Page 786 - Environment
Myanmar lures Bangladesh Buddhists to take over Rohingya land: officials
Myanmar authorities have lured dozens of mainly Buddhist Bangladeshi tribal families to cross the border and resettle on land abandoned by fleeing Muslim Rohingya, officials said today. About 50 families from remote hill and forest areas on the Bangladesh side, attracted by offers of free land and food, have moved to Rakhine state in mainly Buddhist Myanmar -- the scene of a brutal army crackdown which prompted hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee. The families from the ethnic Marma and Mro tribes have left their homes in the Bandarban hill district, local councillor Muing Swi Thwee told AFP. He said 22 families departed from their villages in the Sangu forest reserve last month. The families, mainly Buddhist but with some Christians, were being "lured by Myanmar" to Rakhine where they were given free land, citizenship and free food for five years, Muing Swi Thwee said. "They are going there to fill up the land vacated by the Rohingya who have left Burma (Myanmar). They are ...
BHEL bags Rs 4.4K cr order for power unit in UP
State-owned power equipment maker BHEL said today that it has bagged an order for Rs 4,400 crore to set up a 660 MW supercritical thermal power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The order has been placed by Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL), BHEL said in a statement. Located at Panki in Kanpur district, the project will be executed by BHEL on Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) basis. The key equipment for the project will be made at BHEL's Trichy, Haridwar, Hyderabad, Ranipet, Bhopal, Bengaluru and Jhansi plants, while the company's Power Sector Northern Region -- division will be responsible for construction and installation activities at the site. Over 70 per cent of UP's power generating capacity, aggregating to more than 17,800 MW, has been installed by BHEL. BHEL is India's largest manufacturer of power generation equipment with an installed base of around 1,80,000 MW of power plant equipment globally. In the supercritical segment, the company said it has ...
Ganges flow could double at 2 degrees C global warming
Examining how climate change could raise food insecurity risk across the world, researchers have projected that the flow of the Ganges river could more than double at 2 degrees Celsius global warming, with floods putting food production at risk in countries like India.
How climate change could impact food shortage
Food insecurity risks could increase with weather extremes caused by climate change, suggests a study.Researchers at University of Exeter examined how climate change could affect the vulnerability of different countries to food insecurity - when people lack access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.Scientists looked at the difference between global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C (compared to pre-industrial levels) and found that - despite increased vulnerability to food insecurity in both scenarios - the effects would be worse for most countries at 2°C.The study looked at 122 developing and least-developed countries, mostly in Asia, Africa and South America."Climate change is expected to lead to more extremes of both heavy rainfall and drought, with different effects in different parts of the world," said Professor Richard Betts, Chair in Climate Impacts at the University of Exeter."Such weather extremes can increase vulnerability to food insecurity."Some change is ...
Drive to boost irrigation in Odisha's Koraput district
The Koraput administration has decided to dig at least 500 wells before the onset of the monsoon season in 14 blocks of the district, under the Centre-sponsored Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The administration is hopeful that the project will boost the irrigation facilities of the farmers and, in turn, double their income, said an official. "As it is not possible to construct canals in every corner of the district, digging wells in agricultural fields could be the next best option," said Koraput District Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy. Also, during drought, the fields won't run dry as the farmers can use water from the wells, he said. "Each well, estimated to cost Rs 2.70 lakh, will be 40 feet deep and 20 feet wide. The entire amount for construction of the wells will be paid from the MGNREGA funds," Chakravarthy explained. Any farmer, who has a field of his own, is eligible to dig a well under the centrally sponsored job scheme, ..
Goa's horticulture project in limbo over space crunch
The Goa government's ambitious plan to set up an expansive horticulture estate has hit a roadblock due to the unavailability of such a huge land for the project, a minister said. The scarcity of land for such a massive project has forced the agriculture department to re-think about it as it requires a plot of about 100 acres, he said. The project was aimed at reviving the agriculture sector in the state. The initial plan was to provide farmers one acre of land each in the proposed estate, and also all the required support and amenities for horticulture, state Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai told PTI. "We are not able to get the required land for the project. We scouted many places but it didn't help much. At present, we are in touch with a panchayat at Loliem village in extreme South Goa for the land," he said. The horticulture estate project was aimed at propelling the agricultural growth in the state, which is largely dependent on the tourism and mining industries .
SpaceX to launch 14th resupply mission to ISS on Monday
SpaceX is targeting Monday for the launch of its 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which will deliver science that studies thunderstorms on Earth, space gardening, potential pathogens in space, new ways to patch up wounds, among others.
Odisha govt push for infra development in state
The Odisha government's focus is on the development of infrastructure and over 300 bridges have been constructed in the last 17 years, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said. Of the 318 bridges, 108 were constructed in the last three years in the state, the chief minister said while inaugurating a bridge over the Mahanadi river yesterday. A stretch of around 25,000 km road has also been constructed across the state, Patnaik said. The chief minister dedicated the newly built bridge named after Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das, the architect of modern Odisha, to the people of the state on the occasion of Utkal Divas yesterday. The new bridge connecting Cuttack with Nuapatna and built at a cost of about Rs 157 crore, was done entirely with the state's own resource, he said. Speaking on the occasion, he said the three-lane bridge has shortened the distance between Cuttack and Dhenkanal by over 16 kilometer. Seven bridges have already been constructed over the Mahanadi and work is on .
