Page 94 - Environment

One held after video shows man on bike luring lion with bait

A person was detained in Gujarat on Thursday after a video surfaced in which a man was purportedly seen dragging an animal carcass behind his motorcycle apparently to lure a lion, a forest official said. Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh Wildlife Circle, D T Vasavada, said strict action would be taken against those found harassing lions in the state. In the nearly 15-second clip, which went viral on social media platforms, a man was seen dragging the carcass, apparently of a cattle, tied to his two-wheeler with the help of a rope. Lured by the bait, a male lion was then seen appearing from the bushes and chasing the carcass for some distance. Some persons standing at a distance and recording the video could be heard cheering the man on the bike when the lion came out of the bushes. On learning about the incident, the state forest officials launched an inquiry into it. "A person allegedly involved in the incident has been detained

Atomic Minerals Directorate to set up national 'core' library

The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) would be setting up a national 'core' library here giving an opportunity to students and researchers to have first-hand idea of uranium minerals in drilled core, its director M B Verma said Wednesday. Addressing an event marking the commemoration of 70 years of exploration and research by the AMD, Verma said the upcoming facility would have preserved samples for future research to be undertaken by researchers. "We are opening a national 'core' library where core will be available and core will be scanned and people can see the samples and study it and they can have first-hand idea," he said. Another scientific officer of AMD later told reporters the objective is to preserve the core (which is in cylindrical block, part of rock material brought out from earth after drilling) - for researchers, university students or anybody who is interested for future study. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) already ..

Khumalo becomes first black African woman to scale Everest

South African mountaineer Saray Khumalo on Thursday became the first black woman from the continent to reach Mount Everests summit.

Nuclear power can reduce greenhouse gases: Vice President

Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday that nuclear electricity as a reliable and safe energy option can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that it has the potential to meet the ever-increasing energy demand in the country.

Houses damaged, power lines snapped, trees uprooted as

Hundreds of houses have been damaged, several trees uprooted and power lines snapped as strong winds accompanied by thundershower hit West Tripura district on Wednesday night, officials said. Total 382 houses have been damaged in the thunderstorm with waterlogging in several areas under the Agartala Municipal Corporation, chief state project officer of Disaster Management Authority, Sarat Das, told PTI. "Chief Secretary LK Gupta has already reviewed the situation along with senior officials and has asked to take necessary actions for draining water from the inundated areas," he added. Power supply lines, which got snapped after trees fells on them, have been restored, the officer said. In a statement, the Chief Minister's Office said the government was closely monitoring the situation and Biplab Deb himself spoke to officials to expedite restoration of supplies. MeT officials said it was a nor'wester, typical to this time of the year, that had hit the city last night and

Driverless truck hits the road in Sweden

An electric truck without a driver is being tested for the first time on Sweden's roads after the vehicle built by Swedish start-up Einride got permission from the regulator to mix with other traffic within an industrial area.

Philippines recalls envoy to Canada over waste row

The Philippines has recalled its ambassador to Canada in an escalating row over the disposal of waste wrongly labelled as recyclable, the country's Foreign Secretary confirmed on Thursday.

Spotted deer missing from Balukhand-Konark sanctuary traced

In a major relief to forest officials and nature lovers, many spotted deer that went missing from Balukhand-Konark sanctuary during cyclone 'Fani' have been traced, a forest official said Thursday. About 4,000 spotted deer were missing from the sanctuary located in Puri district of Odisha. Separate herds of the spotted deer were noticed near water bodies inside the sanctuary on Wednesday and their pictures have been captured on camera, said Divisional Forest Officer Harshvardhan Udgata. Efforts were on to trace all the other missing spotted deer, he said. The 'extremely severe cyclone' made landfall in Puri town on Odisha coast on May 3 and passed through the sanctuary with high-velocity winds with speed of 200 kmph. A day after the cyclone, the deer and other animals were not seen in the sanctuary even as forest officials launched a foot patrolling in the area. Mentioning that officials have so far recovered only one carcass of a deer, Udgata said they suspect that most .

