Page 925 - Environment
Villagers attack Bihar CM's convoy, dozen securitymen injured
Upset over lack of development, a group of villagers on Friday stoned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's convoy in Buxar district, injuring nearly a dozen security personnel, an official said.
First unit of BTPS to start commercial generation by Jan end
The first unit of 250 MW of Barauni Thermal Power Station, is expected to start commercial generation by the end of this month, a senior BTPS official said today. The Barauni Thermal Power Station is wholly owned by the Bihar government. Two units of 250 MW each is being built. "We have been carrying out commissioning activity for past couple of months. First, the 250 MW plant was fired up with oil and ran the unit up to 35 MW and later on the intervening night of January 10-11 (2018), the plant was fired with coal and ran it (unit) to its full load capacity of 250 MW," BTPS general manager A K Sinha told PTI over phone. Sinha further clarified that "We stopped the plant after running it to its full load capacity for few minutes in order to ensure whether or not the plant, its machines and equipment are working efficiently and properly to make it operational... Defects and deviations have been found during trial but we hope to rectify all these defects at the earliest ..
Odisha seeks early construction of NINEI
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue instructions to commence construction of the National Institute of New Energy and Innovation (NINEI) in the state's capital city at the earliest.
Naveen writes to PM for immediate establishment of NINEI
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for immediate establishment of the National Institute of New Energy and Innovation (NINEI) in the state. Patnaik's letter to the prime minister comes after the ministry, on November 10, 2017, issued an order to close down the regional office at Bhubaneswar with immediate effect. "I request you kindly intervene in the matter and issue instructions to commence construction of the National Institute of New Energy and Innovation at the earliest. May I also request you to kindly direct the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy to reopen the regional office at Bhubaneswar," Patnaik wrote to the prime minister. "Closure of the regional office may hamper the progress of establishment of the National Institute of New Energy and Innovation at Bhubaneswar," Patnaik said in the letter. Referring to his earlier letters to the prime minister regarding establishment of the Institute on ...
Steep slopes on Mars reveal structure of buried ice: NASA
Scientists, using a NASA spacecraft, have discovered thick deposits of ice beneath the surface of Mars. Eight scarps, with slopes as steep as 55 degrees, reveal new information about the internal layered structure of previously detected underground ice sheets in Mars' middle latitudes, the US space agency said. The exposed deposit of water ice is more than 100 meters thick. The ice was likely deposited as snow long ago. The deposits are exposed in cross section as relatively pure water ice, capped by a layer one to two yards (or meters) thick of ice-cemented rock and dust. They hold clues about Mars' climate history. They also may make frozen water more accessible than previously thought to future robotic or human exploration missions. The scientists located and studied the scarp sites with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The sites are in both northern and southern hemispheres of Mars, at latitudes from about 55 to 58 degrees, equivalent .
Nitish Kumar's convoy attacked, security personnel injured
The convoy of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday was attacked and pelted with stones during a 'samiksha yatra' in Nandar village of Buxar district.The chief minister was rescued safely; however, a few security persons were injured.According to media reports, Kumar was visiting the village to assess the development in the area; however, villagers attacked the convoy for the lack of the same in the area.
Scientists spot massive ice deposits on Mars
Scientists have unearthed thick and massive deposits of ice in some regions on Mars.
Conservation architect Aishwarya Tipnis gets French honour
Delhi-based conservation architect Aishwarya Tipnis has been conferred France's top cultural award for her "outstanding commitment" to preservation of French heritage in India. The 37-year-old architect, who has now become an evangelist of restoration and adaptive reuse of old, crumbling buildings, was bestowed the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler at a function last night in Kolkata. This prestigious award honours people who have distinguished themselves in the field of art. Ebrahim Alkazi, the grand old man of Indian theatre, was conferred the distinction in 2012. In her field, renowned architect Raj Rewal is the recipient of the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), the highest French civilian distinction. Tipnis has worked extensively on identification of shared built heritage of the French in India and has brought a change in approach to urban heritage conservation due to her ...
Jitendra Singh credits PM Modi for ISRO's successes
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the successes Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) has achieved during the past four years."In the last 3-4 years, it is primarily the personal intervention and patronage provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that team ISRO has been able to carry one success after the other," Jitendra Singh, MoS (Department of Space) PMO, told ANI.The minister's statement comes after ISRO successfully launched its 100th satellite, 'Cartosat-2 Series', with 30 others from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota Island.He also said it was a matter of added pleasure as the recent successes have come at a time when he was personally associated with the Department of Space."It is a very pleasant coincidence that I'm associated with the Department of Space at the time when team ISRO is scaling new heights, global heights," he said.The minister said the countries which had started their space ...
ASEAN-India vow to tackle climate change & price volatility
India and ASEAN nations today agreed to jointly work to mitigate the challenges of climate change, enhance livelihood opportunities through agro- forestry, exchange farm machineries and develop heterotic rice hybrids. They also called for joint efforts towards managing food security and price volatility besides implementing more capacity building programmes in 2018 on empowerment of ASEAN and Indian women through cooperatives. A joint declaration in this regard was made at the fourth ASEAN-India ministerial meeting held here, which was co- chaired by India's Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and his Thailand counterpart Grisada Boonrach. Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei are the members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "While we may take comfort and satisfaction from the road we have covered so far, the journey ahead offers limitless opportunities," Singh said. He stressed on the .
