Page 695 - Environment
No trace of Nipah virus in HP, no need to panic: Officer
There has been no information about the spread of Nipah virus beyond two districts of Kerala, Himachal Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary of Health B K Aggarwal said here today and appealed to the residents of the hilly state not to panic. Aggarwal held a meeting with officers of Health, Animal Husbandry, Forest and Horticulture departments on the issue today. Reports of dead bats being found on the premises of a government school in Himachal Pradesh created panic in the state. The samples from bats found dead in Himachal Pradesh, which were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, have been found negative, the officer said. He advised the people not to panic about the Nipah virus, and said all medical colleges in the state were prepared to deal with any eventuality.
Nipah scare pushes several states to issue alerts
Nipah virus may not have spread beyond Kerala but its scare has spread across the country with several states investigating suspicious cases and issuing advisories on precautions and travel to Kerala.
Mahanadi Bachao Andolan holds 'Jal Satyagrah' during PM visit
Activists of the Mahanadi Bachao Andolan today staged a silent 'Jal Satyagrah' at Jobra during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city to address a public meeting. The members of the unit stood in knee-deep waters of the Mahanadi, seeking Modi's intervention in resolving the river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh. "We welcome the prime minister to Odisha. Mahanadi is the lifeline of Odisha and he is holding a public meeting on the river bed. At present, the river is in a precarious state and is dying a slow death due to the closure of gates of Kalma barrage," MBA Convenor Sudarsan Das said. Modi today hit out at the ruling BJD government in Odisha, accusing it of misleading people by sparking a row over the Mahanadi river water. "Odisha government is misleading people... a glaring example is Mahanadi river water row raked up by it," he said at the public meeting at the Bali Jatra ground on the banks of the river here.
BJD misleading people in Odisha by sparking Mahanadi row: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hit out at the ruling BJD government in Odisha, accusing it of misleading people by sparking a row over the Mahanadi river water. "Odisha government is misleading people... a glaring example is Mahanadi river water row raked up by it," Modi said at a public meeting at the Bali Jatra ground on the banks of the river here. The state government, which has "failed" to discharge its responsibilities, had itself admitted on the floor of the state Assembly that more than half of the Mahanadi river water was flowing into the Bay of Bengal and going waste, he said. When the Centre tried to resolve the issue through discussion, the Odisha government did not cooperate and went on the back foot, the prime minister alleged. He accused the state government of having "miserably failed" in implementing various irrigation projects. Apart from Mahanadi, the BJD government has also failed to properly utilise the water resources of around five other major rivers, .
Two kites suffering severe heat exhaustion rescued from PMO: Wildlife body
A wildlife body today claimed that two kites were rescued from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office after the birds collapsed due to severe heat exhaustion and dehydration. Wildlife SOS, in a statement, said that its veterinarians were providing care to the birds. It said that with temperatures touching up to 45 degrees celsius in the national capital, the blistering summer heat has already started showing its drastic impact on wildlife species including the avian population. Two kites were found lying unconscious in the Prime Minister's Office at the South Block. Patrol officials chanced upon the birds and immediately contacted Wildlife SOS. The wildlife conservation NGO dispatched two rescuers to the office and carefully shifted the distressed birds to a transport container designed for the purpose and rushed to their recovery facility. The birds are currently under observation and will be released back into its natural habitat post recovery, it said. In Delhi-NCT this month, ...
PM to inaugurate Eastern Peripheral Expressway tomorrow
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will inaugurate the Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) expressway, also known as Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).The inaugural ceremony will be held at the District Sports stadium of Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.The 135-km expressway is India's first smart and green highway and is built at a cost of Rs. 11,000 crore.The EPE is also the country's first highway to be lit by solar power and at every 500 metres, the arrangement of rainwater harvesting has been done on both sides of the expressway.Replicas of 36 monuments of the country have been established at the gallery on both the side.Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said the expressway will bring down the pollution level in the national capital by 27 percent."If people from Himachal Pradesh want to visit Uttar Pradesh or someone from Rajasthan wants to visit Himachal Pradesh, they can now straight go to that place. They do not need to enter Delhi," Gadkari said.
