Page 75 - Environment
Disgruntled by allotment of land in middle of elephant corridor, 47 families demand fresh allocation
A hamlet of 47 families, who were issued land deeds by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami three years ago, have finally been allotted the land in the middle of an elephant corridor.Speaking to ANI, a disgruntled villager Kandhi Amma said: "I, along with 100 other families residing in thatched huts on the outskirts of Coimbatore had raised a demand for free land deeds ten years ago. Three years ago, we were taken by our local MLA to MGR centenary celebration, where as many as 47 families were granted the land deed by Edappadi K Palaniswami. Recently, we were informed that we have been allotted land in the elephant corridor. Initially, we were happy, but later when we visited the site, it was discovered that it is a rocky area in the middle of the elephant corridor."She further added that the area is unfit for human habitation. "We will be killed by the elephants if we live there," Amma said.Another villager Rankjitham said: "We took the matter to the local MLA, but he
North Korea swine flu outbreak puts South on edge
South Korean troops stationed along the world's last Cold War frontier have been put on high alert in the face of a new infiltration threat from the nuclear-armed North -- fever-stricken wild boar. An outbreak of African swine fever that has cut swathes through China, Vietnam and Mongolia has spread to the isolated country, sparking worries that sick animals crossing the heavily militarized border could devastate the South's US$5.9 billion pork industry. "We need to focus on preventing wild boars in the North from entering our territory," the South's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said Saturday after visiting a pig farm near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the two countries. African swine fever is known to be harmless to humans but is fatal to pigs and wild boar and has devastated supply chains in China -- the world's largest consumer of pork -- where authorities have ordered the culling of hundreds of thousands of pigs. Pyongyang told the World Organisation for Animal Health ..
BJD welcomes Centre's decision to extend PM-KISAN benefits to all farmers' families
Leaders of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday welcomed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's decision of extending the benefits of PM-KISAN Yojana to all 14.5 crore farmers in the country.Amar Satpathy, former Agricultural Minister and BJD MLA, said: "Odisha has adopted policies to empower farmers and to increase their income. But there are many schemes operational in Odisha. The central government is following the footprint of Odisha. It is a good thing but all farmers should get benefits."On Friday, the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister approved all land holding eligible farmer families to avail the benefits under PM-KISAN which is income support of Rs 6,000 in three installments.Earlier, the small and marginal landholder farmer families with cultivable land holding was up to 2 hectares could avail the benefits. The revised scheme is expected to cover around 2 crore more farmers, increasing the coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries.BJD MLA
Assam's Rameshwar Teli addresses press conference in New Delhi
Minister of State for Food Processing Industry Rameshwar Teli said on Friday that there was good scope for the food processing industry in the whole of north east and steps would be taken for harnessing this potential.Teli, second time MP from Assam, told reporters in Assam Bhavan that although food processing was a new subject for him he expressed confidence he would deliver results under the guidance and leadership of his senior cabinet minister Harsimrat Kaur."I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah ji, Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal for giving me such a responsibility and the people of Assam for supporting me. I am determined to work for the development of northeast wholeheartedly," he said.Teli said that northeast has enough scope for food processing as the region is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and to further facilitate the processing of varieties of fruits and vegetables, required steps would be taken. He ...
UP: Water crisis looms large in Shankargarh town
There seems to be no end to the drinking water crisis in Room Village of Shankargarh. The daily wage labourers residing in the area are digging shallow wells in their premises for groundwater rejuvenation.Shankargarh town is located 40 kilometers away from Pragraj. On May 30, Allahabad became the hottest city across the country after the maximum temperature touched 48.6-degree Celsius.The locals of Room village have expressed their frustration over the prolonged water crisis which has gripped the region from the last seven decades.To quench their thirst, villagers are forced to walk miles every day to fetch water from a well and also dig holes near their houses to get access to water."There is a severe water crisis, people here dig pits to get access to water. The water is unclean and people tend to fall ill often. People who do not even have food to eat cannot even afford treatment," said a local while speaking to ANI."We just have one well in Shankargarh which is 3 kilometers away. .
Lion cub among four exotic animals rescued, three held
Three white-headed langurs and a lion cub were rescued on Saturday from the northern suburbs of Kolkata by wildlife officials who arrested three smugglers, an official said.
