Page 585 - Environment
Waterbody gives way to banquet hall: BJP
A waterbody in Ghaziabad gave way to a banquet hall and its original size was substantially reduced by influential politicians who took over the area, a group of BJP leaders alleged on Wednesday.
Officials asked to prepare action plan for growth of turmeric
Telangana Chief Secretary S K Joshi today asked officials to prepare an action plan for the comprehensive growth of turmeric and chilli crops in the state within 15 days. Joshi, who held a meeting with officials of agriculture department and others, said agriculture officers should be given training in cultivation of turmeric and mirchi for the benefit of farmers, a state government release said. According to the release, 70,000 farmers are cultivating turmeric in 1.10 lakh hectares in the state. Chilli is cultivated in 1.40 lakh hectares. Joshi directed that the action plan be prepared by taking into consideration aspects like integrated pest management, market linkage, availability of seeds.
U.S. Commerce launches national security probe into uranium imports
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday that he has launched a new national security investigation into uranium imports that could lead to tariffs or quotas to limit them.
Sub-committee inspects Mullaperiyar dam
Officials of a sub-committee under the Supreme Court-appointed supervisory panel today carried out 'routine' inspection of the Mullaperiyar dam as its water level stood at 133 feet against the maximum of 142 feet following copious inflows, official sources said. The five-member team, headed by V Rajesh, Executive Engineer, Central Water Commission, visited the dam site and inspected the condition of dam shutters and seepage level. The officials of Kerala and Tamil Nadu were also present during the visit of the panel, which comprises two members each from the two states besides the Chairman. There is a dispute between the two states over the storage level of the Mullaperyiar Dam, located in this district and operated by Tamil Nadu. The high range district, which witnessed heavy showers in the past few days, received 69.6 mm rains today, according to the Met department.
Ahead of festivals, Delhi govt orders strict implementation of Chinese manja ban
The Delhi government today directed the departments concerned to strictly implement the ban on glass-coated threads or Chinese manja in view of large scale kite-flying in the city on the occasion of Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan. Delhi Environment minister Imran Hussain has directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to strictly implement the ban on sale, production, storage, supply, import of Chinese manja in Delhi during the upcoming festive season, a government statement said. The officials of revenue, wildlife, police and municipal corporations have been empowered to take action against violations of the ban, it said. Secretary (Environment) said that the government has empowered officers of the level of Tehsildars and above in the revenue department, wildlife inspectors and above in the forest department, sub-inspectors and above in the Delhi Police, and sanitary inspectors, general licensing inspectors and public health inspectors of the municipal corporations to take ..
Centre sanctions Rs 300 cr for civic bodies in Delhi for solid waste management, dust control
The Centre has sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 300 crore to the three municipal corporations of Delhi for effective solid waste management and dust control. Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said orders for various projects worth Rs 236 crore were issued and the north and east MCDs were asked to prepare other proposals worth Rs 64 crore. This comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court castigating Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal for his attitude of being "a superman" but doing nothing to get the "mountains of garbage" of the city cleared. As per the plan, the ministry approved various proposals such as setting up of six bio-methionine plant, 20 accelerated composter, procurement of six supper sucker machines, 14 suction-cum-jetting machines, 272 auto mounted licker pickers, 40 fix compactors, 121 water sprinkler tankers to control road dust, greening on roads (164 acres) and 24 mechanical road sweepers for internal roads. "Besides, the ministry has ...
German Development Bank to give Rs 960 crore to U'khand for providing clean drinking water
The German Development Bank (KFW) will be giving Rs 960 crore to Uttarakhand for providing clean drinking water and cleaning of the river Ganga. The work in the first phase of the project will be carried out in Haridwar and Rishikesh, according to an official statement issued here today. The appraisal work at Haridwar and Rishikesh has been completed which will be presented to KFW, a mission team of the German Development Bank-led by KFW South Asia head Karla Burk told Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh at a meeting today. The mission team said an MoU could be signed between the Ministry of Water Resources and KFW in December this year. The German experts will supervise the construction of 15 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) and modern technology will be used for providing clean drinking water. More cities will be taken up in the second phase of the project, the team said. The chief secretary informed the KFW mission team about the resolve of the state government to clean ..
Strictly implement ban on Chinese 'manjha', directs Delhi
Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain on Wednesday directed the Delhi pollution board to strictly implement the ban on Chinese 'manjha' (kite string) in the city during the upcoming festive season.
