Page 767 - Environment
Noise level of loud speakers at religious places beyond permissible limits in Pb
Noise level of loud speakers used by religious places in some villages in Punjab was found more than the permissible limits, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) today said. The PPCB teams conducted the measurement of noise pollution level around gurdwaras, temples and mosques during 4 am to 6 am, he said. The noise monitoring was carried out at the boundary wall at 50 meters, 100m and 200m distance from the religious place and it was found that the noise level at the boundary wall was 60 to 88 dB. At 50 meters it was 53 to 87 dB, at 100 meters it was 50 to 72 dB and at 200 meters it was found to be between 52 to 70 dB, which was much above the permissible limit of 45 dB, Kahan Singh Pannu, the chairman of the board, said. As per Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 the permissible noise limits during night hours (10.00 pm to 6.00 am) in residential areas is 45 dB. He said that these higher values clearly indicate that use of loud speakers in the villages have ...
25 MW waste-to-power plant to be constructed in Gurugram
A power plant costing Rs 502 crore will be constructed in village Bandhwari of Gurugram district to generate electricity from waste under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Scheme. To be set up by August 2019, this plant would generate 25 MW of electricity. Laying the foundation stone of the plant in Bandhwari village today, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said it would be installed by fulfilling the conditions laid down by the National Green Tribunal. Among the announcements made by the chief minister for Bandhwari village today were waiving of house tax in villages included in the Municipal Corporation (MC) area for the next five years, half of the expenses on their domestic power supply to be borne by the MC, and a four-km road to be constructed from Sector-58 till village Baliyavas. Khattar said he had waived house tax in those villages which had been included in the MC area for one year but for the people of village Bandhwari, this waiver would be for five years. The chief .
Punjab govt approves bio-CNG project
The Punjab government today approved a Rs 71.68 crore bio-CNG project which will utilise about one lakh tonnes of paddy straw annually. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Project Allotment Committee held under the chairmanship of Anirudh Tewari, Principal Secretary, New and Renewable Energy Sources (NRES), an official release said. Tiwari said the project, being facilitated by the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), is to be set up by Verbio India Private Limited (100 per cent subsidiary of Verbio Vereinigte Bioenergie AG, Germany) under NRSE Policy-2012 at village Bhutal Kalan of Lehragaga tehsil, district Sangrur, with 100 per cent foreign direct investment. He said the project will utilise about one lakh tonnes of paddy straw annually and produce 33.23 tonnes of bio-CNG per day. In addition, it will produce about 1.44 lakh tonnes of bio-manure annually. Tiwari said the project will generate direct employment for about 60 technical and non-technical persons and indirect
PM to launch insurance scheme, railway line during C'garh visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district tomorrow will inaugurate the "Ayushman Bharat- National Health Protection Mission" and other development projects, officials said. The mission aims at covering 10 crore poor and vulnerable families and provide a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The scheme will be launched by Modi at Jangla village in Bijapur, officials said. The prime minister's visit to the state coincides with the birth anniversary of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar. PM Modi will leave New Delhi by an Air Force plane at around 9:20am and reach Jagdalpur at 11:30am, from where he would take a helicopter to reach Jangla by 12:25pm, a government official said. The PM will launch the Ayushman Bharat scheme from a sub-health centre at Jangla and later inaugurate bank branches in seven villages, including Jangla, of Bijapur district, he said. A newly-laid railway line between Gudum and ...
Maharashtra govt to ban fishing with LED lights
The Maharashtra Government has decided to ban fishing with LED lights as a part of efforts to curb illegal fishing activities. A notification in this regard will be issued soon, a government press release said here. Animal Husbandry, Dairy Developmentand Fisheries Department Secretary Kiran Kurundkar gave instructions in this regard at a meeting of Fisheries Department and Mangrove Cell of Forest Department, the release said. ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis had instructed the officials to take a strict action to stop fishing with LED lights, he said.
Haryana justifies waste management plant in Gurugram district
The Haryana government on Friday justified the setting up of a Rs 502 crore Integrated Solid Waste ManagementApower plant in Gurugram district saying that it will not only generate electricity but also help in keeping the area clean.
Redraft National Forest Policy: CPI(M)
The CPI(M) today opposed the Draft National Forest Policy as a pro-privatisation and anti-tribal document and demanded that a committee comprising people working to preserve the environment and the rights of tribal communities be set up to redraft the policy. In a note submitted to the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat recorded the party's opposition to the draft policy. "The Draft National Forest Policy should be withdrawn," she said in the note. "A committee comprising organisations and individuals working to preserve the environment, forests and the rights of tribal communities and traditional forest dwellers should be set up to redraft the policy within the framework of the Forest Rights Act and other laws which protect and recognise the role of tribal communities in preserving India's rich bio-diversity and her natural forests," she demanded. The CPI(M) politburo member has accused the ministry of doing "everything possible to hasten .
After 27 year wait, rhino rehabilitation finally happens in Dudhwa
After waiting for 27 long years, India has finally got a sedating drug, and used it to rehabilitate four single-horned rhinos, paving the way for conservation of one of the most endangered species, found only in India and Nepal.
