Page 696 - Environment
China's satellite to explore Moon's dark side successfully brakes for entry into orbit
China's relay satellite, on an ambitious lunar exploration mission, has successfully braked near the Moon, completing a vital step before entering a desired orbit, space officials said today. Queqiao, the 400-kg satellite which has a designed life of three years, was launched on Monday to enable a rover to communicate with the Earth from the Moon's mysterious far side, as part of the Communist giant's ambitious goal of being the first country to send such a probe. It braked 100 km above the surface of the Moon in line with instructions from a ground control centre in Beijing, and then entered a transfer orbit from the moon to the second Lagrangian (L2) point of the Earth-Moon system, the China National Space Administration said. "There was only a short window for the braking. And Queqiao had only one chance due to limited fuel," Zhang Lihua, project manager of the mission was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying. The relay satellite was launched on Monday to set up a ...
Sikkim govt issues advisory on Nipah
The Sikkim health department has issued an advisory urging the people of the state to take precaution against Nipah virus. "Though there is minimal possibility of Nipah virus in Sikkim, but the people need to take precaution," it said in an advisory yesterday in the wake of Nipah outbreak in Kerala. The symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, vomiting and fainting. Some may show symptoms of epilepsy. The symptoms may last 10-12 days followed by unconsciousness and death as a result of brain fever, the advisory said. It is advised to the people that they should not eat fruits and vegetables bitten by birds, bats and animals, wash their hands properly after contacting infected person and monitor fever cases with history of travel to the affected areas i.e. Kerala.
'Drone exercise to keep tab on encroachers in Aravalli mountains'
In view of protecting wildlife of the Aravalli ranges from encroachers, the Haryana government has come up with a plan of a drone survey of the mountains so that any non-forestry activity' can be prevented. The basic challenges for government agencies are to keep original status of forest areas and numbers of wildlife animals. So far, the forest department has no such tools to declare new encroachments consider to be non-forestry activities," Rao Narbir Singh, state forest and wildlife minister, said. "And to compete with these challenges, the Haryana government has come up with a surveillance plan for protection of forest and wildlife ecosystem in the Aravalli range of Gurgaon and Faridabad districts, he said. He said that the state government was going to do drone the survey of the Aravalli mountains to collect encroachment status and prepare a database. The drone will be equipped with photo and video cameras to ensure present status or the area and in case of any non-forestry ...
Coast Guard DG visits Mumbai, reviews operational preparedness
Coast Guard Director General Rajendra Singh was on a two day tour of Mumbai to review the infrastructure development and coastal security mechanism of the Western Coast. The visit, which ended today, was aimed at bolstering ties with all stake holders of the coastal security mechanism in Maharashtra, a Coast Guard spokesperson said. The Director General was briefed about the coastal security mechanism and preparedness of Coast Guard Region (West) to tackle maritime emergencies arising especially during monsoon, such as marine oil pollution, grounding of ship, cyclones etc. An insight into the regions infrastructural developments was also presented to the Director General. During the visit, the Flag Officer inaugurated the Coast Guard Sailors Residential Area at Tunga, Powai and laid the foundation stone for construction of sailors married accommodation at Borivili. This is a major milestone that has been achieved by Coast Guard Region (West) which will go a long way in .
MP issues advisory on Nipah virus
In the wake of the outbreak of Nipah virus in Kerala which claimed many lives, Madhya Pradesh Health Ministry issued an advisory on Friday.
Give up single-use plastic: Harsh Vardhan
Ahead of World Environment Day, being hosted by India this year, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today urged people to give up single-use plastic and said the fight against plastic menace did not require big actions, but only minor behavioural changes and adopting 'Green Good Behaviour'. World Environment Day (WED) celebrations will be held from June 1 to 5 in the national capital and across the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to chair the plenary session on June 5, where all the state environment ministers will also be present. The minister expressed confidence that a "perceptible and measurable" difference in the country would be brought about on plastic pollution and other environmental issues in the run-up to WED and appealed to the people to give up single-use plastic. "The fight against plastic menace did not require any big actions, but only minor behavioural changes to adopt Green Good Behaviour. Every individual has a Green Social Responsibility," he ...
