Page 657 - Environment
French farmers block refineries, fuel depots over palm oil imports
PARIS (Reuters) - French farmers have blocked access to oil depots and refineries with tonnes of onions, wood and rubble, as part of a three-day protest over plans to allow Total to use imported palm oil at a biofuel plant.
Bengal rail projects to be taken up when land available: Goyal
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that his ministry would take up projects in West Bengal and provide enhanced capital for them, when the required land is available with the railways.
Lateral entry mechanism to improve productivity of govt depts: PHDCCI
The move to open up senior-level bureaucratic posts to people, even from the private sector, will improve the efficacy of government departments and lead to increased productivity, PHD Chamber of Commerce said today. The decision will also reduce the time taken in obtaining multiple clearances, the chamber added. The initiative is being called lateral recruitment to senior positions in the government. "The private sector employees and employees working in various autonomous bodies, institutions, universities, among others are not only well-versed in their fields but also aware of ground realities in their areas and hence would be able to contribute significantly to policy making. "It is therefore, a positive move as it will lead to increased productivity which shall reduce time taken in multiple clearances in government departments thereby facilitating ease of doing business in the economy," PHD Chamber of Commerce President Anil Khaitan said. A circular issued by the Department of ...
Rice exports may drop by up to 1 mt in FY19
The country's rice exports is likely to reduce by 0.5-1 million tonne (mt) in the current financial year due to a possible reduction in imports by Bangladesh, a report said here. In last financial year, the country's exports increased nearly 18 per cent year-on-year to 12.7 mt in FY18, due to increased demand for non-basmati rice from Bangladesh, Africa and Sri Lanka. The imports by Bangladesh are likely to reduce in 2018-2019, as its domestic output rebounds due to a crop recovery and expansion in area sown because of high prices in 2017, India Ratings said in its report here, adding as a result, India's exports could reduce by 0.5 mt to one mt. The country's exports may also reduce barring a recurrence of floods in Bangladesh, in light of the heavy pre-monsoon rains, the report said. Bangladesh accounted for around 15 per cent of India's total exports in last financial year, against only one per cent in FY17. The neighbouring country imported around 3.7 mt of rice ...
India gives Rs 99 mn to Nepal for installing shallow tube wells
India today extended a financial aid of Rs 99 million to Nepal for the construction of 2,700 shallow tube well irrigation systems in 12 districts of the country's southern Terai region to boost agricultural productivity. The assistance has been extended as part of the final payment for the Nepal-Bharat Maitri Irrigation Project, which was launched in January last year to boost growth to the Himalayan nation's agricultural sector through enhanced facilities. India's Ambassador to Nepal, Manjeev Singh Puri, handed over a cheque of 99.21 million Nepalese Rs (Indian Rs 61.93 million) to the country's Energy Secretary, Sanjay Sharma, at a function here, according to a press release issued by the Indian Embassy, Kathmandu. The project aimed at installing 2,700 shallow tube wells in Saptari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupendehi, Kapilvastu, Dang, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts. With today's aid, Indian has so far released a total of 227.6 million Nepalese rupees .
Dust-collectors to be installed in Punjab grain markets to curb air pollution
Lakhs of farmers and workers who frequent Punjab's grain markets face a major heath hazard due to the dust-laden air at these sites, but it will soon be a thing of the past with state pollution control board introducing a new machine to be installed in mechanical grain cleaners there. The polluted air is the main cause of respiratory and lung diseases among labourers, farmers and those living in the vicinity of the grain markets, Chairman of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) Kahan Singh Pannu said here today. The Board took air samples from 10 main grain markets of the state and found that RPMs (Respirable Particulate Matter) was five to eight times more than the prescribed limit of 100 microgram per cubic metre, he said. There are 50,000 mechanical grain cleaners in the grain markets of Punjab which produce a lot of dust and an an estimated six workers works on single machine. Thus, nearly three lakh workers are affected by dust pollution. The PPCB has developed a machines
BioCNG to be manufactured from paddy straw: Minister
The government is committed to free Punjab from pollution due to stubble burning and every possible effort is afoot for the same, state minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar said today. The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) is serious on the issue and is working consistently in this direction, the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy said. Currently, 20 million tons of paddy straw is produced in the state annually and 20 to 25 per cent of this is being used and the rest is burnt, Kangar said. He said five to six tons of biogas, bioCNG or bio-ethanol can be produced from the stubble being burned in the fields. Seven bio-mass power plants are already underway in the state, but now steps have been taken in the direction of Bio CNG/bio-ethanol from paddy straw, the minister said. The state has entered into an agreement with four big companies and has started work on setting up the plants, he said. He said with the commencement of these projects in Punjab, on one hand pollution from crop .
