Page 542 - Environment
27 dead in Kerala rains, 2 more Idukki shutters opened
Although Kerala on Friday got some relief due to lesser showers pounding it than has been over the last two days, the death toll rose to 27. With the water level at the Idukki dam fast rising, two more shutters of the dam were also opened, said a Kerala Minister.
Earlier govts not serious on ethanol output, now it will save Rs 12k cr: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today blamed previous governments for not taking the ethanol blending programme seriously and said now its production will triple to 450 crore litres in the next four years, leading to import savings of Rs 12,000 crore. "Ethanol blending programme was started during Vajpayee government. But previous governments did not take ethanol programme seriously. Now we will produce 450 crore litre of ethanol in next four years from existing 141 crore litre. It will result in import savings of Rs 12,000 crore," Modi said addressing an event here to mark World Biofuel Day. India meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports. Apart from the thrust on use of electricity, particularly from renewable sources, India is promoting biofuels for reducing its crude import bill. Modi said as many as 12 biofuel refineries at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore have been planned in the country. The government will achieve 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by 2022 .
Insight: Gene-editing startups ignite the next 'Frankenfood' fight
(Reuters) - In a suburban Minneapolis laboratory, a tiny company that has never turned a profit is poised to beat the world's biggest agriculture firms to market with the next potential breakthrough in genetic engineering - a crop with "edited" DNA.
Two more shutters opened at Kerala's Idukki dam
With the water level at the Idukki dam fast rising, two more shutters of the dam were opened on Friday, said a Kerala Minister.
At 'America First Energy Conference', solar power is dumb, climate change is fake
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Pumping carbon dioxide into the air makes the planet greener; the United Nations puts out fake science about climate change to control the global energy market; and wind and solar energy are simply "dumb".
New Zealand to phase out single-use plastic bags
New Zealand announced on Friday that it will phase out plastic shopping bags over the next year to protect the environment and its reputation as a clean, green country.
New Zealand to ban single-use plastic bags
New Zealand became the latest country today to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying they will be phased out over the next year as a "meaningful step" towards reducing pollution. New Zealand uses "hundreds of millions" of single-use plastic bags each year, many of which end up harming marine life, Ardern said. "We need to be far smarter in the way we manage waste and this is a good start," she said. "We're phasing-out single-use plastic bags so we can better look after our environment and safeguard New Zealand's clean, green reputation." Ardern said her coalition government, which includes the Green Party. Single-use plastic bags are among the most common items found in coastal litter in New Zealand and the environmental group Greenpeace welcomed the decision to outlaw them. "This could be a major leap forward in turning the tide on ocean plastic pollution and an important first step in protecting marine life such as sea turtles and whales,
Chhattisgarh CM lauds tribal community, hails their contribution
On the occasion of 'World Tribal Day', Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Thursday praised the tribal community and acknowledged their contribution in the development of the state.While addressing a gathering, Singh said, "The World Tribal Day is such an event where we feel proud of our ancestors and culture. If today our nature and forest is preserved then it is only because of the tribal people's contribution. We also remember those leaders who fought with British and Mughals to save nature."Highlighting development in the state, the Chief Minister said that many children belonging to the tribal community have started going to school."Since the past few years, the tribals have moved towards growth and development. Even children are now going to school. Sanitation has also become one of their priorities to look into. We have many schools and job opportunities in areas like Bastar, Dantewada, Kanker and few others," Singh noted.The Chief Minister further said that after road ..
Mexico to build seaweed barriers to protect beaches
A Mexican environmental agency has said that is constructing barriers at sea just beyond its famed Riviera Maya beaches to decrease the huge amounts of seaweed washing up onshore. Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, environment chief for Quintana Roo state, said yesterday he hopes to have the anti-sargassum structures in place by next week. His agency said in a statement that the barriers don't pose any risk to marine fauna and commercial boats. Since June 19, dump trucks have hauled off more than 4 million cubic feet of sargassum from Quintana Roo's beaches, including at the resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Similar waves of floating seaweed have coated beaches throughout the Caribbean.
Weekend in 10 European cities like smoking 1 to 4 cigarettes per day: Study
Spending a weekend in Europe's 10 most popular cities during summer could have the same health impact as smoking one to four cigarettes per day, according to a study. Emissions from cars are the main source of particulate matter in the 10 cities during summer months. Car makers consistently violate fuel efficiency laws by manufacturing vehicles that generate more pollution than the permitted levels, the study said. "Industry claims modern diesels are clean, but checks reveal this is false, with most emitting up to 18 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide pollution," according to the study by Transport & Environment (T&E), a European umbrella for NGO working in the field of transport and the environment, promoting sustainable transport in Europe. "City breaks are supposed to be refreshing. But tourists are being warned that spending a long weekend in Europe's 10 most popular but polluted cities could have the same health impacts as smoking between one and four cigarettes," ...
