Page 82 - Environment
Speaker administers oath to newly elected NDPP MLA
Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhosu Tuesday administered oath to newly elected NDPP MLA Sharingain Longkumer. Longkumer won the bypoll to the Aonglenden Assembly constituency in Mokokchung district. The Speaker administered the oath of office and secrecy to Longkumer at his chamber in the Assembly Secretariat here in presence of Deputy Speaker Zhale Rio, Minister for Forest, Environment, Climate Change, CM Chang and Advisors Mhathung Yanthan and Imnatiba. In the 60-member Nagaland Assembly, the NDPP has 20 MLAs, its alliance partner BJP 12 and JD(U) one.
GE to cut over 1,000 jobs in French power operations
US industrial conglomerate General Electric said Tuesday that it would cut more than 1,000 jobs mainly at its gas turbine operations in eastern France, part of a wave of European layoffs as it tries to stem losses in its power generation business. The 1,044 job cuts, long feared by unions, could become a political challenge for President Emmanuel Macron, who assured local officials this month that the government was following the matter with "the utmost vigilance". The cuts will be made mainly in Belfort, eastern France, the European headquarters for GE Energy, and in the Paris region, the company said in a statement. "More than half the number of employees in the gas activities... are going to lose their jobs," the mayor of Belfort, Damien Meslot, and other local officials said in a statement. They warned of "a new hardship" for the region, which has been hit hard by the decline of mining and heavy industry over the past decades. Overall, GE employs nearly 4,000 people in Belfort, ...
Maharashtra govt earmarks Rs 30 crore for cloud seeding
In view of forecast of deficient rainfall this year, the Maharashtra government Tuesday approved a sum of Rs 30 crore for undertaking cloud seeding in the state. The approval was given by the state Cabinet at its meeting here. The amount of Rs 30 crore will be spent on procuring aircraft and radar system for the cloud seeding programme, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). The procedure, which uses an array of chemicals to aid precipitation in clouds, will be carried out during the monsoon period, it said. The Cabinet also decided to set up a honey collection centre to give a boost to honey production as a supplementary business for agriculture. The scheme will be implemented through the Khadi Gram Udyog Mandal, the statement said. Similarly, the Cabinet gave a go ahead for extending the power tariff waiver in Vidarbha and Marathwada for another five years. The decision, which will cost the state exchequer Rs 600 crore, will boost industrial ...
Maharashtra govt allocates Rs 30 crore for cloud seeding
Amid reports of deficit rainfall in the state, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday allocated Rs 30 crore for cloud seeding during this year's monsoon season.For cloud seeding, the help of planes and radars will be taken to spray chemical into the clouds.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the maximum temperature in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh regions of the state is likely to increase significantly, which may worsen the drought condition in those areas.On April 30, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had declared 151 talukas as drought affected and the Government of India extended assistance of Rs 4,714 crore in this regard.
Mother, daughter sue France over ill health from air pollution
A Paris court on Tuesday began hearing a case brought by a mother and daughter who, in a legal first in France, are suing the state for damages over ill health caused by air pollution. The mother and the daughter are asking for 160,000 euros (USD 179,000) in damages from the state at the administrative court of Montreuil in the east of Paris. They argue the authorities did not take effective measures against atmospheric pollution, in particular during the very high pollution that Paris endured in December 2016. The pair say this had an effect on their health, especially as they were living at the time in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen, just outside the clogged peripherique ring road. The peripherique -- opened in 1973 -- takes 1.1 million drivers a day but is also a nightmare for the 100,000 people living around it. Both say they developed respiratory problems that were accentuated during pollution peaks. The mother, 52, has had to take time off work and the daughter, 16, ...
Discovery of 'green' hydrogen producing reactor a breakthrough for scientists
Scientists have discovered a thermodynamically-reversible chemical reactor that can produce pure hydrogen, thereby eliminating the need for costly separation of the final product.According to the study published in the journal 'Nature Chemistry', the 'Hydrogen Memory Reactor' avoids mixing reactant gases by transferring oxygen between reactant streams via a solid state oxygen reservoir.Professor Ian Metcalfe, the lead author of the study and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Newcastle University, said, "Chemical changes are usually performed via mixed reactions whereby multiple reactants are mixed together and heated. But this leads to losses, incomplete conversion of reactants and a final mixture of products that need to be separated. With our 'Hydrogen Memory Reactor', we can produce pure, separated products. You could call it the perfect reactor."Describing their new system, the team demonstrated a chemical reactor capable of approaching thermodynamically-reversible operation - .
