Page 881 - Environment
Ozone layer continues to deplete: study
The ozone layer - which protects life on Earth from high-energy radiation - has continued to thin over the last three decades, a study has warned. In the 20th century, when excessive quantities of ozone- depleting chlorinated and brominated hydrocarbons such as CFCs were released into the atmosphere, the ozone layer in the stratosphere - ie at altitudes of 15 to 50 kilometres - thinned out globally. The Montreal Protocol introduced a ban on these long- lasting substances in 1989. At the turn of the millennium, the loss of stratospheric ozone seemed to have stopped. Until now, experts have expected that the global ozone layer would completely recover by the middle of the century. However, a team led by researchers from ETH Zurich and the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos in Switzerland have found that despite the ban on CFCs, the concentration of ozone in the lower part of the stratosphere has continued to decline at latitudes between 60 degree South and .
Sonakshi wants freedom for elephants used as rides in Jaipur
Actress Sonakshi Sinha has written a letter to Rajasthan Minister for Forest, Environment, Youth Affairs and Sports Gajendra Singh Khimsar to relocate an elephant to a rehabilitation facility for urgent care after reports of a violent beating.
U.S. needs incentives to attract foreign solar firms - China's Longi
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States will need to offer incentives to attract foreign solar firms to invest there after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on solar panel imports, an executive at Longi Green Energy Tech said on Tuesday.
TRAPPIST-1 planets may harbour abundant water: study
The seven Earth-like planets orbiting the faint red star TRAPPIST-1, just 40 light-years away, may host significant amounts of water, boosting the chances of finding life outside our solar system, a study has found. The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system was first detected in 2016. Last year, further observations showed that there are at least seven planets in the system, each roughly the same size as the Earth. These are named TRAPPIST-1b, c, d, e, f, g and h, with increasing distance from the central star. Scientists from the European Southern Observatory led by Simon Grimm at the University of Bern in Switzerland have applied very complex computer modelling methods to all the available data and have determined the planets' densities with much better precision than was possible before. "Densities, while important clues to the planets' compositions, do not say anything about habitability. However, our study is an important step forward as we continue to explore whether these ..
Philippines bans foreign research at undersea plateau
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has banned all foreign scientific exploration on a vast undersea plateau claimed by Manila, his spokesman said today, now that China has completed its research there. Authorities announced three weeks ago that the president had allowed China to conduct research at Benham Rise off the country's Pacific coast, despite the two nations' decades-old maritime disputes elsewhere in the region. Duterte spokesman Harry Roque said the president ordered an end to all foreign research in the area at a cabinet meeting Monday after Chinese scientists completed their expedition. "The president ordered that henceforth only Filipinos will be allowed to conduct scientific research... and explore and exploit for natural resources in the Philippine Rise," Roque told reporters, using the local name for the area. The 13-million-hectare (32-million-acre) underwater land mass, believed to be rich in maritime resources, lies 250 kilometres off the east coast .
Thai construction tycoon accused of poaching leopard
A Thai construction tycoon has been arrested for poaching in a protected wildlife sanctuary, police said today, as photos of hunting equipment and animal carcasses including a black leopard circulated on social media. Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai Development, a Bangkok-based company that helped build Thailand's Suvarnabhumi airport and the capital's elevated Skytrain, was arrested along with three other suspects. Park rangers seized three rifles, 143 bullets and other hunting equipment as the group were detained in the Thungyai Naresuan national park in tourist-friendly Kanchanaburi province on Sunday. Photos released by park authorities show Premchai sitting in front of a tent surrounded by police, as well as animal skins, carcasses and a large hunting rifle with a scope. "They were charged with illegal hunting, (and) illegal possession of carcasses of protected animals," the national parks department said in a statement Tuesday. Thailand's Wildlife ...
