Page 562 - Environment
Malaysia aviation chief resigns over MH370 report
The chief of Malaysia's civil aviation regulation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahmanon, stepped down on Tuesday after an official report found lapses in air traffic control when Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared.However, the report, prepared by the 19-member international team, said that it is impossible to provide any firm conclusion about the occurrence of the incident until the lost plane's wreckage and black boxes are recovered, Fox News reported.In a long-awaited report released on Monday, the probe team pointed out scores of lapses by air traffic controllers in both Vietnam and Malaysia.The report also added that there is a paucity of information to determine if the plane broke up in the air, or due to the impact of the ocean.The Boeing 777, which was ferrying as many as 239 passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, suddenly disappeared on March 8, 2014, and is presumed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.The team, in its report, mentioned that it is onerous for the ...
Duty on solar cell imports may not lead to big capacity
The government's move to impose safeguard duty on solar cell imports for two years may not lead to a significant increase in the solar cell/module manufacturing capacity in the near term, according to Icra. However, it may result in an increase in the capital cost for a solar power project by 15 per cent, which in turn would result in an increase in tariff by about 30-35 paise per unit to maintain a similar level of returns for project developers, the rating agency said today. On recommendations by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, the finance ministry on Monday imposed 25 per cent safeguard duty on solar cells (assembled into modules or not) imported from China and Malaysia. The duty will be applicable for a period of one year from July 30, 2018, followed by a reduction to 20 per cent in the first six months of the second year and further to 15 per cent in the latter half of the second year. The notification also states that the duty would be lowered to the ...
Bacteria too can become extinct, says study
Bacteria do become extinct at substantial rates, finds a new study, contradicting widely held scientific thinking that the microbes rarely die because of their very large population.
Kumaraswamy accuses media for separate statehood protests
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday warned that media would be held responsible if anything went wrong in the north Karnataka statehood protests in future."You, the media, are adding fuel to fire for no reason. People of north Karnataka are with the government. If anything happens, you (media) will be responsible," Kumaraswamy told media here.Kumaraswamy's statement comes days after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA B Sriramulu, during the budget discussion, threatened to not only lead the agitation but intensify it if the government continued to neglect the region.Expressing his annoyance with the media for dubbing him a chief minister of four districts, Kumaraswamy asserted that if he has given only a small amount of over 500 crore to the four districts out of a huge state budget of more than Rs 2 lakh crore then how could he be ridiculed. He said, "You (media) keep referring to me as Chief Minister of only four districts. Out of a budget of Rs. 2, 18,000 crore, I ...
Yamuna river crosses danger mark: 2 trains cancelled, 17 diverted
The Indian Railways on Tuesday announced that the rail traffic over old Yamuna Bridge 'Loha Pul' has been temporarily suspended as the water level reached around 204.83-meter mark.Due to the closure of the Yamuna Bridge, at least two passenger trains have been cancelled while 19 trains have been terminated. Meanwhile, 17 trains have been diverted after water level crossed the danger mark.Reflecting on the same, East Delhi District Magistrate, K Mahesh told ANI, "At 9 am, the water level of Yamuna river was 206.03 m, much above the danger mark of 204.83 m. Discharge of water from Hathini Kund Barrage was 24,992 cusecs today, it was about 5 lakh cusecs on 28 July. Hopefully, the water level will dip if rainfall doesn't take place."Due to less availability of shelter homes, families residing near old Yamuna Bridge in the national capital are allegedly forced to stay on roads as they were evacuated from their homes after the water level of the river crossed the danger mark.
Humans outlived other species by adapting to 'extreme' climate
The unique ability of homo sapiens to adapt to 'extreme' environments around the world - where other species such as the Neanderthals perished - may have helped us become the last surviving hominins on the planet, a study has found. Scientists from Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany and the University of Michigan in the US reviewed datasets relating to the Middle and Late Pleistocene (300-12 thousand years ago). The study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, shows unique environmental settings and adaptations for Homo sapiens relative to previous and coexisting hominins such as Homo neanderthalensis and Homo erectus. "Our species' ability to occupy diverse and 'extreme' settings around the world stands in stark contrast to the ecological adaptations of other hominin taxa, and may explain how our species became the last surviving hominin on the planet," researchers said. Researchers suggest that investigations into what it means to be human ...