NGT directs DPCC to submit action taken against defaulting industries in Narela, Bawana
The National Green Tribunal Tuesday directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to submit action taken report with regard to closure of defaulting industries making shoe soles and other plastic goods in Narela and Bawana area. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the DPCC to assess the compensation by these units within three months. The tribunal made it clear that the power under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986 to recover compensation is exercisable by the DPCC exclusively which cannot be delegated to the SDM or the municipal corporation. "However, the SDM and the municipal corporation are free to exercise their own statutory powers under the Municipal Act or the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or any other enabling statutory powers. The DPCC is free to take assistance of an agency as per law but the responsibility ..
Cauvery authority asks Karnataka to release 9.19 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu
The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Tuesday asked Karnataka to release 9.19 thousand million cubic (TMC) water to the lower riparian states for June. The decision to release the water was taken by the CWMA which was attended by the representatives of the Centre and the riparian states -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry. "The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has taken a decision for the release of 9.19 TMC of water by Karantaka at the Biligundlu site for June this year," S Masood Husain, the chairman of the CWMA. Several parts of Tamil Nadu are grappling with acute water shortage. The Centre had last week also issued a drought advisory to the state in the backdrop of depleting water levels in its reservoirs.
Leopard kills woman in Gujarat
A 52-year-old woman was mauled to death by a leopard at Kankchiyala village in Junagadh district of Gujarat, a forest official said Tuesday. The body of the woman, identified as Shardaben Vavaiya, was found from near her house by villagers Tuesday morning, a forest department official said. The incident occurred Monday night when Vavaiya was sleeping alone inside her house, he said, adding that the leopard entered the house and dragged her out by her throat. The big cat escaped after leaving Vavaiya's body near her house, he said. "As per primary information, the body of a 52-year-old woman was found in Kankchiyala village in Visavadar range of Gir West forest division. She was killed in a leopard attack," said Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Junagadh wildlife division, D T Vasavada. He said that forest department staff rushed to the spot and set up a cage to trap the feline. This is the third such incident in the region in the last two months. A woman and a girl were
Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals update on shutdown of Ammonia plant at Baroda
The company has made an alternate arrangement to minimize production losses of various Fertilizers & Industrial Products and the company is also ensuring continuous supply of Fertilizer Products to consumers from its production facilities from Sikka Unit plants.
Malaysia to ship back hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste
Hundreds of tonnes of imported plastic waste will be shipped back to where it came from, Malaysia said Tuesday, insisting the country did not want to be a global dumping ground. Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), with much of it ending up in landfill or polluting the seas, in what is becoming a growing international crisis. China had previously taken a large amount of waste for recycling, but abruptly stopped last year, saying it wanted to improve its own environment. Now Southeast Asian countries that stepped in to plug this gap say they have had enough. "We urge developed countries to stop shipping garbage to our country," said Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia's minister of energy, technology, science, environment and climate change, adding it was "unfair and uncivilised". "We will return it back to the country of origin without any mercy," she said, after an inspection of several waste-filled containers at Port ...
Seminar on biodiversity conservation held in Srinagar
With an aim to generate awareness among people on the importance of biodiversity conservation, a provincial level seminar titled "Water depletionGN Shakir, the organiser of the seminar, told ANI, "We have organised this seminar to create awareness among people that biodiversity is in great danger and it's our responsibility to work for its betterment so that the upcoming generations wouldn't have to suffer."According to Rauf Hamzah, an environmentalist, more ways to recycle and preserve freshwater should be in place. "We all are facing a severe freshwater crisis. I have been to various villages as a part of various surveys and witnessed people storing water in tanks for days together. We should focus more on new ways to preserve it," he said.Aleeza Zahoor, a student of GHSS Kothi Bagh, said, "Seminars on important topics like biodiversity should be organised because the condition of our environment is getting worse day-by-day. With this, people will get to know the reality and will ...