FIR registered against defaulting rice millers in Haryana
Haryana Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Karan Dev Kamboj today said an FIR has been registered against 94 defaulting rice millers for not delivering rice for the period between 2013 and 2017. The minister said besides taking action against rice millers for not delivering the Custom Milled Rice (CMR), actions are also being taken against the concerned inspector and sub-inspector, assistant food and supplies officer. The minister in a release here said that the delivery of 47,352 tonnes of rice of Kharif crops of rice millers were pending to Food Corporation of India in 2013-14. This pendency of CMR is continuously been decreasing due to the efforts of the present government and now the pending delivery has reduced to 1,736 tonnes in 2016-17. He said the present state government has launched special campaign for recovery from rice millers, resultantly, in the last two years about 99 per cent CMR has been recovered. He said the state government has recovered about Rs ..
Mass projects to reduce pollution caused by cremation: Minister
Union Minister of State for Water Resources Satya Pal Singh on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that a large number of projects have been taken up to combat pollution raised by cremation of bodies on ghats of river Ganga.
Odisha to reward people on returning plastic bottles
The Odisha government on Thursday said it would reward people on returning used bottles and OMFED polythene containers from October this year.
Village-wise farmers' list to avoid errors in govt reports:
The Maharashtra government has decided to publish a village-wise list of farmers who have opted for crop insurance as well as the crop-wise area under cultivation in order to avoid errors in reports, a senior state Agriculture department official said today. The move comes after the state government was left red-faced when the Centre pointed out that, in the former's report submitted to the NDRF, the area of cotton crops affected by pink bollworms in 12 districts was shown as more than the total area of cotton cultivation in these districts. "Every village-level governing body will have a detailed list of farmers, cultivated crop and amount of insurance. It will help the state administration to ascertain if the correct details regarding total area under cultivation and crops have been entered in the government database," the official said. "It was a major embarrassment when figures for 12 districts in the state showed that the area of cotton cultivation attacked by pink
Rains: TN offers to help Kerala, announces Rs 5 Cr
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today announced a contribution of Rs 5 crore to rain ravaged Kerala as a mark of support to the neighbouring state. Heavy rains in Kerala led to a series of landslips in the hilly Idukki district and northern parts, killing 26 people since last night. Referring to the situation, Palaniswami conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. The chief minister said he has ordered "immediate contribution of Rs 5 crore," from the chief ministers public relief fund. This was a token of support and solidarity of Tamil Nadu people and their government with Kerala and its people in the neighbouring state's hour of need, he said. Kerala was faced with the arduous task of ensuring immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures,he said. "The government of Tamil Nadu stands ready to render any other assistance as may be required by the government of Kerala," Palaniswami added.
Two employees of Haryana health dept suspended
Haryana Health minister Anil Vij today suspended two officials of the Health department for providing wrong information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The action was taken against Superintendent Rohtas and Assistant Pankaj, the minister said, adding that the matter would be investigated by a senior IAS officer, who would submit a report within a month. Replying to a Gurugram resident's query filed under the RTI Act, the officials had wrongly stated that no new hospital building was constructed in Haryana after 2014, which Vij said was an attempt by the accused to malign the department. In an official release, the minister said the present state government had not only completed buildings of hospitals approved by the previous dispensation, but also built new ones. Vij said 86 buildings approved during the tenure of the previous Congress government were completed by the present state government after 2014 and a sum of Rs 282.21 crore was spent on them. Similarly, the present .
Officials asked to take up action plan for village development
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today asked Panchayati Raj department officials to take up an action plan for comprehensive development of villages. The chief minister said in the coming three months an action plan has to be evolved for comprehensive development of villages and during the first month, activity on cleaning villages has to be taken up, a release from the CM's office said. The cleanliness campaign should commence from August 15 and conclude in a month, Rao said. Making full utilization of NREGA funds for various works, weeding out unnecessary plants, removal of debris, filling water-logging pits and motivating villagers for 'Sramadan' (voluntary work) are some of the activities suggested by Rao to the officials for taking up in the villages, it added.
Hydropower plants in Himachal shut; shortage in north India
Heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh led to an abnormal rise in the level of the silt content in the Satluj river, forcing the authorities to keep the operation of three mega hydropower plants shut on the third day, officials said on Thursday.
Tihar Central Jail to get improved jammers
Delhi Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said the jammers in the Tihar Central Jail in Janakpuri will be improved so that people living in nearby areas will not suffer because of it.
Niti Aayog to host investors' conference for eco-tourism in Andamans, Lakshadweep
NITI Aayog will tomorrow host an investors' conference to attract investments for the development of eco-tourism on public private partnership (PPP) basis in Andaman & Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands, an official statement said. The statement further said that 11 anchor tourism projects are proposed to be implemented with private sector participation under suitable risk-sharing model and through open-competitive bidding. "The said anchor tourism projects have been identified on government-owned land in Smith, Aves, Long, Neil & Little Andaman Islands of Andaman & Nicobar, and in Kadmat, Suheli and Minicoy islands of Lakshadweep," it said. According to statement, out of these 11 projects, seven (four in Andaman & Nicobar and three in Lakshadweep) are in 'ready-to-launch' stage. Detailed land survey and demarcation of project sites, carrying capacity assessment of the project islands, coastal regulation zone (CRZ) application and pre-feasibility study have been ...
