Page 774 - Environment
Heavy fines for hanging laundry in balcony in Kuwait
Residents in Kuwait who hang out laundry on their balconies will be fined up to 300 Kuwaiti dinars (about $1,000) under a new campaign.
Nestle pledges to make all its packaging recyclable by 2025
ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle wants to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, the Swiss food giant said on Tuesday, becoming the latest food company to vow to reduce plastic waste.
Rice basmati slides on reduced offtake
Prices of rice basmati declined by Rs 100 per quintal at the wholesale grains market today owing to slackened demand. However, bajra edged up on uptick in demand from consuming industries. Traders said besides reduced offtake by stockists, ample stocks position increased arrivals from growing regions, mainly led to decline in rice basmati rices. In the national capital, rice basmati common and Pusa-1121 variety fell by Rs 100 each to Rs 7,600-7,700 and Rs 6,900-7,000 per quintal, respectively. On the other hand, bajra went up by Rs 50 to Rs 1,260-1,265 per quintal. Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal): Wheat MP (desi) Rs 2,080-2,280, Wheat dara (for mills) Rs 1,760-1,765 Chakki atta (delivery) Rs 1,770-1,775, Atta Rajdhani (10 kg) Rs 230-260, Shakti Bhog (10 kg) Rs 255-290, Roller flour mill Rs 950-960 (50 kg), Maida Rs 970-980 (50 kg)and Sooji Rs 1,040-1,050 (50 kg). Basmati rice (Lal Quila) Rs 10,700, Shri Lal Mahal Rs 11,300, Super Basmati Rice Rs 9,800, Basmati ...
Man trampled to death by elephants in Chhattisgarh
A 50-year-old man was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district, an official said today. The victim, identified as Dasrath, from Bojha village, came face-to-face with the elephants in the forest on Khadgawa -Songara road when he was returning from his son-in-law's house in Mayapur village yesterday, sub-divisional Officer (Pratappur forest circle) Prabhakar Khalko said. While returning home, he stopped at the forest after seeing 'mahua' fruits there and started picking them up. Suddenly, a herd of elephants appeared there and attacked him. The pachyderms smashed the man on the ground with their trunks before trampling him to death, she said. The forest and police personnel rushed to the spot on getting information and sent the body for postmortem, the official said. The forest department has given an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 to the kin of the deceased, she said. There have been reports of a group of around 60 ...
Dilip Buildcon subsidiary to execute NHAI road project
In State of Odisha
Fresh snowfall shuts Srinagar-Leh highway
Fresh snowfall on the Zojila Pass on Tuesday forced the closure of the Srinagar-Leh highway. Authorities said the Srinagar-Jammu highway was still open for traffic.
Proximity to oil, gas facility could increase health risk
If you are living near oil and gas facilities, chances are you could be at higher risk of diseases, according to a study.The study, led by the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, used ambient air samples along Colorado's Northern Front Range to estimate and compare risks for four residential scenarios.Researchers found that people living the area may be exposed to hazardous air pollutants, including carcinogens like benzene, that could pose health risks.They found the lifetime cancer risk of those living within 500 feet of a well was eight times higher than the EPA's upper level risk threshold."We found that air pollutant concentrations increased with proximity to an oil and gas facility, as did health risks," the study said."Acute hazard indices for neurological, hematological and developmental health effects indicate that populations living within 152 meters (500 feet) of an oil and gas facility could experience these health ...
Groundwater Mission can address a host of problems: IIT Kharagpur scientist
Setting up of a Groundwater Mission can help develop an action plan for tackling problems like arsenic and fluoride pollution, storage anomalies and the alarming dwindling of freshwater resources that plague the South Asian region, a new book edited and partly written by an IIT don and other experts contends.
NASA's new Mars lander set to launch next month
NASA is launching a new spacecraft to Mars, that will study the deep interior of the red planet to learn how all rocky planets and their moons are formed. This is the first time that a space mission will be launched from America's West Coast, NASA said. Most of US' interplanetary missions take off from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, located on the East Coast of the country. On May 5, the historic first interplanetary launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California will take place. On board the 57.3-metre-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will be NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander, destined for the Elysium Planitia region located in Mars' northern hemisphere. The InSight lander will study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all rocky planets formed, including Earth and its Moon. Its instruments include a seismometer to detect marsquakes and a probe that will monitor the flow of heat in ..
