Page 7 - Environment

Meeting of rubber-producing nations discusses need to mechanise sector

The need for collective efforts to address issues of natural rubber-producing countries, such as mechanisation of the sector, increased labour costs and environmental problems, was discussed at a meeting here on Monday. Discussions on topics relevant to the sector, including the current global scenario post-COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, were also held as part of the annual meeting of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), a statement said. India's Rubber Board chairman Sawar Dhanania inaugurated the meeting, the theme of which was 'Natural Rubber Industry: Challenges and Policy Options in the 21st Century'. Addressing the programme, Dhanania said the association should prioritise issues common for all and formulate appropriate policies. Mechanisation of the sector, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, strengthening of the supply chain and value addition for rubber wood will ensure the existence of rubber farmers everywhere, he ...

Greenwashing in India Inc: Environment scores create a sense of suspicion

Companies' disclosures should be verified by a single unit under Sebi to avoid disparity in methods

PM Modi is leader of the world in environment, says Israeli diplomat

Shoshani actively participated in the cleanliness, and cleaned the beach with broom and also picked up the garbage with his hands to put into a dustbin

Gurdaspur district launches novel initiative to curb stubble burning

Stop stubble burning and get special treatment at government offices. The Gurdaspur district administration has come up with this novel idea to curb crop residue burning, one of the major reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution in the national capital region in October and November. Farmers who abstain from stubble burning will be recognised as environment protectors ('vatavaran de rakhe') and given appreciation certificates. By showing it, they can avoid queues at government offices. Not just farmers, villages which report zero stubble burning in the harvesting season will also get the 'vatavaran de rakhe' certificates and will be prioritised for any development project. The window for sowing wheat, a Rabi crop, is very short after paddy harvest. Hence, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear the crop residue and prepare the sowing of the next crop. With about 31 lakh hectares of paddy sowing area, Punjab produces around 180 lakh to 200 lakh tonnes of paddy st

If Mother Nature were to come calling

Even as the world grapples with escalating climate crises, corporate priorities in India continue to favour optics over genuine environmental action in their brand building effort

PM's 'global talk' on environment at G20 at odds from 'local walk': Cong

The Congress on Sunday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on environment at the G20 Summit as "sheer hypocrisy", and claimed his "global talk" is completely at odds from the "local walk". Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the Modi government of comprehensively dismantling India's environmental protections and snatching away the rights of the most vulnerable communities dependent on forests. "The PM's statements at the G20 and other summits globally are sheer hypocrisy. While destroying protections for India's forests and biodiversity, and diluting the rights of Adivasis and forest-dwelling communities, he talks of environment, climate action and equity. "The 'Global Talk' is completely at odds from the 'Local Walk'," Ramesh said in a statement. He said during a Doordarshan chat with students in 2014, the prime minister had said, The climate has not changed, we have changed. "The self-styled Vishwaguru has come a long way in hypocrisy.The prime minister has used the

G20 Summit: Global Biofuel Alliance & other initiatives launched by India

Global Biofuel Alliance, G20 Satellite Mission for Environment and Climate Observation, and Green Credit Initiative among initiatives launched under India's G20 Summit presidency

India will move ahead taking fusion of progress, environment forward: Lekhi

India will move ahead taking the fusion of progress, environment and culture forward, Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi said on Monday. Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised here by the Balipara Foundation of Assam and Conservation International, the minister of state for external affairs said there can be no culture without nature. "Protecting nature is our culture and that is what one needs to understand. India will move ahead taking the fusion of progress, environment and culture forward," she said. Lekhi said responsible consumption has to be linked to consumption patterns. "Simply talking about it will not help. It is also about responsible living, responsible consumption patterns, and that is where we will link it to life and sustain the environment and we will be able to fortify our actions," she said. The Great People's Forest of the Eastern Himalayas, one of the most significant conservation efforts in the history of South Asia, was launched at the event. The Grea

India could lose groundwater by 3 times the current rate by 2080: Study

The rate of groundwater depletion could triple by 2080, if Indian farmers continued to draw groundwater at the current rate, which could threaten the country's food and water security, according to a new study. Warming climate has compelled farmers in India to adapt by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation, the study led by the University of Michigan, US, found. As a result, the reduced water availability could endanger the livelihoods of more than one-third of the country's 1.4 billion residents and thus, could have global implications, the study published in the journal Science Advances said. "This is of concern, given that India is the world's largest consumer of groundwater and is a critical resource for the regional and global food supply," said senior author Meha Jain, assistant professor at the university's School for Environment and Sustainability. The study analysed recent changes in withdrawal rates due to warming by looking at historical data on

