Page 576 - Environment
India's thermal coal imports rise over 14 percent in second quarter - trader
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's thermal coal imports rose by more than 14 percent in the second quarter of 2018 from a year earlier, putting the energy-hungry nation on track for a rise in annual imports after two straight years of decline.
Record 207 environmental activists killed last year
More than 200 environmental activists were murdered last year as government-sponsored killings linked to lucrative projects by vast agriculture multinationals soared, a global rights watchdog warned today. Global Witness said it had documented 207 cases where activists were killed while trying to protect land from development, often for the production of consumer staples such as coffee and palm oil, making 2017 the deadliest year on record for environmentalists. "As global demand for these products increases, there's a scramble by business actors to get the massive amount of land they need to grow these products," Ben Leather, senior campaigner at Global Witness, told AFP. "When people dare to stand up for their rights and demand that the environment be protected they are silenced in the most brutal way." The watchdog said it had found evidence that government actors -- soldiers or police -- were responsible for 53 of the deaths. "That's only the triggermen so we can guess that in the
Goa CM dispels doubts over Centre's new coastline regulation
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that concerns raised by state legislators over the Environment Ministry's draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2018 are unwarranted. Even if it is finalised, the draft CRZ notification cannot be implemented without consulting the public, Parrikar said in the state Assembly yesterday. The environment ministry recently framed new rules governing the country's coastline in which it has proposed expanding the land area for development activities and tourism infrastructure. The norms also simplify the procedure for CRZ clearances. The state government had last month given its nod to the new guidelines. The Goa Assembly members, including Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo, had earlier expressed fears that the new rules could allow uncontrolled commercial activities along the shoreline, thereby severely impacting the environment. Several NGOs had also opposed it for reducing the CRZ area, measured from High Tide Line (HTL), ...
Karnataka takes lead in renewable energy, says IEEFA
Karnataka is the new national leader in renewable energy generation, US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Tuesday.
Goa to move Mahadayi tribunal against K'taka over water row
The Goa government has decided to move the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal against Karnataka's alleged act of diverting the Mahadayi river water to its Malaprabha basin, a minister said today. A team of officials from Goa yesterday visited Karnataka's Kanakumbi village, located in the Malaprabha basin adjoining the state's border, and confirmed that the Mahadayi river water was being diverted, Goa's water resources minister Vinod Palyekar said. The team found that Karnataka has constructed a five- km-long tunnel to divert the water to the Malaprabha basin, he claimed. The Goa government would send its team to New Delhi to file an application before the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal tomorrow against the illegal diversion of water, he said. "The tribunal is expected to deliver its verdict next month in the dispute over sharing of Mahadayi river water. Without waiting for results, Karnataka has made this move which amounts to contempt of the tribunal," Palyekar ...
More than 20 dead in fires near Athens: Govt
More than 20 people have died in fires that tore through an area close to Athens today, a Greek government spokesman said. The majority of victims were found in their homes or cars in the seaside resort of Mati, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the capital, said Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, adding more than 104 were injured, including 11 seriously. There were 16 children among the injured, he said.
Countdown begins to longest-ever lunar eclipse
Friday will turn into a day to remember, as the world will witness the longest lunar eclipse to date, which will last for an hour and forty-five minutes.According to CNN, the moon will be in perfect alignment with the sun and Earth, with the moon in the middle of the Earth and the sun.Coupled with this, star-gazers across the world will also get a chance to witness a deep red Blood Moon, a situation that occurs when the moon is perfectly eclipsed and appears reddish due to the sunlight."The Moon is not always in perfect alignment with the Sun and the Earth, so that is why we do not get a lunar eclipse every lunar cycle. You will see the sunrise and sunset of the Earth lighting up the surface of the Moon -- over 350,000 km away. If you were on the Moon, you would see a total solar eclipse as the Earth would be blocking the Sun," CNN quoted Brad Tucker, an astronomer with the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, as sayingThe eclipse will be ...
Froth from Bellandur lake reaches Kolar
Toxic foam from Bengaluru's infamous Bellandur Lake has now reached Kolar's Lakshmi Sagara Lake.This came after water from sewage treatment plants in Bellandur was released to 126 irrigation tanks in Kolar as part of the Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley project.Bellandur Lake has become a symbol of the garden city's struggle with waste management, as it spills toxic foam.In January, residents living on the Yemlur side of Bellandur Lake spotted smoke in the water body that is known to be full of sewage, chemical effluents, and construction debris.Shortly thereafter, flames were seen rising from the lake.As per the Karnataka Lake Development Authority, the Bellandur Lake is the largest of the 262 lakes and tanks in Bengaluru and accumulates about 40 per cent of the city's sewage.Last year, the sorry state of the lake forced the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to take the matter into cognizance.The NGT had directed an immediate and complete shutdown of 76 polluting industries around the ...
