Page 590 - Environment
Good rains in parts of Maha; water in key dam crosses 75% mark
Nearly half a dozen districts in North and Central Maharashtra received a good spell of showers today with authorities releasing water from the Gangapur dam into the Godavari river in Nashik. Parbhani, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nanded districts received bountiful rains. According to the MeT department data, Parbhani received 46 mm of rainfall followed by Nashik and Sangli (western Maharashtra) at 21 mm each. Nashik, in North Maharashtra, has been receiving heavy rains in the last two days. Incessant downpour in the catchment areas of the Gangapur dam has led to a significant rise in the dam's water level in Nashik district. According to MeT sources here, tribal-dominated Igatpuri tehsil recorded 216 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hour (ended 8.30 this morning). Tehsils of Peint, Trimbakeshwar and Surgana received 119.2, 88 and 73.3 mm of rainfall in the same period, they said, adding Nashik district has recorded 610 mm of rainfall. The irrigation department ...
Nitish reviews drought preparedness in Bihar
With a drought-like condition looming large over Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today held a meeting with officials from different departments to take stock of the situation. The state has witnessed an unusually long dry spell this year, a departure from the normal arrival of monsoon in the second week of June. According to an official release, Kumar was apprised about the preparedness for tackling a drought by officials from the departments of agriculture, water resources, health, public health engineering, and disaster management and power. However, a weather department official told the CM that the state was likely to receive rainfall after July 22, it said. Kumar instructed agriculture department officials that diesel grants be disbursed among farmers at the earliest, and in the event of a monsoon failure, cultivators of paddy be supplied with seeds for alternative crops. He directed the public health engineering department to ensure that handpumps worked ...
Govt forms panel to tackle industrial pollution near Taj Mahal
The government has formed a committee comprising officials of the environment ministry, experts from NEERI, IITs and various other forums to look into the issue of industrial pollution around the iconic Taj Mahal, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said today. The committee will be headed by C K Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. A high-level inter ministerial meeting was held here today to deliberate on the issues and action to be taken on a war footing to conserve the iconic Mughal monument, days after a rap from the Supreme Court on the issue. The meeting mainly focussed on action points needed to overcome air and water pollution in and around Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. The meeting was chaired by the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari and attended by Minister for Environment Forest and Climate Change Harsh Vardhan, Minister of State for ..
Punjab govt allows pilot project for solar energy generation on farm land
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today approved the launch a pilot project for solar energy generation on agricultural land on rental basis, besides allowing farmers to undertake high-value cultivation of fruits and vegetables. Chairing a meeting with a CII delegation, led by its national president Rakesh Bharti Mittal, here this evening, Singhalso agreed to send a joint deputation from Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) and senior officers from agriculture and horticulture department to visit Maharashtra to examine a similar project developed under CII. Director General CII Chandrajit Banerjee informed the chief minister that several private players were interested in setting up solar plants over the land of farmers for a minimum lease period of 25 years, according to official release. Underscoring the need to motivate farmers to move towards crop diversification, the chief minister hoped that the same project could be replicated in the Kandi area and south west ...
Work underway to resolve garbage issue in Delhi: LG
Only four days after the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal not taking effective steps to tackle garbage problem in the city, the LG Office on Monday said the work is underway and all projects at landfill sites will be completed by August 2020.
SC seeks experts, environmentalists' report on reducing garbage at landfill sites
The Supreme Court on Monday sought a report of experts and environmentalist on reducing the gigantic mounds of garbage at the landfill sites at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla here in national capital.
People are more important than industries, SC tells Centre
The Supreme Court on Monday, while taking into note of a report that 60,000 people have died due to pollution, told the Centre that "people are more important than industries".
Monitoring garbage disposal plans, actions of municipal bodies: Delhi LG tells SC
The Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi today told the Supreme Court that his office has been regularly reviewing and monitoring the garbage disposal plans and actions of the municipal bodies. In an affidavit filed on his behalf, the LG said that he had directed all the three corporations to augment the capacities of waste-to-energy plants for scientific disposal of waste. The note also pointed out that on the direction of the LG, a panel, comprising high-level experts from IITs, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has been constituted to manage 34 million metric tonnes of garbage at the three landfill sites. The court had last week castigated the LG over his attitude of being "a superman" but doing nothing to get the "mountains of garbage" of the city cleared, with one of the dumping sites even reaching a height close to that of the Qutub Minar. Urban Development Special Secretary S N Mishra, in an affidavit filed on LG's .
