Page 726 - Environment
Leopard kills womanin U'khand
A man-eater leopard killed an elderly woman in Jakhnidhar area of Uttarakhand's Tehri district. The incident came to light today morning when some villagers saw the half eaten body of 65-year-old Bichna Devi while going to give fodder to their livestock, forest range officer Ashish Dimri said. The Forest Department has put up a cage in the area to trap the leopard besides giving an immediate financial assistance of Rs 90,000 to the next of kin of the woman. The woman, a resident of Kastal village, was going to attend the marriage of her nephew in the neighbouring Mandar village last evening when she was apparently attacked by the big cat near the basic school in Myundi village.
Decide on banning import of pet coke by June 30: SC to Govt
The Supreme Court today set a deadline of June 30 this year for the Centre to decide on the issue of banning import of pet coke and said the government's failure on this count would compel it to pass a direction. The court also asked the government to consider implementing the ambitious National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in Delhi first as the people here were "struggling" due to pollution. The NCAP is aimed at tackling the air pollution problem in 100 cities across the country. A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta observed this after Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), said discussions were underway on the issue of banning the import of pet coke and it would take around six weeks to take a decision. "Please expedite it. You cannot go on like this. By June 30, you take a decision, else we will take a decision," the bench told Nadkarni. On the NCAP, the bench said "you ...
Goa BJP differs with Modi, Shah assurance on Mhadei dispute
The Goa BJP on Thursday begged to differ with the recent "pro-Karnataka" comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah over the Mhadei issue during the poll campaign in Karnataka.
Nepal to hold international marathon
A high-altitude international marathon will take place in quake-ravaged Langtang Valley of Nepal on May 19, the organiser said here on Thursday.
Bonn climate talks see much progress: UN top official
A United Nations top official said a lot of progress has been made on technical issues at the climate change talks that concluded here on Thursday but a lot of work still has to be done ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Poland in December.
Cash, gold, liquour seized by IT dept in poll-bound Karnataka
The Income Tax Department and Karnataka Police have recovered cash worth Rs Rs 80,91,00,073 in the poll-bound state.Gold and silver worth Rs Rs 44,26,26,717 was also recovered by the Karnataka Police. Along with that, the static and excise department seized liquor worth Rs 24,35,99,918.32.So far Rs. 170,88,14,720.32 crore has been seized by the IT Department so far.Meanwhile, the surfacing of a huge number of fake voter identity cards from an apartment in Bengaluru's Jalahalli area and the Election Commission stepping in to investigate has created a controversy in the state, ahaed of the election.Campaigning in Karnataka is taking place for 224 assembly seats. A total of 2,655 candidates will take part in the election on May 15.
Panther found killed on railway track in Jaipur
A two-year-old panther was found killed today on a railway track here in Dara village under the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) area, a forest official said today. The incident took place on the intervening night of Wednesday and today along the Mumbai-Delhi railway track in Dara village, said Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Anil Yadav. "The panther is likely to have got hit by the front side of railway engine. It bears the marks of fatal injuries on head, stomach and tail," Yadav said. He added that the carcass has been sent for post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of his death. Notably, panther is included in the schedule-1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972. In September last year, a sloth bear was also found killed at the same spot in Dara village after being hit by a moving train in the MHTR. been killed after being hit by moving train last night or early today morning on the track as body bears the marks of fatal injuries on head, stomach and tail "The panther ..
'New method to help keep emission targets on track'
Scientists have developed a simple method to determine if fossil fuel producers are on track to meet global emission reduction targets. The research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, investigated a sample of 20 world-leading investor-owned and state-owned entities and compared fossil fuel extraction rates with global climate goals. Two key elements in tackling climate change had been largely resolved - a safe limit of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere and a corresponding remaining carbon budget, said Saphira Rekker, a researcher at University of Queensland in Australia. "Combustion of current fossil fuel reserves has the potential to push global average temperatures higher than two degrees Celsius by 2050, however it is far from clear how the remaining carbon budget could be reasonably allocated across fossil fuels producers," Rekker said. Recognising the need for transparent methods to measure climate change obligations, researchers translated the global ..
NTPC auction yields solar tariff of Rs 2.73/unit, good response
Auctions conducted here for solar power projects of 750 MW at Ananthapuram Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh have resulted in tariffs as low as Rs 2.72-73 per unit, state run generator NTPC said on Thursday.
Clean Ganga fund utilisation may go up to 70 pc of total allocation this fiscal: Gadkari
The government's spending on cleaning the Ganga will see a jump of Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal as several projects under the flagship Namami Gange programme will be completed, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said today. Seeking to change the perception that nothing was happening on the Namami Gange programme, the Water Resources Minister also reiterated that the Centre will try to ensure 70 per cent to 80 per cent improvement in water quality of the river by March 2019. Till the end of the previous fiscal, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), an authority implementing the ambitious programme, had spent only Rs 4,254 crore (or 20 per cent) of the around Rs 20,000 crore sanctioned for the programme since 2015. Speaking to reporters in the national capital and also from the Ganga basin cities such as Kanpur, Varanasi and Patna via video conferencing on the status of implementation of the mission, Gadkari said efforts will be made to clean the river in its entirety .
