Page 584 - Environment
The future of plastic? Scientists explore bioplastics from sorghum
Kolkata, July 19 (IANS/Mongabay) In the early 1940s, Henry Ford experimented with making plastic parts for automobiles. He came up with what was called the "plastic car made from soybeans."
Formalin controversy: No officer to examine quality of fish, says Goa Minister
The Goa Fisheries Department does not have a single technical officer to examine the quality of fish sold in the state, Fisheries Minister Vinoda Paliencar told the Goa Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Kerala CM unhappy after meeting PM
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday expressed unhappiness after he led a 22-member delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek help on various issues concerning the state.
Rain claims 28 lives in last 10 days in Kerela
The death toll in rain-related incidents in Kerala has climbed to 28 in the last 10 days, with a case of drowning being reported from Kannur district today. Though there was some respite from the rain in some places, waterlogging in low-lying areas has thrown normal life out of gear. Over 86,598 people have taken shelter in relief camps across the state, officials said. At least 569 relief camps have been opened in the state so far -- 194 in Alapuzha, the maximum, housing 11,090 families -- control room sources said. In the 156 camps opened in Kottayam district, 7,856 families have taken shelter, the sources said. It is a nightmare for people living in low-lying areas, especially in Kottayam and Alapuzha districts, as the water level has not receded. The MG University cancelled its examinations to be held today and tomorrow. The Meteorological department has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in the state for the next three days. Ernakulam, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode and ...
Security concerns over TAPI gas project need to be addressed: Akbaruddin
India has said the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline brings with it both reward and risk and the genuine regional security concerns associated with the USD 10 billion trans-national project should be heeded and addressed sincerely. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project seeks to build connectivity in the South and Central Asian regions through gas pipelines and will help ease energy shortages in South Asia. The project is "a dove of peace and hope" that may have to traverse through storms, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said, referring to the restive regions in Afghanistan and Pakistan through which the pipeline passes. He stressed on the responsibility of the nations in protecting it from "turbulence with all our will and capacity". "Visionary concepts, at times, also invite great challenges. Large investments demand care and caution. Safety of the transnational pipeline and assured supply of gas is vital," he said at a ...
Shape-changing robot can help find people trapped in debris
Scientists have developed a robot that can change its shape to crawl through tight spaces and climb over rough terrain, an advance that may help search and rescue teams locate people trapped under debris. The Rising Sprawl-Tuned Autonomous Robot (RSTAR) utilises adjustable sprawling wheel legs attached to a body that can move independently and reposition itself to run on flat surfaces, climb over large obstacles and up closely-spaced walls, and crawl through a tunnel, pipe or narrow gaps. "The RSTAR is ideal for search and rescue operations in unstructured environments, such as collapsed buildings or flooded areas, where it must adapt and overcome a variety of successive obstacles to reach its target," said David Zarrouk, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel. Researchers designed RSTAR to function simply and reliably, change shape and overcome common obstacles without any external mechanical intervention. Its speed and relatively low energy consumption make the ...
ISRO ropes in three vendors to assemble 27 satellites
The Indian Space Research Organisation has signed contracts with three vendors to outsource Spacecraft Assembly Integration and Testing (AIT) activities. According to sources, vendors are expected to help ISRO assemble about 27 satellites over the next three years. As part of capacity-building activity, the U R Rao Satellite Centre has taken up initiatives to promote participation of the Indian industry from spacecraft subsystems to spacecraft assembly, integration and testing, URSC said on its website. In this context, it said, URSC-ISRO signed agreements yesterday to outsource of spacecraft assembly, integration and testing activities with multiple vendors - Alpha Technologies Private Limited, Bengaluru, and its consortium partners; Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru, and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Hyderabad. URSC Director M Annadurai emphasised on the need for industry participation in satellite building activities, it said. Also, a technical presentation covering the ...
We walked the talk on electrification, says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday claimed that officials working on electrification projects under his government reached every village, remotest of areas to fulfil his promise to the nation.
Govt Sanctions Special Package for Irrigation Projects In Chronically Drought-Prone Areas Of Maharashtra
Completion of these projects will ensure assured source of water to the farmers in the command area of these projects. This will increase yield of their crops and thereby increase the income of the farmers.
Cabinet Approves FRP Of Sugarcane At Rs 275 Per Quintal
This FRP Rs. 275 per quintal at recovery rate of 10% is higher by 77.42% over production cost thereby ensuring the promise of giving the farmers a return of more than 50 % over their cost. Keeping the expected production of sugarcane in the sugar season 2018-19 the total remittance to the sugarcane farmers will be more than Rs. 83,000 crore. The Government through its pro-farmer measures will ensure that sugarcane farmers get their dues in time.
PM to interact with Saubhagya scheme beneficiaries today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday will interact with the beneficiaries of Saubhagya scheme across India, via NAMO app.Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - 'Saubhagya' scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on September 25, 2017.Under Saubhagya, free electricity connections to all households (both APL and poor families) will be provided in rural areas and poor families in urban areas.There are around 4 crore un-electrified households in the country which are targeted for providing electricity connections by December 2018. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has been designated as the nodal agency for the Saubhagya scheme.Under the scheme, DISCOMs will also organize camps in villages or cluster of villages to facilitate on-the-spot filling up of application forms including release of electricity connections to households.DISCOMs/Power Department will also adopt innovative mechanism through dedicated web-portal/Mobile App for collection/consolidation of application
At least 30 killed in raids on northwest Nigeria villages
At least 30 people were killed during raids on villages in northwest Nigeria in the latest deadly attacks by cattle rustling and kidnapping gangs in the restive region, residents have said. Armed bandits on motorcycles stormed five neighbouring rural villages in the Maradun district of Zamfara state on Tuesday afternoon, firing indiscriminately and stealing livestock. "We recovered 30 bodies from the attacks and we have so far buried 26 while four are being prepared for burial," said Jabbi Labbo, a community leader in Gyadde, one of the villages attacked. "Seven persons were killed in Sakkida, four in Farin Zare, eight in Orawa, seven in Gyadde and four in Sabon Gari," Labbo told AFP yesterday. Seven other people were missing and presumed to have drowned in a nearby river while trying to "escape the carnage", said Orawa resident Sule Mada, who gave a similar toll. "They attacked the villages simultaneously and took away a lot of cattle, sheep and goats," Mada said. The police in ...