Japan pledges to reduce plutonium, but doesn't say how
Japan's nuclear policy-setting panel today approved revised guidelines on plutonium use, putting a cap on its stockpile and pledging to eventually reduce it to address international concerns, but without giving a specific timeline or targets. The Japan Atomic Energy Commission's guidelines call for some government oversight to carefully regulate operation of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in northern Japan when it starts up in three years so the amount of extracted plutonium doesn't spike. Despite security concerns raised by Washington and others, the stockpile isn't decreasing due to difficulties in achieving a full nuclear fuel recycling program and slow restarts of reactors amid setbacks from the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The guidelines, updated for the first time in 15 years, also urge Japanese utility operators to steadily consume plutonium reprocessed overseas, but does not elaborate on how that works out with additional plutonium from Rokkasho. The guidelines say Japan's ...
Uproar in Goa Assembly over plastic eggs
The Goa Legislative Assembly on Tuesday witnessed an uproar after Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo alleged that eggs made of plastic were being sold in Goa and demanded a probe into their sale.
Split concerns force Durex to recall some condoms in UK and Ireland
LONDON (Reuters) - Durex, owned by Reckitt Benckiser, has recalled some batches of its "Real Feel" and "Latex Free" condoms in the United Kingdom and Ireland due to concerns they may burst.
Rail traffic over Old Yamuna Bridge temporarily suspended
Rail traffic over Old Yamuna Bridge was temporarily suspended today as the water level in the Yamuna river continued to rise, northern railways said. Two passenger trains were cancelled while 19 trains short terminated and 17 diverted, it said. The river was flowing at 206.04 metres this noon with the danger mark being 204.83 metres, officials said, adding the water level is expected to rise further. Road traffic on Old Yamuna Bridge remains affected as it was closed after the water level in the river rose on Sunday, the traffic police said. Old Yamuna Bridge, colloquially known as 'Lohe Ka Pul', is a road-cum-rail bridge on the Delhi-Howrah line that was built over 150 years ago. It serves as a major connectivity link between Delhi and the neighbouring states. The highest water level recorded at Old Yamuna Bridge was 207.49 metres in 1978. It was 207.11 metres in 2010 and 207.32 metres in 2013, according to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.
Yamuna at its 'healthiest' state this yr due to rise in flood water inflow: Experts
The Yamuna river is at its "healthiest" state for the first time this year as its water quality has drastically improved due to the rise in inflow of flood water, experts have said. The improvement is largely due to the increased oxygen content of flood water which washes away pollutants in the river, they said. Yesterday, the water level in Yamuna surpassed the danger mark of 204.83 metres, forcing evacuation of around 10,000 people from the low-lying areas, after around 5,13,554 cusecs was released by the Hathini Kund barrage. One of the most important rivers in the country, Yamuna passes through Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. It merges with the Ganga at Allahabad. Yamuna has also earned the unpleasant distinction of being one of the most polluted rivers in the country. But the quality of water in Yamuna has improved in the last two days due to increased flow, experts said. Manoj Mishra, convener of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, termed the improvement as a "temporary ...
Mars terraforming not possible with current technologies
Terraforming or creating a habitable environment on Mars, that would allow humans to explore it without life support, is still a far-fetched dream, say scientists who found that existing technologies are incapable of forming an Earth-like atmosphere on the red planet. Science fiction writers have long featured terraforming, the process of creating an Earth-like or habitable environment on another planet, in their stories. Scientists themselves have proposed terraforming to enable the long-term colonisation of Mars. A solution common to both groups is to release carbon dioxide gas trapped in the Martian surface to thicken the atmosphere and act as a blanket to warm the planet. However, according to scientists from University of Colorado, Boulder in the US, Mars does not retain enough carbon dioxide that could practically be put back into the atmosphere to warm the planet. Transforming the inhospitable Martian environment into a place astronauts could explore without life support is not
World's largest king penguin colony has shrunk by nearly 90 per cent
The world's biggest colony of king penguins has reduced by a staggering 88 per cent over the past 35 years, according to scientists who said that the reason for collapse remains a mystery. Known since the 1960s, the colony of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on Ile aux Cochons, an island in the southern Indian Ocean, had the distinction of being the world's biggest colony of king penguins and second biggest colony of all penguins. However, due to its isolation and inaccessibility, no new estimates of its size were made over the past decades. Researchers from French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and French Polar Institute (IPEV)used high-resolution satellite images to measure changes in the size of the colony since the island was last visited by a crew of scientists (1982). At the time, the colony included 500,000 breeding pairs and consisted of over two million penguins. The numbers have now reduced to about 60,000 pairs, according to the study published in the
China launches high-resolution Earth observation satellite to monitor BRI
China today successfully launched an optical remote sensing satellite, as part of its high-resolution Earth observation project which will also provide data for the Belt and Road Initiative, official media reported. The Gaofen-11 satellite was launched on a Long March 4B rocket at 11 am (local time) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. It was the 282nd flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket. The satellite can be used for land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief. Its data will also be used for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the report said. China had unveiled the BRI in 2013 with an aim to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. China launched the Gaofen project in 2010.