MP: Villagers compelled to drink dirty water
In Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district, villagers have been compelled to drink unclean water from a well.With no options to purify the water, the villagers here are being forced to use cloth to filter it."We cannot even hold wedding ceremonies here and have to go to Delhi. Our Buffaloes have gone weak without adequate water, so we carry load ourselves," said one of the Jhamtuli dwellers.In an attempt to provide aid for the villagers, authorities have started taking measures to tap the declining groundwater table."We have drilled a deep bore and have found water at the depth of 600 meters. Now we will fit a submersible pump inside it, probably by tomorrow. We have also selected a point for a hand pump," said Ajaz Khan, the Sub-Divisional Officer, Public Health and Engineering Department, Chhatarpur.
BSES Delhi helpline for alert on digging to check outages
Delhi electricity distribution company (discom) BSES on Friday launched a helpline for its consumers and civic agencies to alert about digging in their areas, which is a major cause of power outages in the capital, a release said.
Parts of South, NE India to witness rains, thunderstorm: IMD in 'severe weather warning'
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a weather warning and predicted "heavy rains" at isolated places over Kerala tomorrow. Thunderstorm accompanied with squall is very likely at isolated places over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Kerala and Lakshadweep, it said. Isolated places over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, coastal and interior Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and Tamilnadu are also very likely to witness thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds. "Squally weather with wind speed occasionally reaching 40-50 kmph is very likely to prevail over the Maldives-Lakshadweep area. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas," the IMD said. Thunderstorm accompanied with squall is very likely at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya Odisha, north interior Karnataka on Sunday.
UCIL hold public hearing for re-establishing recovery plant
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) today held a public hearing in connection with the re-establishment of the uranium recovery plant at Mosaboni in East Singhbhum district, officials of the PSU said. Several villagers raised their concern over issues such as employment and environment at the hearing and the issues raised by them has been responded to satisfactorily, they said. The proposed plant would be set up on over 4.158 ha of land near Rangamatiya and Badia villages of Mosabani block. The UCIL had constructed the uranium recovery plant in the early 1980s in the copper township of Mosabani to extract uranium bearing material from the copper concentrator plant of the Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL). The HCL closed down its mines and the concentrator plant in 2002 due to variable demand, and, subsequently, the UCIL also discontinued operations at the uranium recovery plant, the officials said. Recently, the HCL has restarted work in its mines and ...
Tiger killed by people, carcass recovered: Forest dept
The tiger that had strayed into the forest of Lalgarh in West Midnapore district last month was killed by the locals today, a top Forest department official said here. The carcass of the adult tiger was recovered from the Lalgarh forest, West Bengal's Chief Wildlife Warden Ravi Kant Sinha said. "The carcass has injury marks, caused by spears, in the neck," he told PTI. Asked when the big cat was killed, Sinha said it could be after 10 AM today, because "till that time, the forest personnel were aware of its location". On why the tiger could not be captured over the last month-and-a-half, he said, "We had tried out best. We had put cages in different areas of the forest. We had sent tranquilising teams, but could not capture it." Sinha added that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was informed of the development. On whether a post-mortem would be conducted of the animal, he said that was the process in such cases. The tiger had strayed into the forest of Lalgarh on March .
Jaguar Land Rover to cut output and jobs due to Brexit, diesel slump - source
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover will cut around 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over diesel policy leading to a fall in sales, a source told Reuters.
Bombay HC refuses to stay plastic ban in Maharashtra
The Bombay High Court on Friday, refused to stay the Maharashtra government's ban on plastic.The court also observed that that ban is 'reasonable' after seeing a quantity of 1200 metric tons of waste every day in the state.On March 23 this year, the government had issued a notification, in which it imposed a ban on manufacture, use, sale and distribution of all plastic materials like plastic bags, spoons, plates, bottles and thermacol items.A three months notice period was given to the manufacturers, distributors and retailers to dispose of their existing stock of the banned items.Consumers were, however, given only a period of one month to dispose of the same.The notification was then opposed by plastic and thermacol manufacturers along with retailer associations on the ground that the ban was arbitrary, and affected the fundamental right to livelihood of lakhs of families.The petitioners were asked to approach the state with a representation for seeking amendments in the plastic ban
Tiger found dead in Bengal forest
The Royal Bengal tiger, spotted on several occasions in forests of West Bengal's Jhargram, West Midnapore and Bankura districts since early March this year, was on Friday found dead in the state's Lalgarh forest, an official said.
MNRE calls for 'Expression of Interest' for first offshore wind energy project of 1000 MW capacity
As per the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy notified on October, 2015, National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai is the nodal agency to carry out the necessary studies/surveys before final bidding and act as a single window for facilitating necessary clearances required for development of offshore wind project in India.
Mountain erosion may add CO2 to atmosphere: study
The process of mountain erosion can be a source of new carbon dioxide gas that can release it back into the atmosphere far faster than it is being absorbed into newly exposed rock, a study has found. The source of this extra CO2 is not entirely geological. Instead, it is the byproduct of tiny microbes in mountain soils that "eat" ancient sources of organic carbon that are trapped in the rock, researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US said. As the microbes metabolise these minerals, they spew out carbon dioxide, they said. "This goes against a long-standing hypothesis that more mountains mean more erosion and weathering, which means an added reduction of CO2," said Jordon Hemingway, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. "It turns out it is much more complicated than that," said Hemingway, lead author of the research paper published in the journal Science. The researchers came to this realisation after studying one of the most erosion-prone mountain chains in .
NBCC signs MoU with Skill Development Institute, Bhubaneshwar
NBCC to work as Project Management Consultant for new 'Skill Development Institute'
'CPCB to continue joint monitoring of Cauvery river till May-end'
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to continue with the joint monitoring of the pollution level in the Cauvery river along with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
