Page 572 - Environment
Haryana on alert as Yamuna in spate
After heavy rains in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the water level in Hathnikund barrage in Haryana's Yamunanagar district increased alarmingly on Thursday, forcing the authorities to sound an alert.
11-year-old girl catches piranha relative in Oklahoma lake
An 11-year-old girl has quite the fish tale: A rare pacu with human-like teeth chomped down on the worm at the end of her line while she was fishing with her grandparents and brother in an Oklahoma lake. But Kennedy Smith isn't exaggerating when she describes her catch. Caddo County Game Warden Tyler Howser confirms that the fish was a pacu, a relative of the piranha that is native to South America and can grow up to 22 kilograms. Kennedy's fish weighed about half a kilogram, according to Howser and Kennedy's grandmother Sandra Whaley. Kennedy says she initially was "really excited" to have caught a fish Sunday in Fort Cobb Lake, about 89 kilometres southwest of Oklahoma City. She was shocked when the fish bit her grandmother, as Whaley removed the hook from its mouth. "I was confused because I knew that fish with teeth are not normal. It was weird. They were human-like and that made it even weirder," Kennedy told The Associated Press today. Whaley said she suffered no ill-effects ...
Lifestyle in Bastar has undergone sea change: President
President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said in the last 10-15 years, a remarkable change has come about in the lifestyle of tribals of Bastar region following the government's efforts to bring about a socio-economic change in the area.
SC slams Power Ministry for extending deadline to modify thermal power plants
Taking a dim view of the Union Power Ministry shifting to 2022 the deadline for installing flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) in coal-fired thermal power plants, the Supreme Court on Wednesday told the ministry to be honest and say it will not do it or is incapable of doing it.
Bandh on Aug 2 in 13 dists of N.Karnataka demanding statehood
A day-long bandh has been called by some outfits in 13 districts of north Karnataka on August 2 demanding statehood for the region, alleging discrimination by successive governments towards it. The bandh has been called by the outfits coming under the banner of 'Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti. "Our separate state agitation will cover all the 13 districts of north Karnataka. By gathering the voice of various organisations, literary figures and intellectuals we will intensify this agitation," samiti president Somashekar Kotambari told reporters at Hubballi. The samiti has also claimed support from various organisations to their bandh call. The samiti leaders have also alleged discrimination in the allocation towards the region in the budget presented by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on July 5 and also lesser representation in the cabinet.
Odisha CM inaugurates Rs 300 crore irrigation dam project
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated the Rs 300 crore Rukura Medium Irrigation Dam project in Sundargarh district. "This project will irrigate 5,800 hectare of agricultural field. An estimated Rs 300 crore has been spent for construction of Rukura project," Patnaik said after inaugurating the project. Stating that irrigation is priority of his government, Patnaik said his promises to provide irrigation to additional 10 lakh hectare of land ahead of 2014 elections, will be fulfilled by 2019. Patnaik pointed out that while the budget for irrigation was only Rs 850 crore when he came to power in 2000, the amount has increased to Rs 10,200 crore in 2018. "We will spend Rs 75,000 crore on irrigation in next five years," the chief minister said. On the occasion, Patnaik announced that all poor people in mineral rich Koida, Guruntia and Lahunipada area will have pucca houses under Biju housing scheme.
Leopard strays into house, rescued after nine hours
A female leopard was rescued from a house in Gondia district after a nine-hour operation today, Forest officials said. The sub-adult big cat strayed into the house of Mansaram Kamble in Baradtoli village in the wee hours today in search of a prey, a senior Forest official said. He said the big cat has been killing domestic animals in Baradtoli, Singletoli and adjoining hamlets since the last three days. The Kambles had a miraculous escape as they rushed out of the house immediately after seeing the feline approaching, and locked the door from outside. After receiving information, teams of officials of forest and police departments reached the spot. They used smoke and burst crackers, but the leopard didn't budge. A special team finally succeeded in tranquilising the big cat after nine hours since it strayed into the house of the villager. The big cat was released in the forests in evening.
