Page 934 - Environment

Agriculture high growth rate expected as the Rabi 2017 is showing a very good performance in addition to good Kharif, 2017

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (MoAFW) has had a quick deliberation on the growth rate for the Agriculture sector to strategize on ensuring that the year 2017-18 ends up with a much higher growth rate.

Bird flu scare badly hit chicken business in B'lore

The bird flu scare, which gripped the Bengaluru city, has severely dipped the sale of chicken.Meat-sellers are in distress across the state as the sale has gone down drastically in some markets due to fear among buyers.Talking to ANI, meat seller Aslam said, "The sale of mutton has gone up. Sale of chicken has gone down by at least 25 percent."A public health officer on Sunday had said that the authorities were taking all necessary steps to keep bird flu at bay.Earlier this week, a stray incidence of Avian Influenza, with H5 Virus Strain, was confirmed in around 942 chickens at Bengaluru's Dasarahalli, after which the infected birds were culled and disposed.Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is an infectious viral disease of birds (especially wild water fowl such as ducks and geese). Wild birds can carry the virus without showing symptoms of it and transmit it to poultry through their feathers or feces.The public is appealed to not panic and guided that chicken, meat and eggs .

Won't let BJP spoil Konkan: Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on Sunday over the proposed chemical industry projects in Konkan region of Maharashtra, saying that they would not let the party spoil Konkan and its beauty.Pointing that the chemical industries were "forcibly established" in Maharashtra, Thackeray said that Gujarat, on the other hand, was reaping such benefits of development as the bullet train project."Shiv Sena will not allow to spoil Konkan and its beauty and make Gujarat prosperous", Thackeray said at Global Konkan Mahotsav in Navi Mumbai's CIDCO exhibition centre.The Shiv Sena Chief was referring to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project and the West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical project proposed to go on floors in Ratnagiri district along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra."Appeals are made that development projects should not be opposed but why hazardous projects in Konkan? Shift these projects to somewhere else, who is preventing you?" asked .

Trinamool accuses opposition of conspiring for violence in Bhangar

Demanding peace and completion of the power project in violence-hit Bhangar, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday blamed the CPI-M, Congress and Maoist outfit CPI-ML Red Star for indulging in "conspiracy" that led to violence over the construction.

UNESCO allows construction at Nepal heritage site

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Sunday gave the green signal to the construction of a temple complex in the Hanumandhoka buffer zone, which falls in the Durbar Square, located in the Kathmandu Valley.The UNESCO office in Kathmandu, in a statement, said that it had no objection to the construction of the temple, reported the Himalayan Times.The statement comes days after the UNESCO had issued a statement on December 4 last year. It said: "We have learnt that with much concern about the construction of commercial building and basement within the buffer area of Hanumandhoka Durbar Square World Heritage Monument Zone and inside the Protected Monument Zone."The temple complex at the Hanumandhoka site in Durbar Square is being constructed by the builder- Maharjan Business Associates Pvt Ltd.The UNESCO has also urged the builder to respect the rule of reaching the maximum height limits of 35 feet, as prescribed by the Protected Monument Zone ..

Govt confident of higher GVA for agri sector in 2017-18

Following the release of the advance estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Value Added (GVA) for the country's economy in 2017-18, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (MoAFW) on Sunday said that the agriculture sector is expected to register a much higher GVA for the aforementioned time period, which will be reflected in the final estimate figures.As per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) earlier in the week, the GVA of 'Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing' index for the year 2017-18 was estimated at 2.1 percent, compared to 4.9 percent in the preceding year.To this, the ministry, who had a quick deliberation on the growth rate for this sector, said the lower coverage of the area by August 2017 on account of the delayed onset of monsoons caused a poor reflection compared to the actual positive field situation by December. The estimate also indicated that despite a lower share of crop sector in the GVA computation of agriculture, based on ...

