Page 718 - Environment
Probe begins into Varanasi flyover collapse
A probe into the collapse of an under-construction flyover here in Uttar Pradesh that killed 15 people began on Wednesday, officials said.
Rly manufactures bricks out of waste soil to cut costs, curb pollution
In a first, the railways has started producing bricks out of waste soil in a manufacturing unit in Manipur as part of its ambitious project to provide Imphal rail connectivity. The railways, whose primary mandate is to run trains, has taken up manufacturing work of this nature at a project site to curb pollution and cut costs. 3,500 bricks would be produced every eight hours as part of the process. The Northeast Frontier Railway with the help of NIT Silchar is turning the excess excavated soil into bricks that are being used for protective works of bridges, pitching of slopes, steps for going down along the embankment and lining of drains. "The construction of the railway alignment through the hilly terrain entails excavation of huge quantities of earth (soil). The excess excavated soil is generally dumped into low-lying areas which eventually flows into the streams and then the rivers causing high water pollution. "In an underdeveloped state like Manipur, many villagers consume water
India's economic expansion to boost mining: President
India's GDP and larger developmental process will gain momentum over the coming decades and in turn bolster the mining and minerals sector, President Ram Nath Kovind said today. He also asserted that eventually the local communities must benefit from the discovery, extraction and development of mineral resources. The reform process set in motion in the mining sector four years ago is bearing rich dividends and will enhance the fiscal health of states, Kovind said at the National Geoscience awards event here. "India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. Our GDP as well as our larger developmental process is set to accelerate over the coming decades. The mining and mineral sector is poised to grow as a result of this expansion of the economy. At the same time, it will also be a driver of economic expansion," he said. India's per capita consumption of many resources and commodities is still very low by global standards and there is room to grow, he said, adding that
RLD chief Ajit Singh slams Centre, UP govt for 'neglecting' farmers
Rashtriya Lok Sal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh has lambasted the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government for not fulfilling their promises of providing relief to sugarcane farmers. Despite assurances from the Centre, sugarcane farmers were yet to get their dues from sugar mill, Singh said at an event to mark the seventh death anniversary of farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait at the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) headquarters in Sisoli yesterday. The BJP government had promised to clear payments every 14 days, he said. The RLD leader also criticised the Centre for its sugarcane import policy, which has directly affected farmers and said ripe sugarcane crop was not being purchased from farmers. Their fields are full of sugarcane but the government is not buying them the farmers need the land to sow other crops as well, Singh said. Calling upon the farming community to stand united, Singh credited Tikait for protecting the interests of Indian farmers.
Britain's strategy to meet climate change targets not sufficient: lawmakers
LONDON (Reuters) - The British government's Clean Growth Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will not be enough to meet legally binding climate change targets, a committee of cross-party lawmakers said on Wednesday.
Govt clears coal linkage methodology for power producers
The government today said it has finalised the methodology for rationalisation of coal linkages for independent power producers (IPP). Under the new methodology, dry fuel can be supplied to IPP plants by a coal company other than the one with which they have signed the pact. The methodology was approved on the basis of the recommendations of a an inter-ministerial task force to optimise transportation cost, among other benefits. "Coal linkage rationalisation shall be an exercise in which the coal linkage of a TPP (thermal power plant) of an IPP may be transferred from one Coal Company to another based on the availability during the fiscal and future coal production plan of the coal company," the Ministry of Coal said in a statement. It said an Inter-Ministerial Task Force (IMTF) was constituted to undertake a comprehensive review of existing coal sources of IPPs having linkages and consider the feasibility for rationalisation of these sources with a view to optimise transportation ...
Tiny NASA satellite maps global ice clouds
A tiny NASA satellite - about size of a loaf of bread - has created the first global map of ice clouds. Deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) last year, IceCube is testing instruments for their ability to make space-based measurements of the small, frozen crystals that make up ice clouds. Ice clouds start as tiny particles high in the atmosphere. Absorbing moisture, the ice crystals grow and become heavier, causing them to fall to lower altitudes. Eventually, the particles get so heavy, they fall and melt to form rain drops. The ice crystals may also just stay in the air. Like other clouds, ice clouds affect Earth's energy budget by either reflecting or absorbing the Sun's energy and by affecting the emission of heat from Earth into space. Thus, ice clouds are key variables in weather and climate models. Measuring atmospheric ice on a global scale remains highly uncertain because satellites have been unable to detect the amount of small ice particles inside the clouds, ..