Two suspected Nipah cases in Hyderabad, people asked to avoid Kerala
Two persons, including one who visited Kerala recently, were admitted to hospitals here with suspected Nipah virus infection even as the Telangana health authorities have advised people to avoid visiting Kerala.
Delhi will soon get peripheral highway to curb pollution
Delhi will soon get Eastern Peripheral Express-Highway which would not only ease the traffic but also reduce pollution levels considerably, said Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday."We are making an Eastern Peripheral Express-Highway which will cost around 11,000 crores and another 6,000 on land acquisition. The express- highway will be 135-km long and will help commuters from Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh as they will be able to travel without entering the city, further reducing the pollution levels" said Gadkari.He further claimed that the pollution levels will go down by 27 percent, while traffic would drop by 41 percent, with 50,000- 70,000 vehicles using the highway."The distance which usually takes 4 hours would take only 72 minutes," he added."The 6-lane access control highway will have four major bridges, 46 minor bridges, eight railways over-bridge, seven interchanges, 70 underpass, 151 pedestrian underpass, and three flyovers. The ...
PM lays foundation stone for Patratu Super Thermal Power Project
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone for the 2400 MW first phase of state-run power giant NTPC's Patratu Super Thermal Power Project in Jharkhand. The project is a 74: 26 joint venture between Government of Jharkhand (GoJ) and Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. (PVUN), a subsidiary company of NTPC establishing a total capacity expansion of 4,000MW, a power ministry statement said. Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh among others was present on the occasion. The NTPC's PVUNL is set to develop the project in two phases: 2,400 MW (3x800MW) in Phase-I and 1,600 MW (2x800 MW) in Phase-II, which will be developed later, the statement said. This project will allocate 85 per cent of the power to Jharkhand that will benefit the state in the long run and help in the economic growth of the region. Under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme, this project will ensure providing 24x7 power availability to households. The project ..
Modi urges Visva-Bharati University to develop 100 villages
Lauding the Visva-Bharati University for its rural construction programme in the neighbouring areas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the institution to bring 100 villages into its ambit by 2021 -- its centenary year.
Beas contamination: exec engineer, SDO suspended
The Punjab government today suspended an executive engineer and a sub divisional officer over the recent molasses spill into Beas river, which caused massive damage to aquatic life. The suspension of executive engineer Kuldeep Singh and Batala SDO Amritpal Singh Chahal comes a day after the state's pollution control board slapped a fine of Rs five crore on the private mill from where the molasses leaked. Punjab Environment Minister Om Prakash Soni said the two officials did not properly monitor the Kirri Afghana area which falls in their jurisdiction, leading to the spilling of the byproduct from Chadha sugar mills. A large number of fish were found dead on May 17 in the river near Beas town, about 40 km from the Amritsar. The contaminated water even entered Rajasthan through the Indira Gandhi Canal, prompting the authorities in that state to stop drinking water supply from the canal as a precautionary measure. The Punjab Pollution Control Board yesterday ordered the mill to deposit ..
Ker procures 50 doses of monoclonal antibody to combat Nipah
With the help of Indian Council of Medical Research and World Health Organisation, the Kerala government has procured about 50 doses of a monoclonal antibody from Australia to combat Nipah virus, state Health minister K K Shylaja said today. The antibody will be brought to the state soon, the minister told reporters here. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had written to the Queensland government in Australia asking it to provide the antibody developed there to test if it can "neutralise" the virus in humans. Speaking to the media after an all party meeting here, the minister said the situation, in the aftermath of the outbreak of the deadly virus, was under control. It has not spread throughout the state, she said. Measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the caregivers in hospital, she said, adding, steps have been taken to ensure that the virus does not spread to other areas. The steps taken by the government to combat the virus were reviewed at the .
Less snow leaves weasels exposed to predators: scientists
Fluffy white weasels that once frolicked in snowy fields unnoticed now have a target on their back thanks to global warming, scientists said today. It's a question of "camouflage mismatch". The population of white-coated Mustela nivalis nivalis in Poland's Bialowieza Forest, they found, has declined sharply as climate change reduced the number of snow-covered days by half in 50 years. Compared to the 1960s, snows in the forest's high-altitude regions disappear each year nearly a month earlier, and well before the nimble mammal's fur molts into earth-coloured tones. This exposes the weasel to foxes, wolves, raptors and other predators, the researchers reported in the journal Scientific Reports. "Climate change will strongly influence the mortality of the M. n. nivalis weasel due to prolonged camouflage mismatch," Kamal Atmeh from the University of Bordeaux and two colleagues in Poland concluded. Wearing a winter coat after the Spring thaw "may lead to local extinction." The common ...