Commerce Min recommends imposition of safeguard duty on solar cells
The commerce ministry today recommended imposition of safeguard duty for two years on solar cells imports to protect domestic players from steep rise in the inbound shipments of the product. After concluding the investigations, Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) said that the increased imports of 'solar cells whether or not assembled in modules or panels' in India have caused "serious injury" and "threaten to cause serious injury" to the domestic producers of the product. "It will be in the public interest to impose safeguard duty on the imports for a period of two years," the DGTR said. It said that there has been a significant increase in imports of the cells in absolute terms. The duty recommended by the directorate is 25 per cent in the first year, to gradually come down to 20 per cent in the six months of second year and then 15 per cent in the remaining six months. However, the finance ministry will take the final call to impose the duty. India has produced 842 MW ...
'India earned Rs 18,000 cr every year through Basmati exports'
India has earned over Rs 18,000 in foreign exchange every year from export of Pusa basmati 1121 rice variety, developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Monday.
Status of ongoing projects in Mizoram cause for concern: Gowda
Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda today expressed concern over the implementation status of ongoing projects in Mizoram and urged officials for their completion in a time-bound manner. Addressing media persons here, the Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation said there were four ongoing Central sector infrastructural projects worth over Rs 150 crore in the state. "The total original cost of these four projects was Rs 1,632 crore and the anticipated completion cost is Rs 5,613 crore, implying a cost overrun of Rs 3,981 crore (243.84 per cent," he said. Gowda said timely execution of these projects was critical for the development of the state, as they are sources of employment. He emphasised the need for regular meetings of the Central Sector Project Coordination Committee (CSPCC to resolve the issues faced by the Central sector PSUs in the state. "Senior officers from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will attend such meetings," he ..
After SC's rebuke, LG office says work underway to address garbage issue
Days after the Supreme Court castigated Lt Governor Anil Baijal for doing nothing to get the "mountains of garbage" cleared, his office today said that work is already underway to address these problems in a time bound manner and in a "comprehensive and sustainable way". A statement issued by LG's office stated that the problem of garbage mounds is a "legacy problem of six decades" and multiple issues have made it a "challenging task". It said Baijal had been regularly reviewing and monitoring garbage disposal plans and actions of MCDs for management of legacy mounds and processing of daily waste generated their "site specific challenges" and imminent requirement of remediation of these huge mounds. "As a result of intensive and continuous monitoring by the lieutenant governor through site visits and regular meetings and the directions and guidance given, work is already underway to address these problems in a time bound manner in a comprehensive and sustainable way," the statement ...
Haryana farmers to get benefit of Rs 6,000-18,000 per acre post MSP hike: minister
Farmers in Haryana will get a benefit of about Rs 6,000-18,000 per acre following a hike in MSP of kharif crops, state agriculture minister O P Dhankar said today said. "Increase in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops as approved by the Central government will benefit the paddy farmers of Haryana with Rs 6,000 per acre, cotton farmers with Rs 18,000 per acre and bajra farmers with Rs 7,800 per acre," Dhankar said here today. He said due to the increase in MSP, Haryana would get benefit of Rs 1,500 crore which includes Rs 1,200 crore for paddy and Rs 300 crore for other crops. The minister said the farming in Haryana is the most risk-free occupation in the country. Elaborating, he said the state government has given compensation of about Rs 491 crore to farmers under 'Fasal Bima Yojana'. Compensation amounting to Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 per acre has been given to farmers through Revenue and Disaster Management department. During 2015, Rs 1,092 crore were given for wheat crops and Rs 276
Animal protection group asks Bihar SPCB to take prompt action against establishment of poultry farm
An animal protection group has asked the Bihar State Pollution Control Board to take action against establishment of a poultry farm, which it claimed could pose a direct threat to the health of residents living near it. Humane Society International wrote to chairman of SPCB Ashok Kumar Ghosh, saying that a poultry farm is reportedly being constructed in Penar village in Bihar, and its close proximity to the residents of the area could pose a health risk. The poultry farm must be from a certain distance from the residential areas to avoid the odour, noise and nuisance caused by them, HSI Managing Director N G Jayasimha said in a letter to Ghosh. "Poorly managed animal waste from these facilities contaminate water and air with harmful chemicals and pathogens. Chronic exposure to such unhygienic conditions can have serious health implications for humans and animals," he said, urging them to initiate an action against the establishment.