6-ft rat snake rescued from Agra Fort
A nearly six-foot rat snake was rescued from the control room of the sound-and-light show organised at the Mughal-era Agra Fort. The rescuing NGO, Wildlife SOS, kept the snake under observation for a few hours and later released it into the wild. "The Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department staff found a nearly six foot long rat snake amidst a pile of unused wires inside the control room. A three-member rescue team promptly arrived at the fort and after ensuring that the area was cordoned off, the team carefully transferred the snake into a safe transport container, " a statement by Wildlife SOS said.
30 places in Punjab to be made tourism, cultural hubs: Sidhu
The Punjab government has chalked out a road-map to transform and develop 30 places in the state as tourism and cultural hubs, state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said today. Thirty places of significance in the state would be developed as world-class tourism spots and Rs 590.97 crore would be spent to ensure Punjab emerges as a big player in the global tourism sector, he said here. Projects under various schemes have been chalked out to develop these places as centres of excellence from the point of view of tourism, Sidhu said. He said the holy city of Amritsar would be the centre of attraction in terms of tourism as 11 out of the 30 places are in and around it. These projects would come to fruition within a year and have facilities such as landscaping, restaurants, parking and toilets for the convenience of tourists, Sidhu said. The Punjab Tourism Minister said out of the Rs 590.97 crore, Rs 344 crore is loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the sanction for which has been ...
Ryots dress up as leopard, bear to flag wild animal attacks
It was no fancy dress competition when two people dressed up as a leopard and a bear turned up at the district collectorate here today. Rather, it was a novel protest by farmers to draw the attention of authorities to recurring problems they face from wild animals which stray into their forest fringe villages and attack the residents and damage crops. The group of farmers from areas such as Anakatti and Tholampalayam, under the banner of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association of CPI, came to the collectorate with two of them dressed up as the wild animal to present their problems during the grievances day. They submitted a memorandum appealing to District Collector T N Hariharan to order setting up of a special squad to monitor the movement of wild animals and protect the farmers and their crops. The farmers told reporters that wild animals strayed into their fields and damaged crops.
Jaguar moves Discovery production to Slovakia ahead of new Range Rover in UK
LONDON (Reuters) - Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said it will move all production of its Discovery car to Slovakia and make its next Range Rover in Britain, which could be the first vehicle with an electric or hybrid option it builds in its home market.
Failure to lock girders led to Varanasi bridge collapse: probe report
Failure to cast cross beams for locking the girders led to the collapse of a portion of a railway over-bridge (ROB) in Varanasi last month as the structure was left exposed to external forces, a probe into the incident, which left 15 dead in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, has found. The technical committee set up by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to go into the causes leading to the collapse submitted its report last week. The panel has also mentioned that uninterrupted traffic flow on the busy road was the main reason for generating vibrations that may have led to the collapse. The report, accessed by PTI, was submitted to Principal Secretary, PWD, Sanjay Agarwal, in the absence of the deputy chief minister who is presently admitted to a Delhi hospital. It states that five girders cast between pier 79 and pier 80 in the months of February-March 18 remained free as the required cross beams were not cast. Since free girders remained sensitive to .
Gadkari reviews progress of road and highway projects
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today reviewed the progress of the ongoing projects of his department in the country. He chaired a review meeting of the ongoing projects of the Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The NHAI functions under the ministry. The meeting will continue tomorrow also. "In all, 427 projects are being undertaken by the NHAI, while the Ministry of Road Transport is working on 369 projects - each of them costing Rs 100 crore and above," said a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB). The minister expressed unhappiness over the status of projects in Goa, it said. Goa PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar,officers from the ministry and the NHA and representatives from states were presented at the meeting. Out of the over 700 projects undertaken, 300 will be completed before March 2019, the statement quoted the ministry telling the meeting. "The minister took step by step and ...
Rapid rise in coal demand led to shortages 'feeling': Goyal
Union Minister Piyush Goyal today said rapid rise in coal demand has led to a "feeling" that there are shortages, amid concerns about inadequate supply of the dry fuel. Goyal, who holds the portfolios of coal and railways, also asserted that both ministries are working together to ensure that no power plant is shut on account of fuel shortages. Last month, the Delhi government had urged the Centre to direct the Railways to provide rakes for transporting coal to power plants in Delhi-NCR, which is facing "alarming level" of coal shortage. "As the demand (for coal) is growing very rapidly in the last eight or nine months the so-called feeling of shortages has crept in. But the coal ministry and the Railways Ministry are working together to ensure that at no point of time anybody losing the ability to generate power for lack of availability of coal," Goyal said here. The minister was addressing the media here on completion of four years of the BJP government at the Centre. Because of ...
