Page 894 - Environment

21,530 acre of state land transferred to people fetched Rs

Transfer of 21,530.5 acre of land to its occupants under Jammu and Kashmir State Land Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants Act, popularly known as Roshni Act, has fetched Rs 76.91 crore for the state exchequer, the Jammu and Kashmir government said. Replying to a question of BJP MLC Vikram Randhawa in the Legislative Council, state Revenue Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri said Rs 7691.07 lakh have been generated from transfer of 1,72,244 kanals (21,530.5 acre) of land to occupants under J&K State Landvesting of Ownership to the Occupants Act, 2001. Of these, 5,614 acre were transferred to the occupants in Jammu district for Rs 15.96 crore, followed by 442 acre to occupants in Doda district for Rs 59.49 lakh, 2,297 acre in Ramban district transferred for Rs 1.03 crore and 1,672 acre in Reasi district for Rs 29.69 lakh. In Udhampur, 1,326 acre were transferred to the occupants for Rs 1.31 crore, followed by 1,256 acre transferred to occupants in Kishtwar district for Rs ...

All petrol pumps in Bihar to have PUC centres by March

With a view to curbing air pollution and for the benefit of vehicle owners, Bihar's Road Transport Department has decided to set up Pollution Under Control (PUC) certification Centres at all the petrol pumps across the state. The department had, on January 25, 2018, issued a directive to all the district magistrates and district transport officers for compliance of its order by the end of the current financial year - March, 2018. "All petrol pumps will have PUC centres across the state in view of the Supreme court's order and subsequent advisory issued by the Central government to all the states in this regard," Transport Department Secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal told PTI. There are 2,550 petrol pumps belonging to three oil marketing companies in Bihar as on January 1, 2018, said Veena Kumari, Chief Manager, Planning and Coordination, IOCL, Patna. The centres outside petrol pumps would also function as well, Agarwal said. Patna, the state capital, is one of the top 10 ..

Palaniswami will talk to Siddaramaih to release Cauvery water

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and other ministers from the Cauvery Delta region will meet Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaih and urge him to release Cauvery river water to save the paddy crop, a government release said here on Tuesday.

Decide consent to project proponent at Bandhwari plant: NGT

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to consider granting permission for the operation of a waste-to- energy plant and managing of a landfill site at the defunct Bandhwari sewage treatment plant at Haryana's Gurgaon. A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi asked the state pollution board to decide on the grant of authorisation to Eco Green Energy Pvt Ltd under Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 within two weeks. The direction came on a complaint by the residents of nearby villages about water contamination in their area. The NGT was informed that to tackle the leachate generated due to accumulation of waste, the treatment unit would be operationalised by March 31 and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has suggested an action plan on it. It was told that the total accumulated waste at the dump site was around 2 million tonnes. "As regards the legacy waste is concerned, the CPCB in its inspection ..

Tech Startups that can help you reduce your employee transportation cost

Higher fuel cost and carbon footprints have created an environment of stress over the years. Along with the harmful emissions in the nature, people are also troubling with bigger numbers on their commutation bills.There are many startups in the cab service sector, using innovative technological methods to find the shortest route for passengers traveling. Further it has successfully reduced the cost of fuel. In return, passengers need to pay less money as well.People from corporates are highly leaned towards these end to end mobility services providing them affordable and comfortable rides on a daily basis. Their concept of optimized commutation has made an effort to reduce the pollution by using cleaner fuels, less harmful to the environment as it remains negligible amount of unburnt residues behind. The idea is gaining popularity among corporate as it is saving whopping employee transportation costs in longer run.AavegAaveg has been set up to meet the employee transportation ...