It is not possible to ensure quality of life without electricity: Vice President
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today said it was not possible to ensure quality of life without electricity and asserted that renewable sources of energy should be explored. "People must make efficient and effective use of electricity as it is not renewable," Naidu said while addressing a gathering here. The vice-president was in the Uttar Pradesh capital to inaugurate a building of the state electricity regulatory commission. He also called on people to explore the possibility of new and renewable sources of energy. If electricity is to be given to every household, then it will have to be made so cheap that the consumer is not burdened, Naidu said. The vice-president also said it was time that one considers regulating the demand for electricity apart from focusing on energy supply aspects such as production and distribution. He said that sources of energy resources are limited and "we should bring basic improvements in our lifestyle and make the environment energy efficient". The ...
AAP leader on indefinite fast demanding farm loan waiver in MP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Madhya Pradesh convener Alok Agarwal today started an indefinite fast here demanding a loan waiver for farmers, lowering of power tariffs and creation of jobs. Addressing AAP workers at Yadgar-e- Shahejahani Park here, Agarwal said the indefinite fast was to press for demands including loan waiver for farmers, cutting power tariffs by half and providing jobs for the unemployed. "We will continue the fast till our demands are accepted," announced Agarwal. He added that the fast had nothing to with the state Assembly polls slated for later this year. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to implement the Swaminathan Commission report and provide farmers with MSP one-and-half times the cost of production. But nothing has been done so far," he said. Agarwal said that despite being a power surplus state, 26 lakh homes in Madhya Pradesh did not have electricity. He demanded that the power tariff in the state should be halved and electricity bills .
Endangered soft-shell turtles seized in Bengal
West Bengal's CID on Saturday seized a consignment of endangered Indian soft-shell turtles having market value of almost Rs 20 lakh from the state's Howrah district, according to an official statement.
5 Iranian migrants found drifting off French coast
Five Iranian migrants attempting to reach Britain aboard a makeshift boat were rescued today morning off the northern coast of France, officials said. They were found around at 0600 GMT in a state of hypothermia and were treated by emergency services when brought back to land in Boulogne-sur-Mer, according to the maritime authorities. "These crossings are extremely risky and dangerous, despite the apparent proximity of the English coast from the French coast," the prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said in statement. The five Iranians set off in a non-powered inflatable boat and lost their oars in calm seas but with poor visibility due to the haze. They were found after five hours of searching by a Navy aircraft 8.5 nautical miles (16 km) north of Cape Gris-Nez, halfway to England, and then rescued by the National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM). On May 19, a Colombian national was found suffering from hypothermia by sea rescuers in the same area while trying to reach England ...
Nipah death toll touches 12, samples of fruit eating bats
The death toll due to Nipah rose to 12 in Kerala, with one more person succumbing to the deadly virus here today. The deceased, 75-year-old Kalyani, was undergoing treatment at the Medical college here since May 16, official sources said. Two days ago, 61-year-old V Moosa had died of the virus infection. Two members of his family had died earlier of the virus. His eldest son had also died, but his samples were not tested. Lini Puthussery,a nurse who had initially treated members of Moosa's affected family members at Perambra Taluk hospital in the district, also died after being infected by the virus. About 160 samples were sent for tests to the National Virology Institute (NVI) Pune and 15 cases tested positive, health department sources said. Of the 15 confirmed cases, 12 people have died so far. With samples of insectivores bats testing negative for the virus, samples of fruit-eating bats are being collected from nearby Perambra, the epicenter of the Nipah virus, to be .
'UNEP happy to recognise CIAL as world's 1st fully solar
The United Nations Environment Programme is happy to recognise Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) as the world's first fully solar energy-powered airport, its global chief Erik Solheim said today. "We are very happy to do it," he said when asked whether UNEP was ready to recognise CIAL as the world's first solar powered airport. "I really want to go around the world and speak about the success story (of CIAL)," the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme said. "If an airport in Kerala can run on solar power, why can't we do that in terminals in other countries?" he asked. He hailed the airport, through which more than 10 million people travel each year, for making considerable monetary savings through its solar power plants. The power plant is accompanied by a solar farm, with vegetables grown below and between solar panels. Solheim said solar energy reduces pollution and can compete with coal powered power plants in terms of expenses. The price of solar ...