Rahul Gandhi congratulates ISRO for creating history
Congress president Rahul Gandhi today congratulated ISRO for "creating history" by successfully conducting the PSLV C-40 mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched India's weather observation satellite Cartosat 2 Series and 29 other spacecraft onboard its dependable Polar rocket PSLV-C40 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. "Congratulations to @isro for creating history yet again. Your hard work and dedication has made India the pioneer of space program," Gandhi said on Twitter. Today's success came after a rare failure in August last year when the PSLV-C39 could not release the backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H due to a technical snag in the fourth and last stage.
ISRO hits century; Launches Cartosat 2 series Sat, 30 others
India today reaffirmed its space prowess and commercial launch capabilities as it successfully launched its 100th satellite along with 30 other spacecraft including weather observation Cartosat 2 series onboard the Polar rocket from here. This was PSLV's longest-ever mission. With the successful launch, including 28 satellites from foreign countries, by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), ISRO put behind a rare failure it encountered four months ago. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had suffered a setback after the failure of the earlier PSLV-C39 mission in August last year. The previous mission to launch backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board PSLV-C39 had failed after the heat shield did not separate in the final leg of the launch sequence, with the satellite getting stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed ISRO scientists for the successful PSLV C-40 mission. "The launch of the 100th satellite by @isro ...
Citizen scientists discover 5 exoplanets using Kepler
Citizen scientists have discovered nearly five exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system that orbit a star -- using data from NASA's Kepler space telescope.
Goa sends team to ascertain Mahadeyi river water "diversion"
The Goa government has sent a team of officials to a village near the border with Karnataka amid media reports that the neighbouring state is diverting water from the Mahadeyi river. Goa Water Resources Minister Vinod Palyekar today said the team has been sent after taking cognisance of reports that Karnataka has resumed work on a dam to block the Mahadeyi river water at Kankumbi village on the border. Mahadayi river riparian states Karnataka and Goa, besides Maharashtra, have been locked in a bitter dispute over sharing of its water. "After media reports of Karnataka blocking a Mahadeyi tributary and resuming work on a project at Kankumbi, I have directed our chief engineer to immediately dispatch a team of engineers to do an inspection at the site," Palyekar told PTI. The team has been asked to submit a report by today evening, he said. The Central government has formed a tribunal to look into the river-sharing issue between Goa and Karnataka. On Wednesday, Goa Chief ...
China launches two navigation satellites into space
China today successfully launched two BeiDou-3 satellites to provide navigation and positioning services to countries along the Belt and Road initiative of the Communist giant by the end of 2018. The Long March-3B carrier rocket took off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan at 7:18 a.m. (local time). This is the first launch of the BeiDou satellites in 2018, which will see intensive launches throughout the year. The two satellites are coded the 26th and 27th satellites in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The BDS is also being built as rival to US Global Positioning System (GPS). China plans to send 18 BeiDou-3 satellites into space in 2018, according to Yang Changfeng, chief designer of the BeiDou system. "The intensive launches will pose a great challenge. We must exercise strict control over quality specifications to ensure each of them is a success," Yang said. Aiming to promote international use, China will move to
How flowering plants conquered world decoded
Scientists have found an explanation for how flowering plants became dominant so rapidly in ecosystems across the world - a problem that Charles Darwin called an 'abominable mystery'. Researchers from San Francisco State University and Yale University in the US found that flowering plants have small cells relative to other major plant groups and that this small cell size is made possible by a greatly reduced genome size. "The flowering plants are the most important group of plants on Earth, and now we finally know why they have been so successful," the researchers said. For more than 200 years, scientists have speculated about the incredible diversity and success of flowering plants, which form the basis of our food system and are responsible for fuelling much of the animal diversity we see today. Over the last thirty years, researchers have shown that the flowering plants have unparallelled rates of photosynthesis. This has allowed them to grow faster and to outcompete .
Book explores Majuli, its challenges
A new book explores the beauty as well as challenges of Majuli, which is a treasure trove of folk culture besides being the world's largest freshwater river island and the lone island district in India. "Majuli: Resources and Challenges", edited by author- academician Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, is a collection of essays by experts and is replete with photographs, maps, diagrams and charts. "Not a well-explored theme, Majuli remains largely an unfamiliar terrain for most of the Indians. The essays compiled in this volume will bridge that painful gap, and this is what this books aims at," says Borkakoti. The contributors highlight issues, inter alia, like the sattras or Vaisnavite monasteries and their heritage, living traditions, Majuli's case for world heritage status, protecting Majuli from flooding and erosion and the island's tourism potential. Borkakoti makes a strong pitch for making Majuli a World Heritage Site in the book, published by Authorspress. "Majuli is very ..
Australian ice cream maker issues recall over metal pieces
An Australian ice cream maker is recalling nine of its products sold nationwide following consumer complaints about metal fragments in them, health authorities said on Friday.
91,000 chickens culled amid bird flu outbreak at Japan farm
Japanese authorities on Friday announced the culling of about 91,000 chickens on a farm in southwest Japan where several animals were found to be infected with a highly pathogenic form of the bird flu virus.
India December vegoil imports drop 10 percent on lower soyoil purchases
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's vegetable oil imports in December fell 10 percent from a year ago to 1.1 million tonnes as refiners slashed overseas soyoil purchases after supplies rose from the local crop, a trade body said on Friday.