Zookeeper mauled to death by tiger in China
A zookeeper in southern China was killed reportedly by a tiger at a controversial wildlife centre, notorious for selling 'tiger wine', media reports said. The man, aged around 50, went to clean a tiger enclosure with a colleague at the Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain Village in Guilin, a city in the Guangxi autonomous region on Tuesday, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. His colleague left the man, who has not been named, alone in the enclosure. His family were told later that day that he had been mauled by the tiger, the paper quoted state-run China National Radio as reporting. Family members told the radio station that they went to the park yesterday demanding compensation and, above all, an explanation as to how he had died as they had not been given any evidence to back up the zoo's claims. The wildlife centre has been frequently criticised for its sale of products such as 'tiger wine'. In 2004, another keeper at the zoo was killed when he was attacked by a ..
Analysis: Social investors see the light on clean energy for the poor
LISBON/BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - After learning that three babies died in a government hospital in the Sierra Leone city of Bo last November when a power cut switched off machinery keeping them alive, London-based energy adviser Michael Liebreich decided to act.
Only 11 Indus dolphins survive in India
Only five to 11 individual Indus Dolphins, one of the world's rarest mammals, survive in India, with their habitat confined to 130 km stretch of Beas river in Punjab, reveals the first-ever organised census.
NGT notice to MoEF, civic bodies on plea against landfill sites in Delhi
The National Green Tribunal has sought response of the Centre and civic bodies here seeking cancellation of the approval granted the DDA to allot land at Sonia Vihar and Ghonda Gujran areas to set up landfill sites. A bench headed by Acting Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim issued notice to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Delhi Development Authority, Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, East Delhi Municipal Corporation and sought their reply before May 14, the next date of hearing. The Supreme Court had on May 4 stayed the proceedings related to the landfill sites at Ghazipur and Bhalswa in Delhi pending before the tribunal. The tribunal's notice came on a plea filed Ghonda MLA Shri Dutt Sharma and others seeking a direction to restrain the DDA from allotting an area of 130 acres at Sonia Vihar and a 50-acre plot at Ghonda Gujran to the EDMC for handling and processing waste. The petition, filed through advocate Abhinav Singh, said that if the ...
Sound of bees to keep elephants off rail tracks creating a buzz
The sound of honeybees downloaded from the internet to keep elephants away from railway tracks has created quite a buzz after the novel idea introduced by the Northeast Frontier Railway brought down the number of accidents. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has this system in place across four of its divisions at select level crossings where elephant zones exist. The idea was implemented in late 2017 and this year only six elephants have died after colliding with a train. In 2013, the number of elephants killed was 19, in 2014 it was 5, in 2015, it was 12, in 2016, it was 9, while in 2017, it was 10. "We installed this in Rangiya division and once it was successful we have installed it in other locations as well. This was started barely six months back," said Lokesh Narayan, Additional General Manager, NFR. Unlike in Kenya, where boutique beehives are dangled from fences to keep elephants away, NFR uses an electronic buzzer to keep the animals at bay. While elephant-repulsion ...
Bhopal: Animals beat the heat with coolers
To help the animals beat the extreme heat, coolers and hay curtains have been installed in animal enclosures in Bhopal's Van Vihar National Park to help them beat the heat.In order to ensure no change in the behavioural pattern, sprinklers have been installed near the resting places of bears, and tigers." We have provided coolers in the animal enclosures and traditional khas khas (Hay) curtains have also been installed. This helps the animal cool off," said Director, Van Vihar National Park, Sunita Rajaura."Shades have been constructed near the water bodies to help the animals avoid the extreme heat," she added.The management is also changing the diets accordingly, and the medical staff has been kept on alert.
CA compensates BCB with T20I series in 2019
Cricket Australia (CA) compensated its cancellation of hosting Bangladesh for two Tests and three One-Day Internationals (ODI) in August-September this year, by inviting the Asian team for a T20I series in late 2019 as part of the preparations for the World T20 in Australia in 2020.
New California homes from 2020 will be required to install solar systems
California's primary energy policy and planning agency unanimously approved a building rule that requires solar systems be installed in all new homes, making it the first US state to issue such a rule.
Rays Power sets up 3 solar plants in Karnataka of total 130 MW
Solar solutions provider Rays Power Infra on Thursday said it has commissioned three solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Karnataka under the state's open access scheme.
Sprng, Ayana, SB emerge lowest bidders under 750MW solar auction
Energy firms Sprng, Ayana and SB have emerged as lowest bidders in the auction by state-run power giant NTPC for a total capacity of 750 MW at Ananthapuram Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh. While Sprng Energy quoted a tariff of Rs 2.72 per unit, Ayana Renewables and SB Energy quoted Rs 2.73 per unit each in the auction concluded late last night, a source said. The three companies had bid for 250 MW each on Wednesday. Over a dozen firms had participated in the auction. NTPC will auction another 2000 MW solar capacities on pan India basis this month. A sector expert said that the solar power tariff has bottomed out and has been surging in the auctions after touching all time low of Rs 2.44 per unit in May last year in the auction for 500 MW capacities at Bhadla (IV) in Rajasthan. It had the viability gap funding (VGF) component, as per the ministry of new and renewable energy data. The latest NTPC auction at Ananthapuram Solar Park does not have the VGF component. The expert said that the ..