Indian, Japanese bodies partner on waste management, environment research

The Kolkata-based International Society of Waste Management, Air and Water (ISWMAW) and the Kyoto Beyond SDGs consortium of Japan have inked an agreement on academic, research and industry collaboration between the two Asian countries on various environmental issues. ISWMAW president Sadhan Kumar Ghosh said twenty students from India and 20 others from Japan will also visit each other's country as part of an exchange programme. He said 47 educational institutes are involved in the exercise - 40 in West Bengal and seven in Japan. The MoU was signed for establishing partnerships focussing on sustainable development goals to develop human resource exchanges and information exchange and research collaboration among the industry, academia and government. "Apart from visiting different academic institutions and places of interest and participating in different programmes, every visiting student will be put up at the house of a Japanese friend of his age as part of the initiative to know

No one should teach us about environment: Goa Minister on tiger reserve

Goa Minister Subhash Phal Desai on Saturday spoke on the issue of declaring the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and surrounding areas as a tiger reserve by claiming "no one should teach us on how to protect the environment". The Goa Bench of Bombay High Court last month ordered that the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and surrounding areas be declared as a tiger reserve. Phal Desai said the state government has already decided to challenge the HC order. Speaking about the tiger reserve issue, Phal Desai said at least 600 people from his constituency will have to be displaced after the areas are declared as a tiger reserve, adding that people living in the forest are already facing difficulties due to notification of Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary. "We can't face more difficulties. Right now even to construct houses on our own properties in these areas, we have to struggle to get permissions from the forest authorities," he claimed. "People living in the forest areas have respect for the environ

MoEFCC asked to ensure framework on industrial residue is implemented

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to "clarify and take immediate measures" to identify material generated from industrial processes or production residue as either waste or as a by-product. The tribunal was hearing a matter regarding the non-implementation of the 'Framework on Identification of Materials Generated from Industrial Processes as Wastes or By-Products' issued by the Central Pollution Control Board. The framework was issued in September 2019 after an NGT order. Its purpose was to ensure that no hazardous waste was categorised as a by-product of production and escape the strict scrutiny of the Hazardous and Other Waste Management (HOWM) Rules, 2016. According to the plea, the framework did not establish when a material generated from any production process should be considered a "by-product" and when it should be considered "waste." Thus, the purpose for issuing it stood defeated, it said. In a

Atmanirbhar Bharat will be complete if we care about environment: WB Guv

West Bengal Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose on Friday said the concept of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self reliant India) will be complete only if we care about the environment and address climate change. Bose was addressing an event at Raj Bhavan here to launch three books of his Goa counterpart P S Sreedharan Pillai. "Atmanirbhar Bharat will be complete only if we care about the environment and trees and address climate change," Bose said. He referred to one of the books launched titled 'Heritage Trees of Goa' and said it would resolve the "grave issue of climate catastrophe that has enveloped the world". He hailed Pillai for successfully handling all his assignments in life, including being a lawyer, writer, politician and governor. Speaking on the occasion, Pillai said, "Our culture is not only human-centric as is the case of Western society. We don't view nature as something to be exploited. Our philosophy is acentric and embraces all living organisms." Pillai's two other books, 'When

Jairam Ramesh criticises Modi govt for hastily changing the Forest status

Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday took a swipe at the Centre after the Odisha government reportedly withdrew its controversial "deemed forest" order, saying that in its hurry to do away with 'deemed' forests, the Modi government has actually "doomed forests". Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which said that the Odisha government has withdrawn a controversial order issued on August 11, which told district officials that 'deemed forests' as a category would cease to exist under the recently amended Forest Act. "After Parliament passed the dangerous amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 last week, which many, including me, had warned against, the Odisha government was quick to pass orders that 'deemed' forests would no longer be considered as forests," Ramesh said. "Now the Union Ministry says the state's order is withdrawn. Confusion galore. In its hurry to do away with 'deemed' forests, the Modi government has actually