Girl killed as elephant enters house, attacks sleeping family
A 17-year-old girl was killed and her mother and younger sister were injured when an elephant attacked their house in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, a forest department official said Saturday. The incident took place late Friday night near Ramshama village on the outskirts of Badalkhol Wildlife Sanctuary, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Krishna Kumar Jadhav. The elephant destroyed a wall of the mud house of Vishwanath Chauhan and attacked the family when they were sleeping, Jadhav said. Chauhan's daughter Lalita died on the spot while his wife Munni Bai and seven-year-old daughter Varsha sustained injuries, he said. Police and forest personnel reached the spot after getting information about the incident, he said, adding that Munni Bai and Varsha were admitted to nearby Bagicha Health Centre. Both were out of danger, Jadhav added. Elephant attacks have claimed four lives in Jashpur district in the past one month. On the night of May 28, a retired BSF jawan was ...
Climate-change battle: Will Modi spur global inaction into action? (Comment)
The climate of change is dawning upon the global platform. The mega mandate with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India would begin his second term May 30, 2019, has potential to disrupt the decades-long global inertia to act on climate change, which has been recognised as the defining challenge of our times. However, defining actions have not been put in place yet to address it. That is poised for change.
Kolkata: Lion cub, 3 langurs rescued
A lion cub and three langurs were rescued on Saturday from Belgharia Expressway here.Based on the intelligence received, a joint team of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) and West Bengal Forest Directorate (WBFD) chased and intercepted a Mahindra Scorpio near Kendriya Vihar Housing Complex, informed the officials.The three accused, identified as Wasim Rahman (29), Wajid Ali (36) and Md. Gulam Gaus (27), have been arrested in connection with the case.The lion cub (Panthera Leo) and three langurs (Trachypithecus Poliocephalus)-two adults and a juvenile- were recovered from the vehicle, officials said.As per the preliminary investigation, it has been revealed that the endangered animals were trafficked from Bangladesh to Western India.Further investigation is underway.
Dry spell triggers forest fires in Himachal
A prolonged dry spell and abnormally high temperatures these days have set off alarm bells for the forest department in Himachal Pradesh over forest fires causing huge damage to flora and fauna every year.
Prakash Javadekar takes charge as Environment Minister, Babul Supriyo as MoS
Prakash Javadekar on Saturday took charge as the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and said that he would continue to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of addressing climate change and other issues.Speaking to the media after taking charge, Javadekar said, "I always believe that nature's five elements are water, air, fire, earth and sky. The mandate of this ministry is to protect all these elements. In the last five years, both environmental protection and progress has been made possible and that will be our guiding principle."Underlining that India played a key role in facilitating the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, Javadekar said, "Prime Minister Modi has a special and keen interest in environment, forest and climate change. He has a vision for this. Modi Ji facilitated the Paris Agreement and he introduced lifestyle and climate change for addressing the issues."Javadekar also holds the additional charge of Minister of Information and Broadcasting. He ...
We'll protect environment & make progress simultaneously, says Javadekar after taking charge
Protection of the five elements of nature and simultaneous progress will be the guiding principle at the Environment Ministry, Prakash Javadekar said Saturday. Speaking to the media after taking charge of the ministry, Javadekar, who was the environment minister in the last NDA government for two years, said it was "ghar wapsi" (homecoming) for him. "It is like ghar wapsi for me. Progress and environment protection are possible together and that will be the guiding force for our ministry. The Modi government in the last five years has shown that it is possible," he said after signing the official documents along with Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo. Javadekar, who has been a man of many faces in the last Narendra Modi government, hailed the prime minister for his keen interest in environment and his contribution. "The mandate of the MOEFCC is to protect the five elements -- water, fire, air, earth and sky. People used to think that when you have to protect the ...
Tokyo Olympic torch relay to pass through Japan's disaster-hit areas
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic torch relay will commence on March 26 in disaster-hit Fukushima and pass through other areas in north-east Japan devastated by the 2011 tsunami, organisers said Saturday. The Olympic flame will begin its journey around Japan at the J-Village sports training centre in Fukushima that housed workers battling to remove radioactive waste after the nuclear crisis triggered by the killer tsunami. It will then cross all of Japan's 47 prefectures, travelling to 857 municipalities, and pass by many iconic landmarks over a period of 121 days. Around 98 percent of Japan's population live within one hour by car or train of the proposed route, Tokyo organisers added. The torch relay will take in World Heritage sites such as Mt Fuji and the Miyajima shrine in Hiroshima prefecture famous for its "floating" gate. It will also visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, dedicated to the victims of the world's first atomic bombing in 1945, before arriving at Tokyo's new Olympic ...