Shri Radha Mohan Singh Launches the Rapid Detection Kits for Adulterants in Fresh Fish

Shri Singh said that fish consumption is beneficial for health. Since fresh fish is highly perishable in nature, so fish don't have a long shelf life. India's domestic fish market is reported to be selling formaldehyde-adulterated fish, especially in markets located far away from landing centres or production sites. According to Indian and International regulations, the fresh fish and shellfish should be preserved only by means of ice and use of substances other than ice to maintain quality is a fraudulent practice

Cauvery issue: TN delegation led by CM plan to meet Karna CM

A delegation of ministers from delta districts, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, plan to meet Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over releasing the state's share of Cauvery water to 'save' samba paddy crop, an official release said. A meeting convened by Palaniswami here yesterday took a decision in this regard, it said. The meeting, attended by deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, among others, decided that a delegation of ministers from the Cauvery delta districts plan to meet Siddaramaiah and take up the issue. Tamil Nadu has formally requested Karnataka to facilitate an appointment with Siddaramaiah to raise the issue of releasing its share of water from Cauvery to 'save' the samba crops in Tamil Nadu, the release said. "In the meeting, it was decided that the Tamil Nadu chief minister and ministers from delta districts will meet the Karnataka chief minister in Bengaluru and insist on releasing water from Cauvery to save the samba crops," it ...

NGT notice to Centre on plea to maintain e-flow in Ganga

A plea seeking the release of adequate quantity of water in Ganga to maintain the minimum environment flow for sustaining wildlife and river ecology, today prompted the National Green Tribunal to seek the responses of the Centre and others. E-flow defines the quantity, timing and quality of water flow required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, besides human livelihood. A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi issued notices to the ministries of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Water Resources, Central Pollution Control Board, National Mission for Clean Ganga, Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd and others while seeking their replies before March 8. The NGT was hearing a plea filed by environment activist Vikrant Tongad seeking directions to maintain a minimum environment flow in Ganga to maintain wildlife and river ecology, alleging that a "substantial flow" of the Ganga was being diverted in Dehradun to a side canal for a power plant. "Direct

Divis to spend Rs 300 crore on expansion plans in 2018

Drug firm Divis Laboratories is focussed on expanding capacities of existing plants, even as its proposed plant at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh ran into rough weather, a senior official of the city-based drug maker said here today. The company spent about Rs 400 crore till December last year and will be spending another Rs 300 crore on the expansion programme during the current year, L Kishore Babu chief financial officer said. "Kakinada plant (in AP) may take some more time. The state government has to resolve the farmers issue. We will not undertake any work there until the farmers issue is resolved. So we are expanding the capacities of the existing plants," Kishore Babu told PTI here. "Capex for next year has not yet been decided. By March we will finalise it," he added. The state government allotted 505 acres of land at Ontimamidi Village (Kona), Thondangi Mandal, East Godavari District, and gave the company advance possession of the land, pending procedural ...

Charges against me baseless, will file defamation suit: Rawal

A day after NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik accused Maharashtra minister Jaykumar Rawal of dubious land deals, the latter said today that he would file a defamation suit against the NCP leader as the charges levelled against him were "baseless". Rawal, district guardian minister of Dhule in north Maharashtra, today said he has been hurt by the allegations and decided to take serious note of it. "The allegations are completely baseless. But I have decided to take legal action against Malik. I will file a defamation suit against him," Rawal told PTI. When asked about Rawal's threat of filing a defamation suit against him, the NCP leader said, "I welcome Rawal's decision to prosecute me. I will provide all the documents before the court in support of my allegations." Accusing the Tourism minister of indulging in dubious land deals, Malik had yesterday said that Rawal had purchased a piece of land in his native Dhule district in 2012 even after the same land had been notified ..

Adani Power seeks nod for setting up power SEZ in Jharkhand

Adani Power has sought approval from the commerce ministry for setting up of a special economic zone for the power sector in Jharkhand, entailing investment of Rs 15,002 crore. The application will be considered by the Board of Approval, the highest decision making body of the SEZs, in its meeting on February 5. The inter-ministerial board is headed by the commerce secretary. The developer of the zone - Adani Power (Jharkhand) has sought in-principle approval for setting up of a sector specific SEZ for power at Godda district in Jharkhand over an area of 425 hectares, an official said. The developer has informed the ministry that it is in the process of acquiring the land through the state government. The project, according to the company's application, would generate 199 direct employment and 15,000 indirect jobs. According to industry sources, the company has already made sufficient advances to indicate its keenness to set up the project. They said that the company has .