US stealth fighter suffers millions in damage from bird strike

A US F-35 stealth bomber suffered millions of dollars in damage after colliding with a bird during take-off from an air base in Japan, the US Marine Corps has said in a statement. "On May 7, 2019 an F-35B with Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing aborted take-off due to a bird strike at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and safely taxied off the runway," the statement said. The pilot was not hurt in the incident, it said. Photographs circulating on social media showed what appeared to a kind of falcon stuck beneath the plane. A damage assessment report has not yet been completed but the Marine Corps classified the incident as category "A," meaning the damage is expected to exceed USD 2 million. The F-35 program was launched in the 1990s and has cost almost USD 400 billion, making it the most expensive weapons system ever developed by the Pentagon. The defense department plans to build some 2,500 of the warplanes in the decades to come. The F-35B is a short take-off and ..

Nuclear electricity has potential to meet India's increasing

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said nuclear electricity could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and has the potential to meet the increasing energy demand in the country. Addressing scientists and staff of Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) here on the occasion of 70 years of exploration and research by the organisation, he said climate change was one of the foremost environmental concerns today. Stating that the need of the hour was to ensure modern technologies were safer and reliable, he said nuclear power was one of the reliable and safe energy options and commended India's record of operating its nuclear fleet for over 40 years without any serious incident. "Nuclear electricity is generated through very low carbon emitting technologies and can significantly reduce emission of greenhouse gases," he added. The Vice President said it has the potential to meet the ever-increasing demands of energy in the country, ...

Asian summer monsoon weakening unprecedented: Study

Rainfall from the Asian summer monsoon, which influences water availability, ecosystems and agriculture in India, has been decreasing over the past 80 years, according to a study. Man-made atmospheric pollutants are likely the reason for the decline unprecedented in the last 448 years, said researchers from the University of Arizona in the US. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used tree ring records to reconstruct the Asian summer monsoon back to 1566. The study found the monsoon has been weakening since the 1940s, resulting in regional droughts and hardships. The 80-year decline in the monsoon coincides with the ongoing boom in industrial development and aerosol emissions in China and the northern hemisphere that began around the end of World War II, according to the study. Previous studies have looked at tree ring chronologies from this region but the new study, "surpasses in terms of the timespan covered and the number of trees involved," said Steve .

Novel low-cost material can harness solar energy efficiently: Study

Scientists have developed a new material that can make solar cells more affordable and efficient, an advance that may allow us to better utilise the most abundant renewable energy. The study, published in the journal Science, describes the new material called a tandem perovskite solar cell which could be used in full-sized solar panels in the near future. "We are producing higher-efficiency, lower-cost solar cells that show great promise to help solve the world energy crisis," said Yanfa Yan, a professor at University of Toledo in the US. The efficiency of the new solar cell is about 23 per cent, according to the researchers including those from the US Department of Energy. In comparison, silicon solar panels on the market today have an efficiency rating of about 18 per cent. Perovskite -- a compound material with specific crystal structure -- may replace silicon, conventionally used in solar cells for converting sunlight into electrical energy. The breakthrough discovery could prove .

100-yr-old mystery of Egyptian desert glass solved

Glass found in the Egyptian desert was created by a meteorite impact rather than atmospheric airburst, say scientists, unravelling a nearly 100-year-old mystery. The findings, published in the journal Geology, have implications for understanding the threat posed by asteroids. Researchers from Curtin University in Australia examined tiny grains of the mineral zircon in samples of Libyan desert glass, which formed 29 million years ago and is found over several thousand square kilometres in western Egypt. Nearly pure silica, the canary yellow glass was famously used to make a scarab that is part of King Tut's Pectoral. Lead author Aaron Cavosie, from Curtin University, said zircons in the glass preserved evidence of the former presence of a high-pressure mineral named reidite, which only forms during a meteorite impact. "It has been a topic of ongoing debate as to whether the glass formed during meteorite impact, or during an airburst, which happens when asteroids called Near Earth ...

NASA spots Israeli spacecraft's crash site on Moon

NASA's Moon orbiting spacecraft has spotted the impact site of the Israeli Beresheet spacecraft on a region of the Moon called "Sea of Serenity" where it crash landed on April 11.