Bodies of two of 19 missing fishermen found in Bay of Bengal
Bodies of two of the 19 missing fishermen were found in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday by rescuers, an official said.
21 nuclear reactors under construction: Jitendra Singh
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said a total of 21 nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 15,700 megawatt are currently under construction."21 nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 15,700 megawatt are currently under construction. There are nine nuclear power reactors at various stages of construction which are expected to be completed by the year 2024-25," Singh said in the Lok Sabha.Singh further stated that 12 more reactors were accorded administrative approval and financial sanction in June last year.Meanwhile, Singh, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha said the units at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant are expected to be completed progressively by 2025-26."The Kudankulam site presently has two reactors - KKNPP 1 and 2 (2x1000 megawatt) in operation and two reactors, KKNPP 3 and 4 (2x1000 megawatt) under construction. In addition, work for setting up two more units - KKNPP 5 and 6 (2x1000 megawatt) at this site has commenced. On ..
Missing fishermen: 2 bodies, one trawler found
Bodies of two of the 19 missing fishermen were found in the Bay of Bengal today by rescuers, while one of the three capsized trawlers was also spotted, officials said. The Coast Guard, along with the police and a fishermen's association, is conducting search and rescue operations to find out the fishermen who had gone missing on Monday afternoon. A Coast Guard official, who did not wish to be quoted, said efforts were on to retrieve the two bodies from the sea. Three trawlers capsized in the rough seas around 4 pm on July 16 and 47 fishermen fell into the water, officials said adding that 28 of them were rescued by other trawlers. The trawlers had overturned in the Bay of Bengal, off Frazerganj in the Sundarban area of south Bengal. "Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft from Kolkata, a hovercraft from Frazergunj and Coast Guard Ship Sujoy inspite of inclement weather and rough seas carried out extensive search for missing fishermen off Sagar island," a Coast Guard ...
UK to require big companies to report CO2 emissions from April 2019
LONDON (Reuters) - Big companies will have to report their energy use, carbon dioxide emissions and energy efficiency measures in their annual reports from next April under a new framework set out by the British government on Wednesday.
No formalin in fresh water fishes in Odisha: Official
A senior official of the Fisheries department said here today that no trace of formalin chemical was found in fresh water fishes sold in Odisha. Director Fisheries in the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department, P K Senapati said that freshwater fishes do not have formalin content. The director said his statement is based on the sample test reports collected from different fish markets across the state. However, the department had earlier found traces of formalin chemical in a Pomfret fish sold at the Unit-IV fish market in the state capital. Meanwhile, samples of various fish species were collected from different places like Cuttack, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar and Balasore since July 13 and sent to laboratory for examination. Testing kits were brought from Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Kochi for the inspection, the director said. The official, however, said the inspection .
US launches national security probe into uranium imports
The Commerce Department has started an investigation into the impact of uranium imports on US national security, a move that could result in tariffs and add another front to the Trump administration's trade fight. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the United States produces just 5 percent of the uranium needed for the US military and for electricity generation, down from nearly half in 1987. Two US uranium mining companies, UR-Energy and Energy Fuels, requested the investigation in January. The probe follows an earlier national security investigation into steel and aluminum imports, which resulted in steep 25 percent duties on imports of the two metals from the European Union, Canada, Mexico, China and Japan. A second investigation focused on the threat to security posed by auto imports is ongoing.
Odisha likely to experience heavy downpour: IMD
Odisha is likely to experience heavy downpour due to formation of another low pressure area over north Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood on July 20, the IMD said today. India Meteorological Department (IMD), in a press release said there is a possibility of heavy to very heavy rain in coastal and north Odisha from the night of July 21. The IMD in its warning for fishermen has asked the community to return to coast from deep sea on July 20 and not to venture into the sea on July 21 and July 22 due to the possible low pressure area. The Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) of the SOA University said Odisha may experience heavy rains again this week with a cyclonic circulation likely to form over the north-west Bay of Bengal within the next 24 hours and there was high probability of it developing into a low pressure on July 20. "This may cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts as also in Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts between tomorrow and July 21," SC ..
Hry govt to explore possibilities to re-use treated waste water in agriculture
The Haryana government would explore possibilities to re-use treated waste water from various sewage treatment plants in agriculture, horticulture, thermal power plants and other places, state Public Health Engineering Minister Banwari Lal said today. Necessary steps would be taken for this in the future, he said. The minister said that there was a need to generate awareness about water conservation among people to deal with the problem of water shortage in the cities. Water could be conserved through water recycling and rainwater harvesting and possibilities are being explored in this area, he said in an official release. He said that his recent visit to Singapore provided an opportunity to know the latest business and technological insights into tackling water challenges. Today, cites are increasingly threatened by water scarcity due to increasing populations, rising water demand and climate change, the minister said. He said that the delegation led by him studied the model adopted .