Can bacteria species go extinct? Yes, they do!
Turns out, bacteria go extinct at substantial rates, but they appear to avoid the mass extinctions that have hit larger forms of life on Earth.A new research from the University of British Columbia used massive DNA sequencing and big data analysis to create the first evolutionary tree encompassing a large fraction of Earth's bacteria over the past billion years.The results contradict widely held scientific thinking that microbe taxa, because of their very large populations, rarely die off."Bacteria rarely fossilize, so we know very little about how the microbial landscape has evolved over time. Sequencing and math helped us fill in the bacterial family tree, map how they've diversified over time, and uncover their extinctions. While modern bacterial diversity is undoubtedly high, it's only a tiny snapshot of the diversity that evolution has generated over Earth's history," said Stilianos Louca, a researcher.Despite the frequent, steady extinction of individual species, the work shows .
Population of endangered blackbuck increases in Ganjam dist
Population of the endangered blackbuck in Odisha's Ganjam district has increased by 276 in the last three years, a Forest department official said today. The population of the rare species, locally called Krushnasara murga or bali harina, is 4,082 as against 3,806 in 2015. In 2011 the number of blackbucks in the district was 2,194, the official said. Ghumusur South forest division was found to have the highest blackbucks at 2,809 followed by Berhampur (1,049) and Ghumusur North (224), he said. Blackbucks, which were sighted in Balukhand-Konark wildlife sanctuary in Puri district till 2012-13, have vanished from that area. This time, not a single blackbuck was sighted there during the census, the official said. The census was conducted on February 28, 2018, with participation of forest staff, wildlife activists and experts from different organisations through direct sight method. The result of the census was officially made available recently. "As the population of the ...
Long road ahead to ending hunger, malnutrition (Column: Active Voice)
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) incorporate zero hunger as one of the 17 targets to be achieved by 2030 for a sustainable future. The criticality of this goal lies in the fact that removing hunger -- and malnutrition -- from the world is intertwined with the other goals such as ending poverty, providing universal quality education and promoting lifelong learning, sustainable economic growth and employment, good health and well-being.
More habitable planets in universe than thought: Study
There may be more habitable planets in the universe than previously thought, according to a study. Geoscientists at Pennsylvania State University in the US suggest that plate tectonics - long assumed to be a requirement for suitable conditions for life - are in fact not necessary. When searching for habitable planets or life on other planets, scientists look for biosignatures of atmospheric carbon dioxide. On Earth, atmospheric carbon dioxide increases surface heat through the greenhouse effect, according to the research published in the journal Astrobiology. "Volcanism releases gases into the atmosphere, and then through weathering, carbon dioxide is pulled from the atmosphere and sequestered into surface rocks and sediment," said Bradford Foley, an assistant professor of geosciences at Penn State. "Balancing those two processes keeps carbon dioxide at a certain level in the atmosphere, which is really important for whether the climate stays temperate and suitable for life," said ...
Rains lash Kerala, water rising in Idukki dam
Heavy rains lashed across nine of the 14 districts in Kerala on Tuesday as the Met office forecast that the downpour will continue till Wednesday.
US agency signs MoU with Indian company for 41 MW power project in Andhra
A US trade development agency today signed a memorandum of understanding with an Indian private company for the development of a 41-MW hybrid wind, solar, and energy storage power plant in Andhra Pradesh. The MoU was signed between US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and private sector firm IL&FS Energy Development Company Limited (IEDCL) on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, where US Cabinet secretaries and senior leaders from government and business discussed potential areas of collaboration in the Indo-Pacific. IEDCL has selected Black & Veatch, a Kansas-based engineering firm, to carry out the technical assistance for the project that will advance pre-implementation and pre-construction activities for the plant, which is expected to lead to a 1,040 MW installation, a media release said. This project is a follow-on to previous USTDA support that assessed the technical, financial and commercial viability of wind, solar,