Scientists discover first-ever liquid water lake on Mars
In a tantalising find, a team of Italian researchers on Wednesday announced they have discovered a large saltwater lake under ice near the south pole on Red Planet - raising a possibility that life may be there on Mars in some form.
HC admits PIL over ban on coal handling at Goa port
The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court has issued notices to Mormugao Port Trust, South West Port Ltd (SWPL), Adani Mormugao Port Terminal, Vedanta and others following a public interest litigation filed by NGOs from the port town of Vasco seeking stoppage of coal handling facilities at the port.
EESL starts distribution of energy efficient items via post offices
Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) today said it has started distribution of energy efficient appliances through post offices of Punjab and Chandigarh. A pact was inked between the Department of Posts and EESL to enhance the penetration of EESL's energy efficient appliances in the region. The announcement was made during a commencement event conducted at GPO Chandigarh in the presence of Anil Kumar, Chief Postmaster General (Punjab & UT Chandigarh), P M Lal, Postmaster General, and Nitin Bhatt, Regional Manager (Punjab and Chandigarh), EESL, the company said in a release. All appliances, including LED bulbs, LED tube lights and energy efficient fans will now be easily available at post offices. The sale/ replacement of UJALA appliances will be made from all the 770 post offices in a phased manner. Initially, these appliances will be available in 150 post offices in the circle and will gradually extend to all post offices in Punjab and UT, it said. "With already so many ...
India's carbon-dioxide emissions will rise to 3.8-3.9 gigatonnes by 2030: Study
India's carbon-dioxide emission will rise to 3.8-3.9 gigatonnes by 2030 not 3.8-4.9 gigatonnes as was projected earlier, which is consistent with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) pledge made at the 2015 Paris summit, according to a study by an Indian think-tank. According to the study by the Centre for Policy Research, even if emissions reach to the said level by 2030, India's expected per capita emissions will be lower than today's global average. It said the country was also expect to make a faster shift from coal to renewable energy. India can expect a faster than predicted shift from coal to renewable energy, and lower than expected energy demand growth - both of which point to lower 2030 emissions, said Ankit Bhardwaj, one of the co-authors of the study. As a significant emitter of greenhouse gases, but also as a developing country starting from a low emissions base, India is an important actor in global climate change mitigation, the study said. India's modelling ...
EU top court rules new breeding techniques count as GMOs
The European Union's top court ruled today that food produced by a series of new biotechnology breeding techniques should be considered genetically modified organisms, thus falling under the EU's strict regulations of the products. The ruling, which will see the foods face special safety checks and labelling restrictions, was seen as a major victory for environmentalists at the expense of the biotech industry. Biotech companies have been working on a new generation of technologies to change genetic material in plants or animals, and it had long been debated whether they need to match the EU's rules limiting genetic modification, which are much stricter than in the United States. In today's ruling, the European Court of Justice said that the organisms created by the new breeding techniques "come, in principle, within the scope of the GMO Directive and are subject to the obligations laid down by that directive." The biotech industry says that the new techniques make it easier to create .
Hyderabad to be made global city, says Minister
Implementation of the Real Estate Regulation & Development Act, creation of a water grid, construction of a regional ring road and satellite townships are planned during 2018-19, Telangana Minister of Municipal Administration K T Rama Rao said today. "The government is committed to making Hyderabad a truly global city and necessary plans are underway. A comprehensive scheme to develop all urban local bodies is also being prepared," Rao said, while commenting on the annual report (2017-18) and actionplan (2018-19) of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department. The report was released today. Operation of metro rail, completion of outer ring road, replacement of traditional lights with LED streetlights, steady progress of all ongoing drinking water projects, setting up of open gym equipment and infrastructure, especially roads, were the achievements of 2017-18, he said. Telangana would soon have more than 50 per cent of its population in .