Mars parachute sent high up in key NASA test
A supersonic parachute designed for future missions to Mars has undergone a successful test in which it was sent very high up in the sky in a rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Climate change could raise food shortage globally: study
Weather extremes caused by climate change could raise the risk of food shortage globally, a study that looked at data from 122 countries suggests. Researchers led by the University of Exeter in the UK examined how climate change could affect the vulnerability of different countries to food insecurity - when people lack access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. The study, published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, looked at 122 developing and least-developed countries, mostly in Asia, Africa and South America. "Climate change is expected to lead to more extremes of both heavy rainfall and drought, with different effects in different parts of the world," said Richard Betts, a professor at the University of Exeter. "Such weather extremes can increase vulnerability to food insecurity," said Betts. "Some change is already unavoidable, but if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, this vulnerability is projected to remain ...
Chocolate production may be harming environment: study
Your favourite chocolates may be significantly harming the environment, say scientists who found that the UK chocolate industry produces about 2.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in a year. A study, published in the journal Food Research International, looked at the carbon footprint of chocolate and its other environmental impacts. Researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK assessed the impact of ingredients, manufacturing processes, packaging and waste. The study estimates that the UK chocolate industry produces about 2.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of the whole population of a city as large as Belfast. It also found that it takes around 1,000 litres of water to produce just one chocolate bar. On average, each person individually consumes about eight kilogramme of chocolate per year, researchers said. They found the raw materials used to produce chocolate as well as the packaging are the major environmental ...
Tata Steel reports production and sales figures for Q4 FY 2018
Achieves production of 3.02 million tonnes and sales of 3 million tonnes
Defunct Chinese space lab plunges back to Earth
A defunct uncontrolled Chinese space laboratory re-entered the Earth's atmosphere today and plunged in the South Pacific, Chinese officials said. Eight-tonne Tiangong-1 was mostly burnt up in the atmosphere, China's Manned Space Engineering Office said. It re-entered in the central region of the South Pacific at around 8:15 am Beijing time, it said. State-run Xinhua news agency reported that the space lab was mostly burnt up in the atmosphere, quoting the monitoring and analysis of the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre and relevant organisations. Tiangong-1 was launched on September 29, 2011 and its service ended in March 2016. It has docked with Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, and undertaken a series of tasks, making important contributions to China's manned space cause.
China's Tiangong-1 space lab crashes in Pacific Ocean
China's prototype space station Tiangong-1 crashed in the Pacific Ocean, according to the country's space agency.The spacecraft re-entered the earth's atmosphere at 00:15 GMT (0545 hrs IST) on Monday over the South Pacific and mostly burnt up on re-entry, China's state-run news agency Xinhua confirmed.The US military too confirmed the re-entry of Tiangong-1 with a statement from its Joint Force Space Component Command (JFSCC)."UPDATE: #JFSCC confirmed #Tiangong1 reentered the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean at ~5:16 p.m. (PST) April 1. For details see http://www.space-track.org @US_Stratcom @usairforce @AFSpaceCC @30thSpaceWing @PeteAFB @SpaceTrackOrg," a tweet from 18 Space Control Squadron (18SPCS) said.The 10.4-metre-long (34.1-foot) Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace 1, was launched in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments as part of China's ambitious space programme, which aims to place a permanent station in orbit by 2023, The Guardian reported.It was ...
Chinese space lab re-enters Earth's atmosphere
Chinese space lab Tiangong-1 re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on Monday in the central region of the South Pacific, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said.
China says space lab breaks up over South Pacific
A defunct Chinese space lab hurtled through Earth's atmosphere today, breaking up into piece as it headed towards a watery grave in the South Pacific. The eight-tonne Tiangong-1 "mostly" burnt up above the vast ocean's central region at 8:15 am (0015 GMT), China's Manned Space Engineering Office said, moments after predicting a slightly later re-entry over the Atlantic.
Mamata slams Centre for fuel price hike
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday took a swipe at the Central government for not doing anything to control the surge in price of petrol and diesel.
Vietnam, China urge restraint in disputes in S China Sea
Vietnam and China today called for restraint in resolving disputes in the South China Sea. Speaking to reporters at a joint press briefing with his Chinese counterpart, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the two countries should manage the disputes and not expand them. "We propose that the two sides in the coming time should seriously implement the mutual understandings of leaders (of two countries) ... well manage disputes, do not have activities that complicate and expand disputes, respect the legitimate rights and interests of each other in accordance with international laws," Minh said. For his part, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said "settling maritime disputes is very important for the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations." Wang said the two sides "should not carry out unilateral activities that would complicate the situation and should strengthen maritime cooperation to build a healthy environment in order to reach an ultimate agreement on ...
Bahrain discovers largest oilfield in decades
RIYADH (Reuters) - Bahrain said on Sunday it had discovered the country's largest oilfield in decades, located off the west coast of the kingdom, according to state news agency BNA.
Euro-VI fuels roll out in Delhi, prices hit record high
Transport fuel prices in Delhi hit record highs on Sunday along with the roll out of the Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel as the latest measure to tackle air pollution in the national capital.