BRPL's solar rooftop consumer programme launched

Aiming to promote clean energy, a major discom here today launched the "country's first" solar rooftop consumer aggregation programme for residential buildings, which seeks to provide installations at a single point for an entire apartment complex. The 'Solar City Initiative - Solarise Dwarka' was unveiled by Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain. Taking its commitment to promote renewables to the next level, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), in partnership with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - PACE-D and Indo-German Collaboration (GIZ) launched the ambitious initiative, the BSES said in a statement. "This path breaking 'utility anchored rooftop program' aims to maximise the utilisation of solar rooftop potential in south and west Delhi. "Unlike conventional methods, under this programme, rooftop solar installations will be provided at a single point for the entire apartment complex. In the first phase (Solarise Dwarka), around 150 societies ..

3 men suffocate in Bengaluru manhole

Three men died due to asphyxia on Sunday in a 10-feet-deep manhole in which they had descended to unclog it in the city's south-east suburb, a civic official said.

Pakistan releases 147 Indian fishermen

Pakistan on Sunday freed 147 Indian fishermen who were imprisoned in Karachi's Malir Jail for allegedly fishing in its territorial waters, according to a media report.

Just off Israeli highway, 500,000-year-old site found

Israeli archaeologists announced today they have uncovered a rare site dating back some half a million years -- just next to a modern highway and only several metres underground. Archaeologists envision the site at Jaljulia, northeast of Tel Aviv, as a sort of "paradise" for prehistoric hunter- gatherers, with a stream, vegetation and an abundance of animals. They have uncovered hundreds of flint handaxes as part of the dig just next to Route 6, one of Israel's busiest highways, the Israel Antiquities Authority said. "It's hard to believe that between Jaljulia and highway 6, five metres below the surface, an ancient landscape some half of a million years old has been so amazingly preserved," Ran Barkai, head of Tel Aviv University's archaeology department, which participated in the dig, said in a statement. He added that "for people, it was like a paradise, so they came here again and again." The site is associated with homo erectus, a direct ancestor of today's ...

BSES launches rooftop solar single-point for apartment complexes

In an initiative to promote clean energy, BSES, one of Delhi's two electricity distribution companies (discoms), on Sunday launched the country's first solar rooftop consumer aggregation programme for residential buildings to provide the installations at a single point for the entire apartment complex.

Manipur gets waste management plant to preserve green cover

In an endeavour to protect and preserve the green cover of northeastern state of Manipur, a solid waste treatment plant has been set up at Lamdeng at Lamdeng in Imphal West.The plant, set up under a state government initiative, is helping the state manage solid and industrial waste.The operations of the plant, which will treat, process, recycle and disposing solid waste of Imphal, has been handed to a private agency Eco Care Private Limited.The plant has been functioning under the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model since December 15, 2016."As of now our end product is only bio compost and in the future we will try to generate power also," said Madhurjit Singh, Plant Project Manager.Solid waste is the unwanted or useless solid materials generated from human activities in residential, industrial or commercial areas.Imphal produces 120 tonnes of waste per day and a number of processes are involved in effectively managing this waste. It includes monitoring, collection, transport, ...

Singareni Collieries to invest Rs 10K cr on expansion in 5 yrs

Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) will be investing about Rs 10,000 crore during the next five years on expansion programmes with a target to achieve Rs 34,000-crore revenues by then, said a top official. N Sridhar, Chairman and Managing Director of SCCL, said the investment involves expansion of new mines, adding 800 mw to the existing 1,200 mw power plant and setting up 500 mw solar power project. The government-owned coal mining company is poised to clock Rs 24,000-crore income this year from both selling coal and power and aims to take this figure to Rs 34,000 crore in five years. "We are expanding the existing power plant (of 1,200 mw) by adding 800 mw. We expect the work to start next year. We are also in the process of setting up a 500 mw solar power project. "We are opening 12 new mines (six underground and as many opencast) which will have capacity of 21 million tonnes per annum. The total investment for all the programmes would be Rs 10,000 crore in the .

Ker CM writes to PM against shifting of Coast Guard academy

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the move to shift the proposed Coast Guard Academy in Kannur district to Mangaluru in Karnataka. The Centre should drop such a "unjustified move", which was against Kerala's interests, Vijayan said in a letter to Modi, the Chief Minister's office said in a statement. The state government had already transferred 164 acres of land for the Academy besides spending about Rs 65.56 crore for providing infrastructure facilities, he said. Pointing out that the area in Irinive in Kannur district was a rich storehouse of mangrove cultivation, the Union Environment and Forest Ministry had declined permission for construction activities. However, about 50 acres of land, where there was no mangrove cultivation, was available for construction activities, the Chief Minister said. In this circumstances, the Prime Minister should send a special team from the Ministry to visit the area and .