Delhi govt to encourage people to adopt rooftop solar projects
The Delhi government is in the process of chalking out a comprehensive roadmap to encourage adoption of rooftop solar projects, which is a part of its vision to generate more than 2,000 MW of solar energy in the national capital by 2025. A key component in this vision is the adoption of rooftop solar by the residential or domestic sector. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Management Centre (EE&REM), the Department of Power and the Delhi government organised a consultation workshop with various stakeholders today. Addressing the workshop, Power Minister Satyender Jain said, It is the endeavour of the Delhi government to promote the use of renewable energy by all sectors. The residential sector is a key component in an urban setup like Delhi, and we are exploring ways and means to make it easy for this sector to adopt rooftop solar. "The government's aim is to generate 1,000 MW by 2020 and 2,000 MW by 2025 through rooftop solar installations," he said.
PIL seeks quashing of environmental clearance to Sterlite unit
The Madras High Court today issued notice to the Environment and Forest ministry and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, among others, on a plea seeking quashing of the environmental clearance given to Vedanta Limited for its copper smelter unit in Tuticorin district. The petitioner named Prince Cardoza alleged that the unit violated environmental clearance conditions and caused water pollution. Vedanta Limited misrepresented the facts and should be prosecuted, he submitted. It had suppressed the environment footprint of its operation and the real extent of toxic emission and it did not have adequate pollution mitigation infrastructure, the petitioner submitted. Sterlite unit operated in violation of the Environment clearance and was situated in a prohibited area by misrepresenting the hazards caused by it, he alleged. The petitioner said it was a 'red category industry' and should be established only in Special Industries and Hazardous industries zone, but was located in a ...
KVIC to provide training to widows of tiger victims, distribute charkhas
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission has decided to impart training to 75 widows of tiger victims of Bali Island in Sunderban and distribute 50 charkhas in the first phase of its initiative called 'Tiger Victim Khadi Katai Kendra'. Under the initiative christened, the KVIC officials have been asked to kick off the training programme of spinning and bee-keeping from 30 July and supply 50 Charkhas and 500 bee-boxes by the last week of August, so that the kendra is inaugurated during the first week of September this year positively, the KVIC said in a statement. "We want to bring down human deaths due to tiger attack to zero. Keeping this in mind, we will help villagers in taking up apiculture and weaving in all possible forms right in the villages so that they do not need to venture deep into the forests," KVIC Chairman V K Saxena said.
Parl panel criticises Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry over toilet construction
A parliamentary panel has criticised the "callous attitude" of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry over constructing toilets without proper provision for waste management. According to an action taken report on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Urban Development, the ministry said in the sewage and septage management sector, contracts of 318 projects worth Rs 15,058 crore have been awarded and four projects worth Rs 12 crore have been completed. The report was tabled in the Parliament today. In its earlier report, the committee had said though providing sewage connections to households was one of the focus areas of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), it had observed that the number of connections under it was "too inadequate" with respect to the number of households. In its observation following the ministry's reply, the panel said despite expressing concern over the inadequacy of available sewage treatment plants in various states, ...
Female leopard shot dead in RTR was man-eater: official
A female leopard which was shot dead at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve earlier this month was a man-eater, a report confirmed today. A female leopard, aged around 6-7, was shot dead around 3.30 am on June 11 in the Motichur range of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) after authorities suspected it to be a man-eater. Locks of hair found in the leopard's abdomen during post- mortem had been sent to the Wildlife Institute of India for forensic tests. The institute has confirmed that the locks of hair found in its abdomen were human, RTR Director Sanatan Sonkar said. "The DNA examination has confirmed it was a man-eating leopard. Forensic evidences of consumption of human flesh by the big cat were found in the test," he said. She was spotted walking with a limp near Khand village where people displaced by the Tehri dam reside. On close examination, her right paw was found to be severed which made it walk with a limp. the RTR authorities suspected that the disability made the big cat a man-eater ...