Jharkhand to recruit 2,000 forest guards this year
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said the state government would soon appoint 2,000 forest guards to honour its commitment of safeguarding forest resources. He said protecting and enlarging forest resources are the priority of the state government. To protect forests, the government will appoint 2,000 forest guards. Appointment of forest guards was not done since the past 30 years, but in 2017, the state government appointed 2,818 forest guards. The state government has launched Chief Minister Jan Van scheme. It is the government's goal to plant 2.40 crore trees, Das said here. Addressing the Van Mahotsav festival organized by the Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department at the new assembly complex, which is under construction, Das said that clean environment has declined and everyone has moral responsibility to make the state green. Das said that in 2016, 2.57 crore trees were planted under a plantation programme and 2.66 crore trees were planted ...
Regularly monitoring situation of 'legacy' garbage mounds in Delhi: LG tells SC
Under attack on the issue of waste management, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor today told the Supreme Court that he was regularly monitoring the situation and efforts were on to tackle the problem of "legacy mounds" at three landfill sites of the national capital in a comprehensive, safe and scientific manner. The top court sought a report of experts and environmentalist on reducing the gigantic mounds of garbage at the sites at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla. The court had last week castigated the LG over his attitude of being "a superman" but doing nothing to get the "mountains of garbage" of the city cleared, with one of the dumping sites even reaching a height close to that of the Qutub Minar. In an affidavit filed on his behalf, Lt Gov Anil Baijal said "Immediately after assuming office on December 31, 2016, the LG visited the Bhalswa landfill site in January 2017, Okhla landfill site in February 2017, Ghazipur landfill site in later part of the year". Additional Solicitor General Pinky
Discovery to showcase a documentary on Thai cave rescue
The remarkable rescue operation of 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave is now the subject of a documentary. An international team of expert cave drivers pulled the children and their 25-year-old coach from a remote cave following a rescue operation that lasted three days. The young footballers -- in the age group of 11-16 -- were rescued on July 10 after being stuck inside the cave for 18 days. "Operation Thai Rescue" will be the first documentary to explore and unpack every angle of one of the most difficult and heart-palpitating rescues attempted in human history The one-hour special will air on Friday, July 20 at 9:00 pm IST on Discovery Channel, Discovery HD World, Discovery Turbo and Discovery Science The documentary has been produced in association with ITN Productions and will feature interviews with medical and mental health experts and world's leading cave diving rescue experts.
Naxals kill two villagers in Kanker
Two villagers were killed by suspected naxals in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, around 300 kms from here, police said today. The deceased have been identified as Chandru Kavde (40) and Milan Haldar (19), a local police officer told PTI. Kavde, who hails from naxal-affected Gadchiroli district in neighbouring Maharashtra, was reported to be abducted by naxals from his village yesterday, the officer said. He said Kavde's body was spotted by villagers in the forests in Baande area of Kanker this morning. A police team has been dispatched to the spot and the body is being brought for postmortem, according to the officer. Haldar was killed by naxals who accused him of being a police informer in Rengawahi village under Chootebethiya police station area, he said. A group of naxals had stormed into Rengawahi on the night of July 14 and abducted two villagers including Haldar, he said. The bullet-ridden body of Haldar was found in the nearby forest ...
Haryana to improve connectivity between Delhi, Gurugram
The Haryana government will initiate new projects to improve connectivity between national capital Delhi and adjoining Gurugram city, a minister said on Monday.
Rlys working on plan to cover distance between Nagpur and Mumbai in 5 hours: Goyal
The Railways is working on a plan to connect Nagpur and Mumbai through a high-speed corridor which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to just five hours, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said today. Goyal was in Nagpur to witness the signing of an MoU between the Railways and the Metro Railway Project Company of Maharashtra for linking the railway line to the metro network and creating a Mass Rapid Transit System. He said his ministry was planning to connect railway lines to national highways across the country. "One such proposal is to connect the NagpurMumbai Super Expressway (Samriddhi Mahamarg) to the railway line connecting Nagpur-Mumbai. The construction of such a high-speed corridor will make it possible to cover the distance between Nagpur and Mumbai in just five hours," he said. Currently, the minimum time a train takes to cover the distance between the two cities is around 13.2 hours. The MoU signing ceremony was witnessed by Union Minister of Road Transport, ...