CID seizes 2,499 turtles in West Bengal, four detained
The West Bengal CID today seized 2,499 turtles from Dhulagarh area and detained four persons in this connection, a senior official said. Acting to a tip-off, CID sleuths along with officials of the Wild Life Crime Control Bureau and the state forest department, intercepted a truck and seized 92 boxes containing the turtles, including 700 dead Indian soft shell turtles, he said. The turtles have been sent to the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre in Salt Lake. The death of the turtles was caused mainly because of "improper" and "unhealthy" manner of transportation, he said. "This is most probably the highest recovery of turtles in West Bengal and second highest in the country as reported by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau," the CID officer said, adding, the market value of the turtles could be worth around Rs 20,00,000.
Guj to announce waste water reuse policy on Monday: Rupani
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today said the state government's waste water reuse policy will be announced on Monday. "We need to understand that without water, development is not possible. The state government has been working on a policy, whereby recycled water can be used by municipalities and corporations. This policy will be announced on Monday," he said. Rupani was here to attend function of deepening of a pond in Chhani locality on the city outskirts as part of the ongoing 'Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan', a water conservation programme. "The purpose behind formulating the waste water recycling policy is to reuse that water for industrial purposes and gardening, while clean and pure water could be used for meeting the drinking water requirement of the people in the state," he said. According to Rupani, the 5,500-kmlong Narmada canal network has been cleaned and repaired and 32 rivers are being revived and rejuvenated. The Gujarat government hopes to ...
Dead bats in Himachal not infected with Nipah virus: Official
Tests in the National Institute of Virology in Pune have ruled out bats, found dead in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district, were carrying the Nipah virus, an official said on Saturday.
Mars rocks from lake beds may reveal signs of past life
Iron-rich rocks -- which formed in lake beds -- are the best place to seek fossil evidence of life on Mars from billions of years ago, researchers say.
Nipah virus: Samples of fruit-eating bats to be sent for testing
Samples of fruit-eating bats are being collected from nearby Perambra, the epicentre of the Nipah virus that has claimed 11 lives so far, and would be sent for testing at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal. Experts from the National Institute of Virology, Pune and departments of Animal Husbandry and Forest have begun collecting the samples which would be sent to NIHSAD, to test for presence of the virus in the fruit-eating bats, Dr N N Sasi, the Director Animal Husbandry, told PTI. Earlier, samples of three insectivorous bats caught from an unused well of the Moosa family, which lost three members to Nipah virus, were sent to the Bhopal laboratory along with samples of pigs, goats and cattle in the 5 km radius of the affected area and all of them tested negative, he said. "We are trying to catch fruit-eating bats from the perambra region now," Sasi said. According to an official, the droppings, urine and secretions of the bats will also be sent .
Keep environment safety in Concurrent List, Tripura CM urges Centre
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb has urged the central government to keep the conservation and protection of environment in the Concurrent List of constitution instead of only in the Union List, an official said on Saturday.
Crocodile rescued from pond released in River Chambal
A 6-year-old crocodile has been caught alive from a pond near here, and later released in the River Chambal, after it had caused panic and fear among locals for a week.
Manipur gets first solar toilet
Manipur has become the first state in the Northeast and the third state in India to have solar toilets, which were inaugurated at Ibudhou Marjing hill Heingang by Tourism Director, Waikhom Ibohal last week."I met an entrepreneur while attending a global summit in Guwahati recently where I was introduced to the technology of solar toilets. I immediately thought of using such toilets in Manipur," said Ibohal.He mentioned that if the initial projects are successful then he might install such solar toilets in almost all tourist spots across the State.The founder, (Ravikas Maitri) Ravi Senji, along with a dealer in Manipur came together and worked on setting up these solar toilets on a trial basis in the State.The solar panel, connected to the toilets, absorb the heat to generate power and are also efficient to transform waste material as claimed by the founder.Ravi Senji, based in Chennai, had informed that the solar toilet is the third project that has been installed in Manipur. Earlier