Tiny NASA satellite maps global ice clouds
A bread loaf-sized satellite has captured the first global picture of the small frozen particles inside clouds, normally called ice clouds, NASA has said.
'Seals helping predict Antarctic ice sheet melt'
Seals found in Antarctic seas are helping scientists to make more accurate predictions about how rapidly the ice sheet is melting. Scientists tagged two seal species with devices to collect data about the temperature and salinity of waters around vulnerable ice sheets in West Antarctica, according to the findings published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The team at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK has been investigating ways of studying warm, salty, deep water in the Amundsen Sea, in the Southern Ocean. Understanding more about how this water gets towards the ice shelves by measuring its temperature, salinity and depth, will help climate change modellers make more accurate predictions about how rapidly the Antarctic ice sheet is melting, they said. As the ice in west Antarctica melts, it has been estimated that sea levels could rise by up to 3.2 metres, with much of the water draining through two glaciers - Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier - in the ..
Demand for eco-friendly fabrics propels organic cotton farming in India
Barku Jairam, a 55-year-old farmer from Barwani of Madhya Pradesh, has taken up cultivating organic cotton, which he claims, has significantly brought down input costs besides ensuring a decent yield.
Mars may have harboured life in past: study
Scientists have found traces of fatty acids - key building blocks of biological cells - in acidic streams in the UK, which they say hint that life may once have existed on Mars. The researchers from Imperial College London in the UK concluded that there could be nearly 12,000 Olympic sized pools of organic matter on Mars that could represent traces of past life. "Mars harboured water billions of years ago, meaning some form of life might have thrived there," said Mark Sephton, Head of Imperial's Department of Earth Science & Engineering. "If life existed before the water dried up, it would probably have left remains that are preserved to this day in martian rock," said Sephton. Dorset in the UK is home to highly acidic sulphur streams that host bacteria which thrive in extreme conditions. One such environment, in St Oswald's Bay, mimics the conditions on Mars billions of years ago, researchers said. They treated the landscape as a template for Mars and examined the organic matter .
Two mill owners booked for Rs 12-crore paddy fraud
Punjab Food and Civil Supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu today asked police to file a case against two rice mill owners for misappropriating custom-milled paddy worth Rs 12 crore. Besides, he also suspended three officials of the The Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (PUNSUP) for laxity in performing the duty. In a statement issued here, the minister said the department will not spare anybody involved in misappropriation of national assets and any negligence on the part of the employees of the department will invite stern action. The proceedings for imposing major penalties have been initiated for shortage of paddy equivalent to 96 wagons of rice (worth Rs 7.20 crore) and 63 wagons of rice (worth Rs 4.72 crore) detected in rice mills located at Faridkot and Muktsar, it said. The embezzlement was noticed during an inspection conducted by the department.
UN moves thousands of Rohingya refugees to safer terrain
Dhaka, May 15 (IANS/AKI) Almost 12,000 Rohingya refugees have now been relocated to safer ground as storms continue to lash southern Bangladesh, damaging tarpaulin shelters and raising the risk of landslides, the UN migration agency the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday.
1 killed in explosion at PACL Plant in Naya Nangal
One person was killed while another suffered injuries in an explosion at the Punjab Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (PACL) plant in Naya Nangal, about 60 kms from here, police said. The explosion took place when the workers were welding a tank in which gas was purified for use, said the company's DGM MPS Walia. Walia said the deceased was an experienced employee of the plant. The impact of the explosion was so powerful that the victim was hurled 100 metres away from the incident site. Rajinder Kumar (55) died on the spot, the police said. The person who was injured in the blast was identified as Ajay Kumar (26), they said. The PACL authorities said that cause of the explosion was being investigated because at the time of the blast, there was no gas in the tank and only some water was accumulated. The explosion triggered panic among the workers. A fire also broke out at the plant after the blast, the police said. Fire tenders were brought from Nangal and the NFL plant for dousing ...
