore in Madhya Pradesh. The company has been declared L-1 bidder for Bhopal Metro rail project, Phase -I, valued at Rs 247.06 crore by the Urban Administration and Development Department Madhya Pradesh, Metro Rail Co Ltd, Bhopal, Dilip Buildcon said in a BSE filing. The project is for construction of design and construction of elevated viaduct between AIIMS and Subhash Nagar (excluding stations) including entry and exit to depot for Bhopal Metro Rail project, phase-l. Shares of Dilip Buildcon were trading 0.33 per cent higher at Rs 856.95 apiece on BSE.
MSEDCL rewards power theft informers with Rs 41 lakh
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has given cash rewards worth Rs 41 lakh to people who informed it about power thefts in the last three years. The reward is part of an initiative of the MSEDCL to check power thefts following several such complaints, a release from the state-run power utility said yesterday. In the last three years, some alert citizens informed the electricity company, also known as 'Mahavitaran', about power thefts at 36 places in the state, it said. Subsequently, the MSEDCL recovered Rs 4.1 crore from the offenders and 10 per cent of the amount was given as the prize money to power theft informers, the release said. After the consumer pays the total amount along with the penalty, the reward is given to the informer without revealing his name, it added.
World-class interpretation centre to come up in Bhitarkanika
The Odisha government has decided to set up a state-of-the-art interpretation centre at Bhitarkania National Park to showcase its flora, fauna and rich biodiversity, a senior official said. At present, the national park has an interpretation centre at Dangmal but it has proved to be inadequate in preserving the vast reserve of the finest biodiversity hotspots of the state, the official said. Mangrove and wildlife researchers had also suggested for better showcasing of the natural heritage here. "So there is a need for setting up a specialized and world-class interpretation centre at Bhitarkanika," he said. The project, which has been approved under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP), will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore, the official said. The construction of the centre will get underway in winter, ICZMP project director, Sushant Nanda, said. The conservation measures for protecting crocodiles in their natural habitat and preserving ..
Smoke across US West blots out mountains, poses health risks
Smoke from wildfires clogged the sky across the US West, blotting out mountains and city skylines from Oregon to Colorado, delaying flights and forcing authorities to tell even healthy adults in the Seattle area to stay indoors. As large cities dealt with unhealthy air for a second summer in a row, experts warned that it could become more common as the American West faces larger and more destructive wildfires because of heat and drought blamed on climate change. Officials also must prioritize resources during the longer firefighting season, so some blazes may be allowed to burn in unpopulated areas. Seattle's Space Needle was swathed in haze, and it was impossible to see nearby mountains. Portland, Oregon, residents who were up early saw a blood-red sun shrouded in smoke and huffed their way through another day of polluted air. Portland Public Schools suspended all outdoor sports practices. Thick smoke in Denver blocked the view of some of Colorado's famous mountains and prompted an ..
Ban on Muthalik's entry into Goa district extended
The North Goa district administration on Monday extended by 60 days the ban on the entry of Mangalore-based Hindu outfit Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik and others.
Minister raises objections over ADB-funded tourism project at Dharamsala
Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Kishan Kapoor today raised serious objections over the selection of the site and quality of construction work at a tourism project, funded by the Asian Development Bank. Kapoor today visited the Tulip Garden project which is being developed close to the Noudrani rivulet at Narwana on the outskirts of the city. "It is clear wastage of Rs 7 crore sanctioned by the Asian Development Bank for development of tourism in the area," the minister observed after the visit. The beauty of such a garden could have added to the attraction of the Smart City but its development in a rivulet is a bad idea as it would wash away of if there is flood, Kapoor, who is MLA from Dharamsala, explained. He added that the cemented approach road is already damaged at several points. The minister said blamed the concerned department and the contractor for the bad quality of work done so far, while stressing that misuse of funds will not be allowed. Kapoor ...
Mhadei dispute: Goa seeks action against Karnataka officials
In a disobedience petition filed before the Mhadei Inter-state Water Disputes Tribunal in the national capital, the Goa government has sought the arrest of officials of the Karnataka government for violation of the adjudicating body's orders.
Bonds ready for 26.52 farmers under govt's insurance scheme:
Telangana Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy today said insurance bonds under the state government's "Rythu Bima" insurance scheme have been prepared for more than 26.52 lakh farmers. Reddy held a video conference with officials on issues, including insurance scheme, impact of rains on crops, increased availability of water in the reservoirs following good rainfall and the presence of "Fall Armyworm" agricultural pest in the state, an official release said. He suggested undertaking a campaign on the insurance scheme for the benefit of farmers. He said awareness on the "Fall Armyworm," a feared pest that had caused massive agricultural losses in Africa, should be increased in the state and precautions should be taken at the preliminary stage to prevent its spread. According to the release, crops have been planted so far in 94 lakh acres in the ongoing rainy season against the normal area of 1.08 crore acres, it said. Due to the impact of rains, the release said,