Environmentalists in bulk quit Twitter after Musk takeover, research finds

Nearly half the environmentalists active on Twitter, now X, left the platform in the 6-months following Musk's takeover, researchers found and say this could have serious implications for public discourse surrounding issues such as biodiversity, climate change, and natural disaster recovery. The researchers studied a group of 3,80,000 "environmentally-oriented users" on Twitter, that included people from the conservation community active in pro-environmental discussions on topics like climate change and biodiversity. Only 52.5 per cent of these environmental users were found to be actively using Twitter in the 6-month period after Musk took over the microblogging platform. Users were considered "active" if they posted on the platform at least once within a 15-day period. Twitter, purchased by Elon Musk in October 2022, had previously served as the leading social media platform for environmental discourse. "Twitter has been the dominant social media platform for diverse environmenta

Parliament passes amendment Bill to decriminalise biodiversity offences

Parliament on Tuesday passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which entails provisions for sharing benefits of biodiversity commerce with locals and also decriminalises biodiversity offences. The bill, which amends the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, was passed in Rajya Sabha with a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had cleared the legislation on July 25. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said the bill is aimed at providing benefits to tribal and local communities by simplifying processes. "We also want to promote Ayush and Ayurved and for that purpose we brought this amendment," he said. "With the legislation the government is simplifying the compliance burden while encouraging a conducive environment for research and investment," Yadav said. The bill would also help in simplifying the patent application process, he added. "The main objective is to widen the scope of access benefit sharing with local communities, which is the main t

Need to maintain balance between development and environment, says SC

The Supreme Court has emphasised the need for maintaining a balance between development and environment, and said it would hear a matter relating to the Shimla Development Plan on August 11. The Himachal Pradesh government notified the draft Shimla Development Plan last month to regulate construction activities there. A plea pertaining to the issue came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and J B Pardiwala on Friday. The bench said it would examine the plan, keeping in view that a balance needs to be maintained between development and environment. It listed the matter for hearing on August 11. The top court was hearing a plea arising out of a November 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had passed a slew of directions while noting that unplanned and indiscriminate development in the core, non-core, green and rural areas within the Shimla planning area had given rise to serious environmental and ecological concerns. The plan was approved by the .

G20 ministers reach agreement on most climate issues: Bhupendar Yadav

Environment Minister Bhupendar Yadav on Friday said the G20 climate ministers' meeting in Chennai on Friday wrapped up with success, with the countries agreeing on 64 out of 68 issues. However, the chair's summary of the meeting highlighted the lack of unity among nations on key issues crucial for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius such as phasing down unabated fossil fuels, increasing renewable energy, and providing low-cost financing for developing countries. The meeting comes after the bloc, responsible for 85 per cent of the world's GDP and 80 per cent of the emissions, failed to reach a consensus on tripling renewable energy capacity to 11,000 gigawatts by 2030, phasing down the unabated use of fossil fuels and plans to finance the transition during the Energy Ministerial Meeting held in Goa last week. According to the chair's summary, which spells out the issues that lacked agreement, the bloc discussed accelerating the scaling up of renewable energy, tripling of .

Environmental conservation key concern for 21st century: President Murmu

Threats of environmental degradation, depletion in forest cover, global warming and climate change are at the centre stage in the global discourse and partnerships making environmental conservation a key concern for the 21st century, President Droupadi Murmu said on Monday. Addressing the probationers of Indian Forest Service (2022 batch) and officers and officer trainees of Indian Defence Estates Service (2018 and 2022 batch) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, she said their journey as civil servants has begun at a time when India is acquiring a leadership role at global level. "India attracts global attention for its cultural prosperity as well as its technological advancements. India has shown to the world that technology and traditions can go hand in hand," she said. Addressing the probationers of Indian Forest Service (IFS), the President said India's climate and topography is closely connected to its forest distribution. "Forests and the wildlife that they support are invaluable resource

PNB launches 'Project PNB PALAASH' for environmental sustainability

Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Monday announced the launch of its environmental initiative 'PNB Palaash', an eight-month period campaign to embrace sustainability. The campaign would lead to cost savings and operational efficiencies through measures such as energy and resource conservation, paper reduction, waste management and streamlined digital processes, PNB said in a statement. Acknowledging the need for integrating sustainability into every aspect of lives, PNB managing director Atul Kumar Goel said, "As a leading bank in the industry, undertaking environment-friendly initiatives not only aligns with our corporate social responsibility but also presents significant opportunities for business growth." The primary objective of this project is to actively contribute to conservation endeavours, foster the adoption of sustainable practices, and promote active employee engagement, he said. Under this initiative, it said, one lakh plus employees of PNB will plant minimum two saplings