Beekeeping to help in food security, sustainable development: Israel's envoy
Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon today said beekeeping is a tool to ensure food security and sustainable development. "It (beekeeping) not only empowers farmers but also boosts local and national economies," he said at an event here. "We are very proud to have cooperation with Haryana on beekeeping which can provide support for farmers across India in this integral field," he said. MASHAV, Israels Agency for international development cooperation, held a seminar at the Indo-Israeli centre of excellence for beekeeping here. Lectures and discussions were held on importance of maintaining healthy bee colonies and empowering beekeeping farmers. Over 110 beekeepers took part in the seminar. This year MASHAV chose to participate in marking the World Bee Day in order to raise awareness of the need for bee populations conservation and its importance for the entire ecosystem, an official release said here. The integrated beekeeping development centre in Haryana, established
Tuticorin copper plant issues: Harsh Vardhan says will look into it
Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today sought to blame the previous UPA regime for issues related to Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin and asserted that his ministry would look into the matter after 13 people were killed during protest against the expansion of the plant which, they alleged, was causing groundwater pollution. Amid allegations of environment pollution at the unit, sources in the ministry said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had sought a report on the matter. The minister also said that he had asked his officials to study the issue "with seriousness and in-depth". The Environment Ministry sources said that since there had been agitation and protests, either the district collector or somebody else should have had some consultations. The protest over Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit took a violent turn recently when stones were pelted by agitators and police vehicles were toppled after they were prevented from marching towards the plant. ..
Goa abattoir fails to restart as stunning gun develops snags
Goa's sole abattoir, which has been shut since October last year, could not restart after a new stunning gun, used as part of the animal slaughtering protocol, developed snags. The state's abattoir, called the Goa Meat Complex Limited (GMCL), is located at Usgao village. "The GMCL authorities yesterday asked us to bring animals for slaughtering as they had purchased a new stunning gun which is part of the slaughtering protocol. But when we got the animals, properly certified, for slaughter, we were told that the stunning gun had developed a technical snag," Quraishi Meat Traders Association of Goa (QMTAG) president Manna Bepari told PTI today. He said that the animals had to be then taken back. He said that non-functioning of the abattoir since October last year was resulting in a shortage of beef in Goa. "The actual requirement of beef in Goa is to the tune of 20-25 tonnes per day which can be met only if the state government-run GMCL starts functioning," Bepari said. He
Golden chapter in India, Bangladesh ties now: Modi
India and Bangladesh have scripted the golden chapter of their relations over the past few years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Friday.
Tests rule out bats as source of Nipah virus
Tests have ruled out bats being behind the spread of the Nipah virus that took 12 lives in Kerala's Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, officials said on Friday.
Nipah virus: Ker Tourism hit as tourists cancel bookings
The sudden outbreak of the Nipah virus in north Kerala has dashed the hopes of the state Tourism sector, which was expecting a huge inflow of domestic and Gulf holidayers in the coming months. The deadly virus has claimed 11 lives so far and reportedly affected some more people. The southern state is now witnessing wide cancellation of hotel bookings and tour packages and many holidayers are even demanding safety assurance from tour operators to visit 'God's Own Country', industry sources said. Many industry players blamed the media for blowing out of proportion the virus outbreak, which has affected only some districts. Though May-June-July-August months are generally considered off-season, the state used to witness large number of domestic tourists as well as those from Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE during the period. However, following the outbreak of the virus, some states and Gulf countries have cautioned against travelling to Kerala, they ...
Sterlite got green clearance after TN pollution panel nod: Official
The Union Environment Ministry had given clearance to the controversial Sterlite plant in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi after getting a go-ahead from the state pollution control board, an official said on Friday, dismissing the allegations that the Central government had directly cleared the copper smelting unit.