Two mega hydropower plants in Himachal shut
The country's two mega hydropower plants in Himachal Pradesh were temporarily shut down on Wednesday, owing to a rise in the level of the silt content in the Satluj river, disrupting power supply to the northern states, including New Delhi.
WB proposes to build crematoria for animals to prevent disposal of dead bodies in Ganga
The West Bengal government proposed today to build crematoria for animals to prevent disposal of dead bodies in Ganga and other water bodies, said a statement by the Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry. The proposal came up during the review of projects under Namami Gange programme in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal by Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari. The minister instructed contractors to speed up the work and complete projects by December 2018. He also urged the officials of the central and state governments to resolve all issues that are obstructing the work in any way. Gadkari said that he, along with his deputy in the ministry Satya Pal Singh, will inspect the sites during the coming months and monitor the progress of the projects. The minister also reviewed the progress of 20 projects under Patna Riverfront Development which is nearing completion. So far, 16 ghats, 4.8 km promenade and 1 building for audio visual programmes have already
EU warns carmakers manipulating new emissions tests
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Carmakers are cheating new EU pollution checks, EU regulators warned in a study seen by Reuters, inflating emissions on benchmark tests to set themselves lower targets on new rules aimed to prevent a repeat of the Dieselgate scandal.
'Agra should be declared a heritage city for tourists'
Even as the UP government and Agra district officials struggle to stitch together a "patch work quilt" called a Vision Document for the eco-sensitive Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), to submit before the Supreme Court on Thursday, after a stern warning by the justices "demolish or restore" Taj Mahal, environmentalists and social activists in Agra on Wednesday released an alternative Peoples Vision Document for Agra and Mathura.
Par panel slams govt for regional disparity in sanctioning cold chain projects
A Parliamentary panel today pulled up the government for regional imbalance in sanctioning of cold chain projects as most of them are located in states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab. The panel also suggested the government to enhance subsidy for entrepreneurs for setting up of cold chain infrastructure in rural areas. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture made the above observation in a report that reviewed actions taken by the government on recommendations made by the committee in 2016-17 with regard to a scheme on integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure. In its report placed before Parliament today, the committee chairperson Hukmdev Narayan Yadav said, "There is regional imbalance in sanctioning of cold chain projects..." Major chunks of projects are in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttarakhand, while states such as Bihar, Odisha, Telangana,Chattisgarh have been "neglected". "The committee feels that this ...
New deadline for thermal plants: SC asks if health of people 'irrelevant'; slams Centre, Power Ministry
The Supreme Court today slammed the Centre and the Ministry of Power for extending till 2022 the deadline for thermal power plants across the country to adhere to emission norms and asked whether the health of people was "irrelevant" to the government. A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta termed the situation "hopeless" and said authorities have no will to implement the emission norms due to which citizens were facing the severe ill-effects of air pollution. Referring to a Ministry of Power affidavit, the bench said it was quite clear that the ministry had no intention to reduce the pollution caused by thermal power plants and even the deadline of 2022 would not be met. "What about the health of people? Is it irrelevant?" the bench asked the counsel appearing for the Ministry of Power and added "there is no will". The bench asked Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), to ...
Kochi Metro:Govt approves renewed report on phase II extension
The Kerala Government today approved the renewed project report regarding the second phase extension of the Kochi Metro rail project. The report regarding the extension from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to the IT hub Infopark via Kakkanad, was approved by a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here, an official release said. The total budget for the second phase is expected to be Rs 2310 crore, it said. The first phase of the Kochi Metro between Aluva to Palarivattom, covering 13.26 km, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 17, 2017. The foundation for this stretch was laid in 2012 by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Vijayan had later launched the second stretch of the first phase from Palarivattom to Maharaja's College ground in the heart of the city. With this, the Kochi Metro now covers 18 km from Aluva to Maharaja's College station.