Massive tree plantation drive launched in J-K

In a bid to reduce carbon output and halt global warming as per the Paris Agreement on the climate change, the Jammu and Kashmir government launched a mega-plantation drive in the valley.Taking their first step in this direction, the government planted more than 15000 plants on Jammu-Pathankot National Highway in Kathua district.The Social Forestry Department oragnised the Mega Plantation drive on National Highway 44, which was inaugurated by Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Choudhary Lal Singh.More than 15000 plants of various species including flowers, ornamental and fruits were planted with the assistance of thousands of the participants.Singh on the occasion while interacting with media said that they are working to make environment pollution free and to reduce more than 20 percent of carbon emission from the state of Jammu and Kashmir."Our work is to make people aware of the importance of plantation. People across the nation are suffering due to lack of plantation ...

Spend next New Year's Eve with new spacecraft: NASA

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015, will encounter the most primitive and most distant object in the history of space exploration, on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in 2019.

Beef shortage in Goa as K'taka abattoirs refuse meat supply

Goa is likely to face shortage of beef for the next couple of days as slaughter houses in neighbouring Karnataka have refused to supply meat till the government takes steps to stop harassment by cow vigilante groups, an official said today. The coastal state is facing a beef shortage with traders suspending import of meat from Karnataka alleging harassment by cow vigilantes. An association of traders earlier said its members have stopped procuring beef from Belagavi in Karnataka. All Goa Qureshi Meat Traders Association president Manna Bepari told PTI that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar yesterday assured them to discuss the issue with the police. However, he said the chief minister is currently out of station and is expected to return only after two days. "The suppliers from Karnataka have categorically said they will not resume supplies till action is taken against the so-called cow vigilantes," he said. Bepari said they can expect some action only after the chief ...

DTC moots CNG based power generators from scrapped bus engines

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is exploring possibility of using engines of scrapped buses to make CNG based power generators, a move that may save resources while cutting down pollution. A proposal for use of engines of buses that are scrapped after completing their life was discussed in a meeting of the state transport authority (STA), an official said. "The work on technical aspect of the proposal is going on. The generators developed through use of bus engines will help save resources," he said. It will also help in cutting down pollution as the generators will be CNG based, the official said. The DTC needs 32 power generators of 30 KVA capacity to replace old and scrapped ones at its various depots. The STA board has directed it to explore feasibility of using engines of scrapped standard floor buses into CNG based power generators while looking into all aspects including pollution and financial implications, the official said. The buses have a life period of ..

NE states urged to speed up implementing central schemes

Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh has urged the North Eastern states to accelerate implementing schemes for farmers where the Centre is providing 90 per cent funds to help double their income by 2022. The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare lambasted the Meghalaya government which has allegedly failed to implement the schemes properly and did not submit Utilisation Certificates in Central programmes. "Ninety per cent assistance is being given to North-East states and they, including Meghalaya, should accelerate implementation of these schemes," Singh said addressing a farmers' fair at Umiam near here yesterday. He said the government has initiated various programmes for the welfare of the people living in rural areas, especially the farmers, by improving the current farming process and thereby doubling their income from agriculture and allied sectors by 2022. "The state governments should act to ensure that employment generation in farming sector is ...

Dipping mercury disrupts daily life in Leh

With the mercury dropping over 15 degrees Celsius below the freezing point, normal life in Leh region of Jammu and Kashmir remain affected due to harsh weather.With frozen taps becoming a common sight, frequent power cuts are only amplifying the cold and adding to the discomfort of the residents."We are having major shortage of water. It is very cold here. The tap and the pipes freeze and we have to light fire to de-ice taps and the water pipeline," said a local."Our daily lives have been disrupted. There is no electricity, no water. We are facing lot of difficulties in doing our regular basic chores," added another Local."As the temperatures drops drastically during night, the public post tape water point gets freezes during winter and it needs at least half an hour heating to withdraw water every morning," said another local.With the mercury dropping by over 15 degrees Celsius below the freezing point, Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh region has become the coldest recorded place in the ...