Prez launches integrated centre for crisis management at BARC
President Ram Nath Kovind today inaugurated an integrated centre for crisis management (ICCM) at the iconic Bhabha Atomic Research Centre here that will help the nation respond more effectively to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies. The new facility will monitor radiological data from a network of 504 radiation sensors across the country. Addressing the gathering of atomic scientists at the premier nuclear research facility, Kovind, who also remotely inaugurated three other nuclear facilities of the department of atomic energy, said, "Scientists and the technological community are the real nation- builders, and I salute you." Among the other facilities that were inaugurated today include a metal fuel pin fabrication facility jointly developed by BARC and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam, near Chennai, that can increase plutonium production in fast breeder reactors. The third facility in Hyderabad will help develop high-power electron ..
Traffic snarls expected as repair work on Lajpat Nagar flyover begins
Motorists in south-east Delhi are likely to face trouble for at least 15 days as repair work on the second carriageway of Lajpat Nagar flyover started today. The flyover had developed gaps in December last, thus exposing the motorists to various accidents. The city traffic police blocked vehicular movement on the carriageway from Moolchand to Ashram, for 15 days. According to the police advisory, the traffic movement will remain closed on the flyover up to May 30. It asked the motorists to use the Barapullah flyover for going towards Sarai Kale Khan and DND, and those going to Faridabad to use the Outer Ring Road. The repair work of the flyover was to start from January 15, but it was postponed due to Republic Day celebrations. It was then rescheduled for February 1, but was yet again delayed over unavailability of an alternative route to divert commuters. Vehicles going towards Ashram from Moolchand have now been diverted from under the flyover, leading to traffic chaos. Traffic jam
Haryana sets new record in wheat procurement
As much as record 87.20 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured by state agencies in 2017-18 procurement season, higher than the previous record of 87.16 lakh tonnes in 2012-13, a spokesperson of Haryana food, civil supplies department said here today. He added that while state agencies had procured over 87.20 lakh tonnes of wheat, traders have procured 1,214 tonnes. Giving details of the wheat procured by government agencies, he said that over 35.15 lakh tonnes has been procured by Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED), whereas Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has purchased more than 26.17 lakh tonnes of wheat. Apart from above procurement, Food Corporation of India (FCI) has purchased over 10.52 lakh tonnes of wheat and Haryana warehousing corporation has purchased over 15.33 lakh tonnes of wheat. Sirsa district was leading in wheat arrival where over 12.03 lakh tonnes of the crop had been procured followed by Karnal district ..
Global demand for air conditioning to triple by 2050: report
The worldwide demand for air conditioning is expected to triple over the next 30 years, making the pursuit of energy-efficient cooling systems a top priority, the International Energy Agency said today. Some 1.6 billion buildings worldwide have AC today, a number that will grow to 5.6 billion by 2050, "which amounts to 10 new ACs sold every second for the next 30 years," according to the IEA report. The amount of power needed to meet this anticipated surge in indoor cooling will equal the combined electricity capacity of the United States, the European Union and Japan today, it said. The problem is that energy efficiency among AC units varies widely. Those sold in Europe and Japan tend to be at least 25 percent more efficient than units sold in the United States and China. "Growing electricity demand for air conditioning is one of the most critical blind spots in today's energy debate," said Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the IEA. "With rising incomes, air conditioner ...
Leopardess found dead in Gurgaon
A one-year-old leopardess was found dead today under mysterious circumstances in Gairatpur village, an official said. The matter came to light when the villagers spotted the leopardess at 7 am with injuries on neck and legs, he said. They later informed the police and wildlife officials. A team of wildlife officials reached the spot at 9 am to investigate the reason of its death. "The carcass was found near a water body, indicating that the animal might have come there for water and died during a territorial fight with a leopard," said Shyam Sundar Kaushik, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Gurgaon range. "We have sent the carcass for postmortem to ascertain the actual cause of the death," he added. PTI CORR A one year old female leopard was found under mysterious circumstance in millennium city gairatpur bas village here today. The wild cat was first spotted by villagers at 7 a.m with injuries on neck, legs and blood over the body was being gelled. They later informed the local ...
Dilip Buildcon inks pact with NHAI for Rs 6,055 cr road projs
Highways builder Dilip Buildcon today said that its six wholly owned arms have executed contracts with the National Highways Authority of India for road projects aggregating to Rs 6,055 crore. The highway projects will be executed in Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra under hybrid annuity mode. Six "wholly owned subsidiaries of Dilip Buildcon Limited has executed the concession agreement with the National Highways Authority of India (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) to execute" 528.4 km of highways, it said in a BSE filing. The company's bid price aggregated to Rs 6,055 crore.