Punjab to install 50,000 dust collectors in grain markets
Punjab is all set to counter dust pollution from grain markets across the state with installation of dust collectors on nearly 50,000 grain cleaning machines, thus providing relief to 300,000 directly-affected workers, it was announced on Monday.
2 arrested on charges of killing deer in Jharkhand
Two persons were arrested for allegedly killing a deer that strayed into a village from a forest in West Singhbhum district, forest officials said today. The deer was killed yesterday in Pachasai village under the jurisdiction of Noamundi police station, the officials said, adding that the accused were arrested yesterday as well. The deer had strayed into the village from the nearby Saranda forest, they said, adding that perhaps the deer was in search of water. Some youths of the village, after spotting the deer, chased it for quite sometime and had managed to capture it alive with the help of some labourers who were working near the village, Forest Ranger of Noamundi area of Saranda forest Anand Bihari Singh said. Promising the labourers that they would hand over the deer to the Forest Department, the youths of the village kept the deer in their possession, Singh said. The villagers then killed the deer to have a feast, he said. Singh also said that as soon as the Forest Department ..
PM to dedicate to nation SAIL's expanded steel plant at Bhilai on June 14
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the modernised and expanded plant of state-run steel maker SAIL at Bhilai, on Thursday. Bhilai is Steel Authrity of India Ltd's (SAIL) largest plant and major producer and supplier of rails for Indian Railways including 260 metre long rails. "Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to dedicate SAIL's modernised and expanded Bhilai Steel Plant, Bhilai Chhattisgarh" to the nation on June 14, a SAIL official said. This would be the third plant of SAIL which the prime minister will dedicate to the nation. In 2015, he had dedicated Rourkela and IISCO steel plants. SAIL had undertaken about Rs 70,000 crore modernisation and expansion of its integrated steel plants. The capacity to produce rails at Bhilai steel plant has reached 2 MTPA from 0.8 MTPA after modernisation. Bhilai is also a major producer of large variety of wide and heavy steel plates and structural steel. With an annual production capacity of 3.153 MT of saleable steel, ...
REPL gets consultancy work for Dehradun smart city project
Infrastructure consultancy firm REPL today said it has been appointed as project management consultant for Dehradun smart city. Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) has awarded the project management consultancy (PMC) assignment to Delhi-based REPL, a company statement said. Dehradun's area based development (ABD) envisions to retrofit and redevelop 875 acres centred on central business district (CBD) of Dehradun and transform into a light-house for the city and to showcase as a smart neighbourhood. REPL will design, develop and manage smart city project, which will be monitored and controlled by the SPV --Dehradun Smart City Ltd (DSCL). The company will assist the DSCL in various phases of project implementation. This will include activities such as preparation of DPR, coordination with various appointed consultants, project prioritisation and phasing, preparing capital investment plan, implementation roadmap, conducting feasibility study, bid process management for ...
Your choice in non-vegetarian matters
Turns out when it comes to the options of meat and seafood, the choice matters - Not just for your but for the environment as well.According to a study conducted by the University of Washington, industrial beef production and farmed catfish are the most taxing on the environment, while small, wild-caught fish and farmed mollusks like oysters, mussels and scallops have the lowest environmental impact.The study authors believed it is the most comprehensive look at the environmental impacts of different types of animal protein production."From the consumer's standpoint, choice matters," said lead author Ray Hilborn. "If you're an environmentalist, what you eat makes a difference. We found there are obviously good choices and really obvious bad choices."The study is based on nearly a decade of analysis, in which the co-authors reviewed hundreds of published life-cycle assessments for various types of animal protein production.Also called a 'cradle-to-grave' analysis, these assessments ...
Tata Power bags 150 MW solar project in Maharashtra
Tata Power today said it has bagged the contract for setting up a 150-MW solar project in the state from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL). The company's subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy (TPREL) has bagged the contract and will sign a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with MSEDCL, a release said. This project is a part of MSEDCL's 1,000 MW grid connected solar power projects for which the state utility had invited bids through competitive bidding process and e-reverse auction for a period of 25 years. "Renewables is a focus area for us and we are looking at expanding in this space, especially solar. As we move forward, with the new technology coming in, we expect to do further improvement in PLFs (plant load factors)," Tata Power chief executive officer and managing director Praveer Sinha said in the release. Tata Power's vision is to have 35-40 per cent of the company's total generation capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by ..
