Page 563 - Environment

Hot sea water forces Swedish nuclear power plant to shut

Unusually high sea water temperature has forced Swedish nuclear power plant to close, authorities said on Monday.

Rs 411 cr allocated for protected monuments in 2018-19

An amount of Rs 41,127.86 lakh (Rs 411.27 crore) was allocated for conservation of 3,687 protected monuments during 2018-19 under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), parliament was told on Monday.

4 people admitted for pesticide poisoning in Maha's Yavatmal

Four people are currently undergoing treatment for pesticide poisoning at the Government Medical College in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, said a senior medical officer today. Dr Manish Shrigiriwar, dean of the hospital, said that 11 people had been admitted for pesticide poisoning since July 1, of which seven had been discharged following treatment. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home, Hansraj Ahir, who was in the district today, has instructed the agriculture department to ensure that farmers do not undertake spraying of pesticides without the stipulated safety gear including masks. "We will provide free kits soon to farmers. The agriculture assistants of the department have been asked to keep a watch on the spraying of pesticides," Ahir, a Lok Sabha MP from nearby Chandrapur, said. A local farmer leader and district chief Shetkari Warkari Sanghatana Sikander Shah demanded that the agriculture department provide kits and organise tehsil level training camps .

Office-goers face traffic woes due to closure of Old Yamuna bridge

The first day of the week began on a tough note for commuters who faced traffic woes, a day after the traffic movement on the Old Yamuna bridge here was closed due to water level in the river rising over the damger mark due to rains, a senior officer of the Delhi Traffic Police said. The Delhi Traffic Police has diverted traffic to Geeta Colony flyover and ITO flyover. "As the water level of the Yamuna river has breached the danger mark, District Magistrate (Shahdara) had issued orders for the closure of Old Yamuna Bridge. Accordingly, we have diverted the traffic towards Geeta colony flyover and ITO," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Alok Kumar. Commuters are advised to plan their journey keeping in mind the extra time they would require to reach their destination, he said. The Old Yamuna bridge connects the east and the north and northwest parts of the national capital. Commuters faced long delays as they were stuck in jams on the Geeta Colony flyover this morning during .

Water level continues to rise in Yamuna, 10,000 people evacuated

The water level in the Yamuna river continued to rise and stayed over the danger mark for the third consecutive day today, prompting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to direct officials to make arrangements for the affected people, even as around 10,000 people have been evacuated to safer places. The river was flowing at 205.78 metres this evening with the danger mark being 204.83 metres, officials said. Even as the officials said the peak water level is expected to reach 206.50 metres, a political blame game started over lack of proper rehabilitation of people who were left on streets after water entered their houses. Around 10,000 people have been evacuated due to rising water levels and shifted to tents set up at safer places, a government official said. A total of 1,149 tents have been set up to accommodate the evacuated people. So far, 8,635 people are living in these tents. Food and medical help is also being extended to them, he said. After the chief minister's order, ...

Guj records 37% rise in tree cover due to Van Mahotsav: Dy CM

Gujarat has registered a 37 per cent rise in tree cover after Van Mahotsav or forest festival, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said today. "The total number of trees in Gujarat is risen to 34 crore 35 lakh from 25 crore in 2004," he said while inaugurating the 69th Van Mahotsav here. The state government has decided to run a special drive for afforestation to increase the green cover in the state, he said.

Govt imposes safeguard duty on solar cells import for two years

India today imposed safeguard duty on solar cells imports from China and Malaysia for two years to protect domestic players from steep rise in the inbound shipments of the product. This comes following recommendations by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the commerce ministry. As per the notification of the finance ministry, 25 per cent safeguard duty have been imposed for July 30 to July 29, 2019, which will gradually come down to 20 per cent during July 30, 2019 to January 29, 2020 and 15 per cent during January 30, 2020 to July 29, 2020. "After considering the said findings of the DGTR...hereby imposes on subject goods (solar cells whether or not assembled in modules or panels)...when imported into India, a safeguard duty," the notification said. DGTR in its investigations has concluded that the increased imports of solar cells in India have caused "serious injury" and "threaten to cause serious injury" to the domestic producers. "It will be in the public ...

Andhra mulls use of drones to spray pesticides

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday asked officials to use drones to spray pesticides to protect the standing crops.

India imposes 25 percent safeguard duty on solar cell imports

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India has imposed a 25 percent safeguard duty on solar cell imports for a year to July 29, 2019, a government order published on Monday said, as the country tries to protect the domestic solar industry.

Rs 12.68 crore allotted for Taj preservation

An amount of Rs 12.68 crore was set aside for conservation, preservation and environmental development works at the Taj Mahal in the last three years, Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Yamuna level continues to rise, Kejriwal directs Gahlot to make arrangements for affected people

The water level in the Yamuna river continued to rise and stayed over the danger mark for the third consecutive day today with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directing the Revenue minister to make proper arrangements for affected people. The river was flowing at 205.78 metres this evening with the danger mark being 204.83 metres, officials said. Even as officials said the peak water level is expected to reach 206.50 metres, a political blame game started over lack of proper rehabilitation of people who were left on streets after water entered their houses. Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot visited the affected areas and directed officials to ensure all proper arrangements were made. Traffic movement on Old Yamuna Bridge in Delhi was closed yesterday after the water level in the river rose due to rains. Last evening, the river was flowing at 205.5 metres. Commuters faced traffic woes today with the Delhi police diverting traffic to Geeta Colony flyover and ITO flyover. Passengers ..