'Ancient finger bone pushes back human migration from Africa'
Scientists have discovered a fossilised finger bone of an early modern human in Saudi Arabia, dating back to about 90,000 years, that may rewrite the history of our ancestors' migration out of Africa. Published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, the discovery from the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia is the oldest directly dated Homo sapiens fossil outside of Africa and the Levant. It indicates that early dispersals into Eurasia were more expansive than previously thought. "This discovery for the first time conclusively shows that early members of our species colonised an expansive region of southwest Asia and were not just restricted to the Levant," said Huw Groucutt from the University of Oxford in the UK. "The ability of these early people to widely colonise this region casts doubt on long held views that early dispersals out of Africa were localised and unsuccessful," said Groucutt. Previously it was thought that early dispersals into Eurasia were unsuccessful and remained ..
Fossil finger bone could challenge modern migration theory
The first fossil of an ancient human found in the Arabian Peninsula could challenge a widely accepted theory of how modern humans migrated out of Africa, a study has shown.
NASA set for historic first Mars-bound mission
NASA is all set for its first interplanetary launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 5 with the Mars-bound InSight lander.
China, Mongolia to explore free trade agreement - Xinhua
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China and Mongolia should begin research into a free trade agreement and speed up the launch of a cross-border cooperation zone in a bid to make use of the two countries complimentary advantages, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Monday.
3,000-year-old tombs unearthed in Tibet
Archaeologists announced on Monday that they have excavated tombs dating back some 3,000 years in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
Sonowal visits Kaziranga, wants highlands construction done before monsoon
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday directed the Forest Department to carry out the highland construction work under Kaziranga National Park on a war footing to complete it before the monsoons.
PM to visit Bihar on Tuesday, launch four sewerage projects (Lead, correcting first para)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Bihar's Motihari from where he also will lay the foundation stone for four sewerage projects in Patna, an official release said on Monday.
Six park rangers killed in DR Congo's Virunga wildlife sanctuary
Six rangers were killed today in an ambush in the Virunga National Park, the Democratic Republic of Congo's famed haven for gorillas and other endangered species, the park said. "We have sadly lost six rangers," park spokesman Joel Malembe told AFP, adding that the ambush occurred between the sectors of Lulimba and Ishasha. Located in DR Congo's violence-torn North Kivu province, the park is one of the most important conservation sites in the world, covering 7,800 square kilometres (3,011 miles) -- three times the size of Luxembourg.
Sonowal calls for prompt highlands construction in Kaziranga
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today directed the Forest Department to carry out highland construction in Kaziranga National Park promptly and complete it before monsoon hits the state. Sonowal, who visited the highland construction sites at Mihimukh under Kohora Range of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), emphasised on ensuring safe shelter for animals during floods, said an official release. He asked the Forest officials to plant adequate saplings on the highlands once the construction work was over. "Sonowal particularly stressed on planting trees, which could be used as fodder by the herbivorous during flood. He also asked the Forest Department to take appropriate measures to ensure medical facilities for the animals at the highlands during flood," the statement said. Taking into account high tourist footfalls in the park during winters, Sonowal directed the officials to make the highlands in a tourist-friendly manner so that the visitors could better enjoy .
EESL, BRPL tie up to promote energy efficiency in South, West Delhi
State-owned Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) and BSES Rajdhani Power (BRPL) has entered into a strategic partnership on Saturday to promote energy efficiency and renewables among over 24 lakh consumers in South and West Delhi. The scope of this association will cover developing technologies like solar power, roof top solar, smart meters, electric vehicles (EV) / charging stations, solar irrigation pumps and energy storage solutions, an EESL statement said. According to the statement, an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the affect was signed by Amal Sinha, CEO, BRPL and Saurabh Kumar, MD, EESL and the initial duration for the MoU is three years. As part of the MoU, the EESL and BRPL will collaborate to explore the deployment of these emerging technologies to bring in energy efficiency, promote renewables and reduce the peak power demand in South and West Delhi. Speaking on the partnership, Kumar said, "Synergy between institutions engaged in nation-building is key to achieve a ...
PM to visit Bihar on Tuesday, launch four sewerage projects
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Bihar's Motihari as well as capital Patna where he will lay the foundation stone for four sewerage projects, an official release said on Monday.