Siddaramaiah govt adopting Kerala, WB models to target
The Karnataka BJP has alleged that the Siddaramaiah-led government in the state was adopting the West Bengal and Kerala models for targeting its workers and "committing political murders". The Karnataka BJP Digital Communications Team made the accusation in a statement yesterday on social media site Facebook. "Never in Karnataka history had people witnessed political murders in large numbers. Karnataka, under Siddaramaiah, is following West Bengal and Kerala models for committing political murders," it said. The team also alleged that never in the state's history had a state minister (K J George) been charged as the first accused in a case related to the death of a senior police official. The CBI had in October last year named George as an accused in an FIR filed in connection with the alleged suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) M K Ganapathy. The BJP social media team also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- during his February 4 public rally here --
New alien species invasions rising globally: study
The number of newly emerging alien species - those never before encountered as aliens - continues to rise, posing a significant challenge to biosecurity interventions worldwide, according to a study. Researchers, including those from University College London (UCL) in the UK, found that up to 16 per cent of all species on Earth may be alien species and if they invade new regions, impacts will be difficult to predict. Approaches to tackle the growing issue largely rely on knowledge of species' invasion history elsewhere, giving new previously unrecorded alien species a higher chance of slipping through border controls and eluding early response management. The study, published in the journal PNAS, analysed a global database of 45,984 records detailing the first invasions of 16,019 established alien species from 1500 until 2005 to investigate the dynamics of how alien species spread worldwide. Between the years 2000 and 2005, one quarter of records are of species that had
TRAPPIST-1 planets could hold more water than Earth's oceans
The seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all mostly made of rock, with some having the potential to hold far more water than Earth - 250 times more than the oceans on our home planet, says a study that offers the best-yet picture of what these planets are made of.
India likely to continue sugar exports in 2018-2019 season
DUBAI (Reuters) - India is likely to continue exporting sugar in the 2018-2019 season, Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association, said on Tuesday.
Solar System 2.0 may have water-rich planets: study
Planets around the faint red star TRAPPIST-1, just 40 light-years from Earth, may host significant amounts of water, scientists say. The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system was first detected in 2016. Last year, further observations showed that there are at least seven planets in the system, each roughly the same size as the Earth. These are named TRAPPIST-1b, c, d, e, f, g and h, with increasing distance from the central star. Scientists led by Simon Grimm at the University of Bern in Switzerland have now applied very complex computer modelling methods to all the available data and have determined the planets' densities with much better precision than was possible before. "The TRAPPIST-1 planets are so close together that they interfere with each other gravitationally, so the times when they pass in front of the star shift slightly," said Grimm. "These shifts depend on the planets' masses, their distances and other orbital parameters," he said. "With a computer model, we ...
Steps Taken To Expedite National Highways Projects
The Delegation of power across various levels is also part of the Cabinet approved Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase - I for development/upgradation of 34,800 km of National Highways (NHs) with an outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore over a five year period i.e. from 2017-18 to 2021-22. For EPC projects, NHAI Board (Authority) has been authorized to appraise and approve the projects irrespective of cost. For all BOT (Toll) projects of NHAI Where no grant is required to be given to concessionaires, the Authority has been authorized to appraise and approve the projects irrespective of cost. NHAI Projects under Hybrid Annuity and BOT(Annuity) modes with cost (TPC excluding Land Cost) up to Rs 2000 crore are to be appraised and approved by Ministry and Hon'ble Minister RTH respectively.
Anil Baijal reviews action plan for combating air pollution
Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has reviewed the detailed action plan of agencies and stakeholders on measures to combat air pollution in the national capital.In the meeting chaired at Raj Niwas on Monday, Baijal directed all the agencies to complete their actions for combating air pollution keeping in view the onset of next winter.He stated that all the agencies should adhere to the time-bound schedule for the various activities identified and also generate awareness among the public on a continuous basis for improving the air quality in Delhi.The Lieutenant Governor also instructed that various activities for solid waste management be compressed within eight to 16 months.He suggested preparing a concrete operational plan for the pollution awareness campaign, "Clean Air for Delhi Campaign" which will be held from February 10 to February 23.At the meeting, Secretary of Environment and Chairman of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) informed that 83 home guards as ...