As production dips, Goa to introduce hybrid coconut seedlings

The Goa government is planning to procure hybrid coconut seedlings for farmers to help them tide over the decline in coconut production in the state, the Legislative Assembly was told today. "The Agriculture department is planning to bring hybrid coconut seedlings from other states in coordination with the Coconut Development Board (CDB), since the seedlings from private nurseries are sold at relatively higher rates," Agriculture minister Vijai Sardesai stated in a written reply in the House. He was responding to a query raised by the Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar (Congress). Sardesai said the hybrid seedlings procured through the CDB will be sold to farmers at rates lower than the prevailing prices. "The state government is aware of the fact that the production of coconuts is on decline to some extent due to lack of care (and) as a result of low wholesale rates prevailing during the past few years (except for the period of September, 2017 to March, 2018), ..

China, Britain hold dialogue, agree to maintain multilaterism

As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Britain should strongly uphold multilateralism, as well as the free trade regime and WTO rules, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.

Joint Secretary, Environment, Agra Commissioner responsible for TTZ, SC told

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the Joint Secretary of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Commissioner of the Agra Division are responsible for maintenance of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

Clear hurdles to start development work in 179 unauthorised colonies: CM to officials

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today directed officials of different departments to clear hurdles and ensure construction of drains and roads starts in 179 unauthorised colonies having patches of forest land. In 2015, a blanket ban was imposed by the forest department on any development work in these colonies having patches of forest land, a government official said. The chief minister issued instructions to revenue and forest department officials to identify the particular Khasra containing forest land in the 179 unauthorised colonies and start construction works of drains and roads there in next two to three weeks, he said. Khasra is a revenue document having land plot details. The forest department has informed that mapping of 40 per cent of such unauthorised colonies has been completed. Earlier this month, the Delhi government sanctioned over Rs 1000 crore for starting development works in unauthorised colonies in the city. There are around 1,700 such colonies concentrated ..

Quality of bathing water of Ganga in Varanasi within acceptable limits in last 4 yrs: Govt

The quality of bathing water in the Ganga in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was found to be within the acceptable limits in the last four years, Satya Pal Singh, Union Minister of State for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation said in Parliament today. The other parameters at the monitoring sites at Varanasi like Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and faecal coliforms had also not deteriorated since 2014, he added. "Comparison of observed water quality of last four years at Varanasi (2014-2017) with bathing water quality criteria indicates that dissolved oxygen, which is an indicator of river health has been found to be within acceptable limits of notified primary bathing water quality criteria and satisfactory to support the ecosystem of river across all season and also for almost entire stretch of river Ganga," Singh said in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. He added that under the Namami Gange programme, the Central Pollution Control ..

Develop Shamirpet lake into major tourism destination: CM

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today directed tourism department officials to develop Shamirpet lake adjoining the Hyderabad-Karimnagar road into a major tourism destination. Efforts would be made to keep the lake full with water throughout the year, a release from Rao's office quoted him as saying. Rao, who held a meeting with officials, asked them to prepare an action plan to develop the lake and its surroundings as a tourist attraction, it said. "Since the Shamirpet lake is very close to Hyderabad, there will be heavy flow of tourists. Hence good cottages for the stay of tourists, play area and flowering trees all along the lake and canals are to be arranged," Rao said.

U'khand govt asks departments to prepare projects to attract investors

Ahead of an Investors Summit in October, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh today asked all departments to prepare projects aimed at attracting investments. Singh instructed the officials at a preparatory meeting in view of the forthcoming summit, an official release said. There is potential for investments in the fields of IT, bio-technology, skill development, electronics, food park, warehousing, film making, medical health, fish farming, organic farming and production, wellness tourism, yoga, herbs and aromatic plants, the meeting was told. A total of 50 projects worth Rs 20,000 crore have already been prepared in view of the summit, the release said. The state government will be holding roads shows in different cities to showcase the availability of resources in the state. The investor friendly environment of the state will also be publicised abroad through round table conferences in different countries, the release said.

Authorities should show greater concern on Taj than UNESCO:SC

The Supreme Court today said authorities in India should show a "far greater concern" over the situation of Taj Mahal than shown by the UNESCO on the historic monument. The apex court also asked why "from 2013 till 2018, nothing was done?." It had earlier expressed concern over the change of colour of the monument which it said was now turning brownish and greenish after becoming yellowish. The remarks relating to the UNESCO by the bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta came after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said it have given a plan on Taj Mahal to the UN body in 2013. The top court was also informed by Attorney General K K Venugopal that the joint secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the commissioner of Agra Division would be the officers responsible for the maintenance of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ). The bench was apprised that director general of the ASI would be responsible for the maintenance of Taj Mahal. TTZ is an area

NLC India to increase power generation capacity: CMD

: Chairman and managing director of State-owned NLC India Ltd Sarat Kumar Acharya today said it would increase power generation capacity to 3,000 MW. Addressing shareholders at the 62nd annual general meeting in Neyveli, he said, "The company has taken up power generation capacity building plans till 2025 through various projects, including the thermal power station-II, expansion of 1,320 MW in phase-I and 1,320 MW in phase-II." NLC would also take up thermal power projects of 4,000 MW capacity, solar and wind-based power generation projects in Odisha, he said. All these projects would increase the power generating capacity to 18,031 MW, including the Barsingsar Thermal Power Station Extension of 250 MW and Bithnok Thermal Power Station 250 MW (Rajasthan) by end-2025", he said. Listing out the other projects taken up, he said NLC India currently operates four lignite mines, three in Neyveli and one in Rajasthan with a total installed capacity of 30.60 mtpa (metric tonne .