Hong Kong to cull 4,700 pigs after second swine fever case found
Hong Kong will cull 4,700 pigs after African swine fever was detected in an animal at a slaughter house close to the border with China, the second such case in a month in the crowded financial hub. The animal came from a farm in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong and importation from mainland China has been suspended until further notification, Sophia Chan, Secretary of the city's Food and Health Department said Friday night. The government-run slaughterhouse in Sheung Shui will be closed for cleansing and disinfection, she added. Last month around 6,000 pigs were culled after the virus was detected in a pig imported from a farm in the same province. Supply from across the border was temporarily suspended for a week during the disinfection of slaughterhouse. Pork is a staple of Chinese cuisine, with space-starved Hong Kong importing the majority of what it consumes from the mainland. After African swine fever spread across more than half of China's provinces last year, Hong ...
Karnataka: Shivmogga city faces water crisis as Tungda dam reaches dead storage
With Tunga dam which provides water to Shivamogga city reaching a dead storage level, the city may likely face acute water shortage in the near future, officials said.The city which has a population of about 3.60 lakh is dependent on the dam water for its everyday water supply; however, the intense summer season has led to dip in the present water level in the dam.Outlining the gravity of the alarming situation, Executive Engineer Ramesh told ANI, "The Monsoon is delayed. Because of dead storage, we are only able to draw very less amount of water. We can manage for a month with available water. We have requested the irrigation authority to take suitable action to preserve the required amount of water. We cannot use dead storage water for any purpose except drinking, so district administration has ordered to preserve water".He also asserted that due to scarcity, the water is being supplied to the outskirts of the city on alternate days.Ramesh also said that the district administration
Assam: Leopard killed, hung from pole
In a shocking gruesome incident, villagers killed a leopard, cut off its feet and tail and strung it up on a pole. The incident took place in Sonari area of Assam's Charaideo district on Friday.The big cat was allegedly killed after it attacked people and animals in the area, according to locals.The animal's body was later seized by the forest department which sent it for a postmortem.A forest department official said that they are investigating the incident and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.He also said the leopard was dead by the time the forest department team arrived at the incident spot.Locals claimed that the leopard had hidden itself inside a house in the village and had attacked many people and animals."He attacked a man in the morning and injured him grievously. On hearing the noise the villagers surrounded the leopard and killed him," one of the villagers claimed.A case has also been registered in this regard under relevant sections of Wildlife Protection Act, .
14 turtles die in dried-up pond in Gujarat
Gujarat Forest Department officials found 14 turtles dead in a dried up pond in the desert district of Kutch, officials said on Friday.
NGT directs Centre, UP government to issue notification specifying boundary of Hastinapur wildlife sanctuary
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday directed the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government to issue notification for specifying the boundary of Hastinapur Wildlife sanctuary within six months.The NGT was hearing the petition on the protection of swamp deer, hog deer, biodiversity and biological resources of Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary.A bench comprising Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore and expert member S S Garbyal said that despite a number of projects or schemes undertaken by the state government for protection and conservation of the wildlife species and the habitat of the sanctuary, there have not been desired results.The tribunal's judgment came on a plea by advocate Gaurav Bansal alleging threat to wildlife especially to the swamp deer due to human intervention in the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary and seeking protection and restitution of the biodiversity and ecosystem of the sanctuary.In April, the NGT had directed the Principal Secretary of Forest and Wildlife Department, ...
Drop plea in SC against Madras HC order on road project: Stalin
DMK president M K Stalin Friday hit out at the Centre for moving the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court order on the Salem-Chennai green corridor project, saying the BJP government was indulging in "anti-people" activity. The Centre moved the apex court Friday challenging the high court order quashing the land acquisition process for the Rs 10,000-crore Salem-Chennai eight-lane greenfield corridor project. "I condemn the Centre's decision to go for an appeal. The decision is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu. Just a day after forming the government, the BJP government has indulged in anti-people activity," Stalin said in a statement. The 277.3-km-long eight-lane greenfield project connecting Salem and Chennai under the Centre's 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' scheme aims to cut travel time between the two cities by half to about two hours and 15 minutes. However, it has been facing opposition from a section of locals, including farmers, over fears of losing their land, besides ...
Congress wins more seats in Karnataka local body polls
The Congress bagged more seats in Karnataka's 56 urban local body elections than the BJP and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), an official said on Friday.