Demand for action against import of GM soybeen seeds
The Coalition for a GM-free India has urged the government to take strict action on illegal genetically modified (GM) soybean seeds being allegedly imported in India. The coalition said this is in violation of the Environmental Protection Act and the 2006 DGFT notification. "We have been importing soy seeds from the USA and Ukraine, for instance. The US is known to have mostly GM soyabean (94%) and Ukraine has had its soy exports been reported and cancelled by Russia for having GM contamination. "Import of GM soybean seeds has not been approved in India," said the Coalition to the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Environment Ministry and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in separate letters. The Coalition also said that it suspects that several consignments from GM soybean producing countries are transferred mid-sea, and hence, the source and country of origin are obfuscated as well.
Nigeria assures help in finding Indians on missing ship
Nigeria has assured help in finding 22 Indian nationals who were on board a ship that went missing on Saturday off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday.
State govt to actively pursue hydel projects transfer from
Jammu and Kashmir minister of state for power Asiea Naqash today said the government would actively pursue transfer of hydel projects from NHPC. "As mentioned by the Finance Minister in the power budget speech in the year 2015-16, the government will actively pursue transfer of hydel projects from NHPC," she said in the Legislative assembly here. The minister said the budget also provided funds for meeting the operation and maintenance cost ofpower projects to be taken over from NHPC. Replying to a question by National Conference MLA Devender Singh Rana, Naqash said on March 16, 2015 Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu met the Union Power Minister formally and impressed upon the Union Government the need for transfer of power projects of Dul Hasti and Uri from NHPC to state among other important issues of power sector. Subsequently, the issues have been raised by the deputy chief minister in various power minister's conference. Responding
Jumbo dies in collision with goods train
An elephant was killed after it was hit by a goods train in Jalpaiguri district, a forest officer said today. The incident happened on the New Jalpaiguri to Alipurduar route between Champramari and Panjhora jungles in the district around 9pm yesterday, the officer said. The tusker was around 10-12 years old, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Gorumara, Nisha Goswami, said. The elephant's carcass was burnt after postmortem examination, Goswami said. Terming the incident as unfortunate, West Bengal Forest minister Hiten Burman said that he would talk to the railway authorities and try to find a solution to the problem.
Increase environment marshals to combat air pollution: Baijal
Lt Governor Anil Baijal today said the number of environment marshals should be increased in the city to combat air pollution. In a meeting chaired by him and attended by Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain and top officials of departments concerned, the detailed action plan of various agencies to combat air pollution in the city was reviewed. A fortnight long 'Clean Air for Delhi Campaign' jointly organised by the Delhi government and the Centre, will be launched on February 23 to create awareness against air pollution, Environment Secretary Anil Kumar Singh said in the meeting. A fresh air quality assessment study was being discussed with the IIT Kanpur, he said. Baijal directed for shortening timelines of various activities for solid waste management by the municipal corporations, a statement from the LG office said. "He also directed for increasing the number of environment marshals after a thorough assessment of their performance," the statement said. Top ...
Centre, states spent over Rs 900 cr to promote SBM in 3 yrs:
The union and state governments have spent more than Rs 900 crore in the last three years to promote the Swachh Bharat Mission in the rural areas, the Parliament was informed today. A total of Rs 257.76 crore, Rs 307.57 crore and Rs 375.98 crore have been spent on information, education and communication during 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 respectively under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM-G) by Centre and state governments, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Uma Bharati told the Rajya Sabha. The total of Rs 941.31 crore have been spent by the Centre and the state governments to promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship scheme in the three-year period, she said. "The SBM-G guidelines and the programme stresses upon positive behaviour change and community mobilisation to promote toilet usage and to make villages open defecation free. "Grass root volunteers and local government machinery with support from the local people organise activities to ...
Steps needed to curb pollution or people will fall sick: SC
The Supreme Court today said all steps were required to be taken to tackle air pollution otherwise the government health programmes would "completely go haywire" and people will fall sick since 13 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India. The apex court made this observation while hearing a matter related to pollution during which the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) informed it that pollution emission standards for several categories of industries in the Delhi-national capital region (NCR) have been notified. Representing the ministry, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A N S Nadkarni told a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that standards for five categories of industries would be finalised by March 31. During the hearing, the apex court referred to an advertisement on 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' and said it says that India has 13 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world. "I think what the ...
