Page 928 - Environment

Agra-Lucknow Expressway: NGT disposes plea challenging project

The National Green Tribunal has disposed of a plea challenging the forest clearance granted for construction of the 302-km-long Agra-Lucknow Expressway. A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi passed the order after it was informed that the final approval under Forest Conservation Act has been granted to the project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. "The counsel appearing on behalf of project proponent submits that the final approval under Forest Conservation Act has been granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change vide communication dated January 16, 2017 and nothing survives in the present case," the bench noted. The directions came after the NGT heard a plea by Lucknow native Nikhilesh Singh against illegal felling of trees and construction activity in the forest area which forms part of the six-lane expressway being built by UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). The plea, filed through advocate Neelam .

Infra development conflicts with wildlife conservation: Expert

Linear infrastructure developments were conflicting with the objectives of wildlife conservation in many national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India, an expert said here today. As many as 72 of the documented 88 elephant corridors have national highways or other major roads passing through them and seven have railway lines, V B Mathur, Director of Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, said. More than 200 elephants had been killed in the country since 1987 by trains passing through forests, he said while speaking at a two-day workshop on elephant conservation in south Indian states jointly organised by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and Kerala Forest Department. Of the 50 Protected Areas (PAs), declared as Tiger Reserves in the country, major roads pass through 26 of them, he said. "In many of India's National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves, linear infrastructure developments in the form of roads, railway lines, power lines and ...

'Beijing's improved air quality at cost of other areas'

Greenpeace on Thursday said the recent improvement in air quality in northern China, where Beijing is located, has come at the detriment of other areas where industry has moved and where pollution increased in 2017.

Haryana to set up MMTCs at four places

The Haryana government has selected the sites to set up Multi Modal Transit Centres (MMTC) in Gurugram, Faridabad, Bahadurgarh and Kundli, an official said on Thursday.

Origin of mysterious radio bursts in space revealed

Astronomers have found that repeated mysterious fast radio bursts -- that are being flashed from more than 3 billion light-years away -- may be coming from a dense stellar core called a neutron star near an extraordinarily powerful magnetic field, such as one near a massive black hole.

GAIL to set up India's 1st coal-to-gas conversion plant

India's first plant to convert coal to synthetic gas is to be set up in Odisha under the supervision of state-run gas transmission utility GAIL, the Petroleum Minister said on Thursday.

Kannamwar bridge in Nashik being demolished

Nashik civic authorities have started demolishing the Kannamwar bridge over the Godavari which connects Panchavati with other parts of the city. The bridge, built in 1960s on the Mumbai-Agra national highway, has weakened and therefore the municipal corporation started its demolition yesterday, said an official. Former Maharashtra chief minister Marotrao Kannamwar had inaugurated the bridge, which provided a bypass for vehicular traffic on the highway. The traffic has been diverted to the newly-constructed flyover. A new bridge would be built in place of the one which is being demolished.

Bhitarkanika park registers rise in number of winged guests

The Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha's Kendrapara district has played host to over one lakh migrant water birds this year. While 76,268 winter migrant birds had made their way to the national park last year, the latest census findings have put the number of winged guests at 1, 12,937, an impressive 48 per cent rise. The enumerators have for the first time spotted two rare species of birds of central Asian-origin - mallard and comb duck -at the wetland areas of the park. That apart, more than 10,000 bar-headed geese, hordes of back-headed godwit, greater crested tern, common shell duck and blue-tailed godwits were also seen at the park. All these species come under 'rare and threatened' category in the International Union for Conservation for Nature (IUCN) Red Book Data. "Unable to cope with extreme cold conditions in their original habitat, the birds fly to these congenial wetland spots," said Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division, ..

US could 'conceivably' return to Paris climate accord: Trump

President Donald Trump today said the US could "conceivably" return to the landmark Paris climate agreement but did not indicate any move in that direction. In June, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change and decided to renegotiate the deal that was agreed upon by over 190 countries during the previous Obama administration. Defending his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Trump said his primary concern with the Paris climate accord was that it treated the US unfairly and that if a better deal could be reached, Washington might be persuaded to rejoin. "The Paris Agreement as drawn and as we signed was very unfair to the United States. It put great penalties on us. It made it very difficult for us to deal in terms of business. It took away a lot of our asset values," Trump said. "Frankly, it's an agreement that I have no problem with, but I had a problem with the agreement that they signed, because, as usual, they ...

Bodhtree Consulting receives LoI from ICFRE

For project valued at Rs 8.38 crore

Potato price fall worrying Punjab's farmers

Even as a new harvesting season has begun, Punjab's farmers are staring at bleak prospects with potato prices, that had hit rock-bottom last year, not showing signs of returning to previous levels.

India begins countdown to launch 31 satellites on Friday

India began countdown early Thursday for launching 31 satellites in a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from its spaceport here, said the space agency.

Urban heat island punches holes through Delhi fog

An analysis of satellite images obtained over the last 17 years has revealed a striking observation of massive holes being formed in the fog over Delhi each year in the winter months of December and January.

Countdown begins for ISRO's 100th satellite launch

The 28-hour countdown for the launch of ISRO's 100th satellite along with 30 others in a single mission, from the space port of Sriharikota, about 110 kms from here, began today. On its 42nd mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) trusted workhorse 'PSLV-C40' will carry the weather observation 'Cartosat-2' series satellite and 30 co-passengers (together weighing about 613 kg) at lift-off at 9.28 am tomorrow. As the Mission Readiness Review committee and Launch Authorisation Board cleared the countdown, the space body today said, "The 28-hour countdown activity of PSLV-C40/Cartosat2 Series Satellite Mission has started at 05.29 hours IST today". At present, the scientists are involved in propellant filling operation to carry out various stages of the flight, it said. The 44.4 metre tall rocket is all set to lift off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The co-passenger satellites comprise one micro and nano ...

Delhi-NCR will generate 1,50,000 MT e-waste by 2020: ASSOCHAM study

The factors attributed are low organized recycling, cross-border flow of waste equipment into India, limited reach out and awareness regarding disposal, and lack of coordination between various authorities are responsible for the non-involvement of municipalities in E-waste management, adds the paper.

World's largest solar thermal plant to be built in South Australia

The world's largest solar-thermal power plant has been given development approval by the South Australian government, the media reported.

Bitcoin skids on news S.Korea prepares to ban cryptocurrency trade

TOKYO (Reuters) - Bitcoin skidded on Thursday, after South Korea's justice minister said a bill to ban cryptocurrency trade was being prepared.

Trump does a U-turn on Paris climate accord, says US could rejoin deal

Frankly, it's an agreement that I have no problem with, but I had a problem with the agreement that they signed: Trump

New York City sues oil companies over climate change

New York City on Wednesday announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the five largest oil companies for contributing to global warming.

Charbagh Junction to receive International makeover

Lucknow's Charbagh Railway Station, one of the two main railway stations of the city, will soon receive a makeover just like the International airports.According to reports, Rs 6,000 crore will be spent by the Indian Railways on the project with a world-class look which is expected to be completed within three years.Currently, around 110 pairs of coaching that is 220 trains and 33 pairs of goods are handled by this station and in order to meet the increased demand of traffic, a complete revamping of the station has been planned.A concourse of 9 meters height, which will be approximately 180 meters in length and will cover all the platforms on the station, has been planned.Kalzip roofing has been planned which will have a retail area, washrooms, waiting area, travelators, polyclinics, food court, shopping area, ATM and drinking water facilities.In order to handle more traffic through the station, two additional platforms are being made.As per reports, the outer heritage look of the ...