Patnaik writes to Gadkari over waterlogging along NH-16
With the state capital facing waterlogging problem along the National Highway-16 passing through Bhubaneswar city, Odisha government today sought the Centre's intervention to resolve the issue. "I would request your kind intervention for an early solution to these issues," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari, officials said. Patnaik pointed out that the service lane of NH-16 near ISKCON Temple between CRPF Square and Nayapalli area of Bhubaneswar has been witnessing regular flooding with rains every time. The area is getting inundated during rains some times up to three feet of water resulting in severe disruption of road traffic and damages to parked vehicle, he said in the letter. Occurrence of such ponding of rain water for such long periods has been observed from the days of construction of the solid high embankment of the National Highway without providing adequate discharge points and vantages, it ...
Karnataka CM seeks Centre's help to roll out Rs 40,000cr farm loan waiver
Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today called on Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and sought financial help for implementing the Rs 40,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme announced by the state government. In its state budget on July 5, Janata Dal (Secular)Congress coalition government had announced a loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore, which jumped to Rs 40,000 crore after the state last week decided to waive all crop loans of Rs 1 lakh in cooperative banks availed till July 10, 2018. In the meeting with Union Agriculture Minister here, Kumaraswamy said that the Karnataka government has taken a "drastic" step to waive farm loans taking into account the farmers' distress during the last eight years. "The cost (of loan waiver) would be upwards at Rs 40,000 crore. I have requested assistance from the Government of India for the same," he said in a representation made to the Union Minister. To ensure that cooperatives are able to function effectively, the chief minister ...
Putin opens closed town where 'Novichok developed'
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to open the closed town where Russian scientists say they developed Novichok, the nerve agent at the centre of a poisoning row with London. Britain has said Russian-produced Novichok was used in the attempted murder of ex-spy Sergei Skripal along with his daughter Yulia in an English city in March. London says two Britons, Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, were also exposed to the chemical last month -- killing the former and leaving the latter in a critical condition. Russian scientists have told state and international media the Soviet Union developed the nerve agent at the closed town of Shikhany from the 1970s. "President Putin on Tuesday signed a presidential decree which removes the status of 'closed territorial administrative entity' for our town," Yulia Ershova, spokeswoman for the local authorities, said today. "Our factory, a branch of the State Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, is still ...
Sisodia reviews Delhi's first 'Green Budget' meeting
Chairing Delhi's first "Green Budget" review meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the work of installing solar panels, promoting clean fuel and planting 30 lakh trees in Delhi is on track.
Cabinet approves special package for irrigation projects in drought-prone areas of Maha
The Cabinet today approved a special package for 81 irrigation projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore in Vidarbha, Marathwada and other chronically drought prone-areas in Maharashtra, with Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari terming it as an "out of the box" decision. The completion of 83 minor irrigation projects and eight major/medium projects in creation of additional potential of 3.77 lakh hectares in Marathawada, Vidarbha and other drought-prone areas of Maharashtra, which has seen one of the highest number of farmers' suicides. The overall balance cost of the projects is estimated to be Rs 13,651.61 crore. "This is an out of the box decision by the Modi government," Gadkari said. "The completion of these projects will ensure assured source of water to the farmers in he command area of these projects. This will increase yield of their crops and thereby ncrease the income of the farmers," he said. The projects included under the special package are above the 26 major/medium ...
BYPL to procure 100 MW wind power at competetive rate
City electricity distribution company (discom) BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), supplying to central and east Delhi, on Wednesday said it has signed a power sale agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India to procure 100 MW of wind power at competitive rates.
Delhi govt directs extension of Lal Dora areas in villages
In a move aimed at giving relief to rural population, Delhi Government has directed the divisional commissioner to commence the process of extension of Lal Dora areas in all villages and submit a report on the timeline for the exercise within two weeks. Informing about the city government' move, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that there are around 360 villages in Delhi and their population has increased maniford. Hence, there is need to increase the periphery of Lal Dora to accommodate the growing demand of rural population. Lal Dora refers to land that is part of the village 'abadi' (habitation) and is used for non-agricultural purpose only. Lal Dora was exempted from the building bye laws and construction norms and related regulations under Delhi Municipal Act. Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot has issued a direction to divisional commissioner to submit a report within two weeks pertaining to extension of Lal Dore in all the villages. In his direction to Divisional ...