Delhi to generate over 2,000 MW of solar energy by 2025
With an aim to generate more than 2,000 MW of solar energy in the national capital by 2025, the Delhi government is laying out a comprehensive roadmap to encourage adoption of rooftop solar projects by the residential sector.
EPCA favours hydrogen & CNG mixed fuel, colour-coded stickers on vehicles
The Environment Pollution Control Authority told the Supreme Court today that vehicles running on hydrogen and CNG mixed fuel and having colour-coded stickers to identify polluting automobiles would help in tackling air pollution. The EPCA told a bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that colour-coded stickers, as used in Paris, would be more effective then having "odd-even" vehicle rotation scheme in Delhi and it would also help in identifying older vehicles. Advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, said there should be different coloured stickers for petrol and diesel vehicles according to the EPCA suggestions. The counsel appearing for Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) termed this a "good idea" and said even the Centre has proposed to issue green number plates for electric vehicles. Asked by the bench about the cost of having these stickers and the agency responsible for implementing the project, EPCA said it would hold ..
Maneka urges Vardhan to look into 'serious irregularities' committed by animal welfare panel
A welfare committee formed to prevent misuse of animals in films and events has committed "serious irregularities", Union minister Maneka Gandhi has said in a letter to Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, and urged him to look into the matter. A nine-member Performing Animal Sub-Committee (PASC) was formed by Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to evaluate applications for use of animal performances. A filmmaker planning to use animal performances need clearance from them. "I have been informed that serious irregularities are routinely taking place at the meetings of PASC which amount to violations of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and more," Gandhi wrote in the letter. She said PASC allowed the use of monkeys in TV serials such as 'Swami Ramdev-Ek Sangharsh' and 'Badho Bahu', TV show 'Dus Ka Dum', Malyalam film 'Nieraali' and Marathi film 'Pani Bani'. She cited an instance on a Bengali TV serial 'Prothom Protisruti', when PASC reportedly allowed use of a goat for ...
Indian Oil investing over Rs 11,900 crore in Bengal for various projects
State-run oil marketing company Indian Oil Corporation is investing over Rs 11,900 crore in West Bengal for various infrastructure and capacity enhancement projects, an official said on Monday.
20 million vehicles that require scrapping accumulated in India: CSE
About 20 million vehicles that require scrapping have accumulated in India, according to a report by an Indian think tank. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in a new report, said of the two billion global vehicle fleet, over 40 million vehicles -- 4 per cent of global automobile ownership reach end-of-life every year. Entire developing world, including vehicle-producing countries like India that use vehicles more intensely, face the challenge of scrapping their large stocks of end-of-life vehicles without the requisite capacity, the report said. Even developing countries that produce vehicles (like India) and use them more intensely and longer need to adopt end-of-life regulations to scrap and recover precious material, the report said. "The government of India is coming up with a scrappage policy but we still do not have what we call an end-of-life regulation which is absolutely essential," said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director at the CSE. In India, about 20 ...
Need to grow high quality sugarcane felt
There is an urgent need for growing high quality varieties of sugarcane to improve sugar production in mills and cane yield in Tamil Nadu, director of Sugar, Anu George said today. Launching a project on 'Varietal Testing in Public/Co-operative Sector Sugar Mills of Tamil Nadu' at the ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute here, she said States in North and central parts of the country have seen improved cane production and recovery, but Tamil Nadu has been lagging behind. Preliminary assessment among the public/co-operative sector sugar mills in the State revealed that over 60 different cane varieties were being grown, of which over 95 per cent were not fit for cultivation, she said. These varieties have to be phased out by introducing improved varieties, besides rejuvenating the variety, Co 8603 she said, adding that the project has been taken up for this purpose. Appreciating the institute for its role in taking up research, the director of Sugar urged the institute to ...
Environmental clearance to redevelopment of three south Delhi colonies was given subject to stipulation of safeguards: Govt
Environmental clearance to the public sector construction firm NBCC for the re-development of three south Delhi colonies was given "subject to stipulation" of various environmental safeguards, the Rajya Sabha was told today. Minister of State for Environment Mahesh Sharma in a written reply in Rajya Sabha said environmental clearances are given with specific stringent conditions. The Minister also said permission for cutting or felling of trees is under the jurisdiction of State Forest Department and NOC or permission before felling of trees is required to be obtained from them under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994. "The Environment Ministry accords prior environmental clearance for projects or activities listed in the Schedule to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 (and its amendments) after having followed the prescribed process in the said notification. "The Ministry after having followed the prescribed process in the EIA Notification, 2006 has ...