Light pollution may harm amphibians: Study
Artificial sources of light at night time may harm amphibian populations, a study has found. Researchers exposed wood frogs to a control and two anthropogenic light conditions: intensified daytime illuminance and artificial light at night (ALAN). The study, published in the Environmental Pollution, found that both the intensified daytime illuminance treatments and the ALAN treatment decreased hatching success in tadpoles. "Research on the effects of light pollution has recently seen a surge in popularity," said Jessica Hua, an Assistant Professor at Binghamton University in the US. "It's difficult to find any place on Earth that is not affected by even minimal light pollution. We recognised a gap in the research and realised that not much was known about how light pollution can impact amphibians," Hua said in a statement. "Since amphibians are sensitive to environmental changes, they make great models for studying how pollution of any type can impact other species," she said. Tadpoles
When growth isn't inclusive and benefits only a section
Just ahead of the 2008 economic meltdown, when India was the flavour of the season at Davos, a top official of the erstwhile Planning Commission made a startling albeit roundabout admission: that the "inclusive growth" mantra of the time was not for the "aam aadmi" but for PLUs (people like us) and those in the higher strata.
India elected to Executive Board of first UN-Habitat Assembly
India has been elected to the Executive Board of the first UN-Habitat Assembly, announced Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Monday."The nation's global clout continues to grow significantly. In an extremely proud development, India has been elected today to the Executive Board of the first UN-Habitat Assembly at the Plenary Session of the Assembly being held in Nairobi," read a post on the ministry's official Twitter handle.The first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly started on May 27 at the headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi and will go on till May 31.The special theme for the UN-Habitat Assembly is "Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities".
Sistema.bio raises USD 12 mn; to help 2 lakh farmers globally
Social enterprise Sistema.bio Monday said it has raised USD 12 million from investors and the amount would be used to help two lakh farmers in many countries, including India, over the next three years. "Shell Foundation, DILA CAPITAL, Engie RDE Fund, EcoEnterprise Fund, EDFIMC (ElectriFI), Endeavor Catalyst Fund, CoCapital, Triodos, Alpha Mundi, and Lendahand are among the investors and creditors participating in the round," the company said in a statement. It plans to impact two lakh smallholder farmers in India, Kenya, Mexico and South America with biodigester technology over the next three years. Sistema.bio is an international social enterprise that works with smallholder farmers to address the challenges such as poverty, food security and climate change, providing access to innovative biodigester technology, training and financing to make farmers more productive, efficient and sustainable. The company started its operations in India in 2017 with its headquarters in Pune. The ...
Acute water crisis prevalent in parts of Raipur, claim locals
With temperatures constantly on the rise, parts of the state capital are facing acute water crisis and citizens living in such areas are forced to travel far or wait in large queues to fulfill their daily water requirement.Residents of Saddu-Mowa area's BSUP colony are dependent on water tankers and less frequent water supply on a few public pumps for their water needs.Even at the public pumps, the locals queue up with their water buckets and utensils much before the time of water supply. Water here, locals say, is available only for a few hours during the day.One of the locals, Preeti, told ANI, "We have already complained to Municipal Corporation and at zone office but no action is being taken. Water tanker also comes only in the blocks where some politically connected people live. We go to a pond about three kilometres away to fetch water."Another resident Nisha added, "The water scarcity is very prominent in this area. We have been facing this for about three years now."Syed Imran
Electric bus service starts in Jammu city
For the first time in Jammu and Kashmir, an electric bus service was operationalised on Monday in Jammu city.
Meghalaya govt push for medicinal plant cultivation
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday launched a new project to boost the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. Sangma also inaugurated a processing unit of essential oils here on this occasion. "The Rs 18-crore 'Aroma Mission' will ensure that agriculture and allied sectors get due importance and the farmers their benefits," he said. It is important for any government to think about development of all sectors so that the growth curve moves in the right direction, the CM insisted. "People in this state have used medicinal and aromatic plants for generations to cure various ailments and diseases. It's about time we share this knowledge with the rest of the world," Sangma said, insisting that "institutions like CSIR- CIMAP should carry out more researches in the field". Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) is a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Sangma also asserted that ...
J&K Governor reviews sanitation arrangements for Amarnath Yatra
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday reviewed arrangements for sanitation and waste disposal during the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.