5-feet long python rescued from house in Gurgaon
An approximately five-feet long Indian rock python was rescued from the front lawn of a house in Gurgaon by members of a wildlife NGO today. The owners of the house alerted the Wildlife SOS about the python yesterday. The family was out for a walk in their front lawn when they heard a strange rustling noise coming from a row of potted plants. On taking a closer look, they were shocked to find a python nestled between the pots, according to a statement issued by the NGO. "It was around 11 pm when we first saw the snake. I came across the NGO's helpline number online and called them for help. There is a small forested area nearby so the python must have wandered from there," said Sankalp Jain, who had found the python. Since there was not enough space between the pots, the rescue team had to be extremely cautious while extricating the python. Although non-venomous, it requires swift skills on the part of the snake rescuers to capture them, the statement added. The python might have ...
No decline in cargo container biz after GST implementation: MoS Railways
There has been no decline in the cargo container business after implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced last year, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said today. "There is no decline in the cargo container business after implementation of GST from July 1, 2017," Gohain said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. While in the financial year 2016-17, 47.60 million tonnes (MT) cargo was loaded in containers, the amount of cargo loaded rose to 54.31 MT in the following year, he said, noting that a growth of 6.71 MT was registered. The minister said, the Indian Railways loaded 41.23 MT cargo from July 2017-March 2018, as compared to 35.93 MT during the same period the previous year. "The Ministry of Finance as well as NITI Aayog has been requested to consider uniform levy of GST on rail container traffic at par with road container traffic. Service of Goods Transport Agency (GTA) for transport of goods by road are taxed uniformly at 5 per cent GST .
58 elephants killed on railway tracks in last 3 years: Min
More than 50 elephants have been killed on railway tracks in the country in the last three years, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said today. Most of the elephants were hit by trains in the Northeast Frontier Railways' jurisdiction (31), followed by 10 in South Eastern Railway and five in the Northern Railway. "Fifty eight elephants were killed in the last three years on railway tracks. In cases of killing elephants, wildlife on railway tracks, zonal railways investigate the incidents and conduct inquiry wherever necessary. "Based on the finding in the investigation, a number of preventive measures are taken by the zones in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Forests," the minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. Some of the measures taken are -- imposition of speed restrictions in identified locations, provision of signage board to warn loco pilots about identified elephant corridors, sensitisation of train crew and station masters, ..
Four die after inhaling poisonous gas
Four persons, including a 57-year-old man and his two sons, died today after inhaling poisonous gases in the 10-feet-deep chamber of a bio-gas plant at village Amin in this district, police said. The dead were identified as Baldev Singh, his sons - Devinder Singh (30), Rupinder Singh (25), and Baldev Singh's cousin Joginder Singh (40), SHO of Adarsh Police Station, Kurukshetra University, Satish Kumar, said. As per the preliminary investigation the bio-gas plant constructed by Baldev Singh near his agricultural land was not functioning due to some leakage so Devinder Singh went inside the ten-feet-deep pit to find out the leak so that the problem could be set right, the SHO said. As Devinder Singh did not come out, his younger brother Rupinder Singh went in followed by Baldev Singh. When none of the three came out Joginder Singh went down, the official said. Later a farmer from the neighbourhood rushed to the spot with a tractor and pulled out all the four. They were rushed to the ...
Railways have taken up 180 new line projects in various states: Gohain
Railways have taken up 180 new line projects in several states which are in various stages of execution, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said today. "Some of the projects fall in more than one state. Most of the new line projects have been taken up primarily on socio-economic considerations in backward and remote areas for the speedy development of economically backward areas," the minister said in a written reply in Lok Sabha. The completion of railway projects requires clearances from various departments of the state government and central ministries like acquisition of land, statutory clearances like forestry and wild life, shifting of utilities, he said. The projects included 18 in Andhra Pradesh, 15 in Assam and Northeast Region, 34 in Bihar, 8 in Chattisgarh, 1 each in Delhi and Jammu- Kashmir, 4 in Gujarat, 7 in Haryana, 4 in Himachal Pradesh, , 14 in Jharkhand, 16 in Karnataka, 2 in Kerala, 12 in Maharashtra, 8 each in Madhya Pradesh and TamilmNadu, 10 each in ..