Azure Roof Power to electrify 152 Schools with solar rooftop

Solar power producer Azure Power today said it has won a 11.35 megawatts (MWs) solar rooftop power project. This is the largest allocation for this auction, 60 per cent of the total size, Azure Power said in a statement. According to the statement, Azure Power will sign the power purchase agreement with Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, an autonomous body under Ministry of Human Resource Development. Azure Power qualifies for a capital incentive from Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, which is expected to result in a weighted average levelised tariff of Rs 4.97 (US cents 7.7) per kWh. The solar rooftops will be spread across 152 schools and six states -- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Kerala. The Azure Roof Power offers rooftop solar power solutions for commercial, industrial, government, and institutional customers in cities across India to lower their energy bill and meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. With over 150 MWs of high .

Mammals, birds better at adapting to climate change: Study

New research has found that mammals and birds -- both warm-blooded animals -- may have a better chance of surviving climate change than their cold-blooded peers, reptiles and amphibians.

EU summons France, Germany, UK to 'final chance' pollution

The EU summoned ministers from France, Germany, Britain and six other polluting member states for a "final chance" today to comply with air quality standards. Brussels could follow through on threats to take them to the European Court of Justice, the bloc's highest tribunal, if they fail to change course. EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella "will give ministers the opportunity and the final chance to find solutions", European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters yesterday. "Otherwise the cases will follow their way to the court," Schinas warned. Summoned are the environment ministers of France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Hungary, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. These countries are deemed regularly to exceed emissions limits set to protect Europeans against particulate matter and azote dioxyde. But a total of 23 of the 28 EU member countries exceed air quality norms, the European Commission said. The problem affects more than 130 ...

Tata Steel commissions SLS Plant at FAP Joda

Tata Steel today said it has commissioned a Solid Liquid Separation (SLS) plant for Gas Cleaning Plant (GCP) slurry at its Ferro Alloys Plant (FAP) at Joda in Keonjhar district of Odisha. This is the first such plant in the country in the ferro-alloys sector, the company said. The SLS plant, besides conserving water, would prevent water from sludge pits percolating into the ground and contaminating ground water, Rajeev Singhal, Vice President, (Raw Materials) of Tata Steel said in a statement. As a responsible corporate, Tata Steel had been undertaking several such initiatives that contributed towards sustainability of the environment, said Singhal, who inaugurated the SLS plant yesterday. Installed at a cost of nearly Rs 8 crore at FAP, Joda the SLS plant is an environment-friendly initiative, set to recover manganese-rich solid from the wet gas cleaning plant slurry. Water recovered by the processing of GCP slurry will be fully recycled, leading to water conservation ..

Chinese customs intercepts tree-damaging insects from France

Chinese customs officials have intercepted a batch of insects from logs imported from France which could severely damage local trees. The Agriotes paludum insects were caught in oak logs imported from France in Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, the Jiangsu Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said yesterday. It is the first time that the species was intercepted in China, state-run Xinhua news agency reports. The Agriotes paludum usually reside in dead tree branches or under tree bark. They can accelerate the ageing of trees, undermining agricultural and forest safety.

Bag containing electronic materials found near Tirumala hills

A bag containing electronic devices was found in a forest near the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara, police said today. Inspector General of Police, Red sanders Anti-smuggling Task Force M Kantha Rao told reporters here last night that investigation is underway to ascertain who abandoned the materials including a walkman, mobile phone, motherboard, conductors, wires and capacitors. Probe was also on to ascertain for what purpose they were brought here, he added. The Task Force Sub-Inspector M Vasu told PTI that the plastic bag was found in the forest close to Sri Varimettu footpath leading to Tirumala hills when he and his team were returning after a routine check in the forest yesterday.

Tata Steel commissions first Solid Liquid Separation Plant

Tata Steel has unveiled India's first Solid Liquid Separation (SLS) Plant for Gas Cleaning Plant (GCP) slurry at its Ferro Alloys Plant (FAP) at Odisha's Joda, said a statement on Tuesday.

NASA attempts to contact long-lost satellite

US space agency NASA on Monday said that it's attempting to contact a satellite it lost more than a decade ago, after it was discovered possibly still alive by an amateur astronomer earlier this month.

Volkswagen faces inquiry call over diesel fume tests on monkeys

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's supervisory board called for an immediate inquiry into who commissioned tests in which monkeys were exposed to toxic diesel fumes, while the German government said such studies were unjustifiable.