Chinese probe reveals secrets of Moon's dark side

Scientists on Wednesday said they could be a step closer to solving the riddle behind the Moon's formation, unveiling the most detailed survey yet of the far side of Earth's satellite. In January, the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e-4 -- named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology -- became the first ever craft to touch down on the far side of the lunar surface. Similar to other bodies in our Solar System, the Moon is believed to have gone through a phase during its formation when it was partially or entirely composed of molten rock. As it cooled, so the hypothesis goes, denser minerals sank to the bottom of the magma-ocean, while lighter materials gathered near the surface to form its mantle. The team landed its probe in the Von Karmen Crater in the Aitken Basin at the Moon's South Pole -- home to one of the largest impact craters known in the Solar System. They detected materials such as olivine and low-calcium pyroxene that are rare elsewhere on the surface. Authors of the study, .

Lion found dead in Dalkhaniya range of Gir forest

A lion was found dead in Dalkhaniya range of Gir forest in Gujarat, an official said on Wednesday. The carcass of the lion was found in a forest patch of Dalkhaniya range under the Gir-East division, an official said, adding that reason of death was not known immediately. "We have not found any visible injury marks on the carcass during our primary investigation. It appeared that the lion died a few days ago. We will conduct its post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause," said Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Junagadh, D T Vasavada. Notably, this is the same range of Gir forest where at least 10 lions had died last year due to a deadly combination of canine distemper virus and protozoal infection. With Wednesday's death, as many as four cubs, three lions, and two lionesses have been found dead in the Gir forest since February. Gujarat, the last abode of Asiatic lions, is home to around 600 lions in Gir and surrounding areas as per the latest estimate by the forest

After cyclone Fani, deer gradually return to Balukhanda wildlife sanctuary

Nearly 4,000 deer missing since the devastating cyclone Fani hit Odisha have started returning to the Balukhanda wildlife sanctuary in Puri, according to forest officials.Sanjaya Singh Secretary, Information and Public Relations Department, Odisha on Wednesday said forest rangers reported that the deer have begun returning to the sanctuary situated in the Puri district which bore the maximum brunt of the cyclone that made landfall on May 3."Balukhand sanctuary in Puri which was on the route of the cyclone Fani was badly damaged. It had a large presence of deer. Fortunately, we were able to locate the deer that had gone to different areas."The deer are gradually returning. All their habitat has been damaged and the government will take special measures to rebuild that habitat which was there for the wildlife," Singh said.The Balukhand sanctuary spread over an area of 71 square kilometres is home to around 4000 spotted deer along with wild boar, jackals, striped hyenas and wolves.The ...

Rome summit urges rapid action to mitigate soil erosion: UN

Rome, May 15 (IANS/AKI) Wind, rain and industrial farming methods accelerate soil erosion which can be mitigated before the world faces calamitous losses in terms of agricultural yields and critical ecosystem functions, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said at an international meeting on the issue beginning here on Wednesday.

Pawar meets Fadnavis, discusses drought issue

NCP president Sharad Pawar Wednesday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the drought issue in the state and suggested measures to combat shortage of fodder for cattle and drinking water. Pawar has been maintaining that the current situation is "grimmer" than the drought witnessed during 1972. Fadnavis said the government has already taken decision, like Rs 100 grant per livestock for fodder camp even as he assured to look into other demands raised by Pawar, the chief minister's office tweeted. The meeting, held at the CM's official residence 'Varsha' here, was also attended by senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar. During the meeting, Sharad Pawar said, he discussed the situation witnessed during his visits to the drought-hit areas of Solapur, Satara, Beed and Osmanabad. "The Centre had given Rs 35,000 grant per hectare in 2012-13 to see orchards don't dry. Grants should be given on the same grounds now too," Pawar tweeted. The former Union agriculture minister ..

Delhi's RTR traffic nightmare likely to end in June

Nearly a decade-long saga of commuters nightmare may finally come to end in June with the completion of a parallel flyover in national capital's Rao Tula Ram (RTR) Marg.