Sustainability Outlook Headlines

A year on, MP lags behind India in handling e-waste

Pay attention to farmers to sustain food security promise: Mukherjee

BARC develops 41 crop varieties under nuclear agriculture programme

 Over 40 varieties of crops have been developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) under its nuclear agriculture programme.

The BARC had developed 15 varieties of groundnut, eight of mung bean (greengram), five of urad bean (blackgram), four of tur (pigeonpea), three of mustard, two of soybean and one each of chavali (cowpea), sunflower, rice and jute.

"If the country has to be food self-reliant, then it is imperative to embrace nuclear agriculture technology, especially when the agriculture land is getting scarce and demand for food is growing exponentially," Suresh... Read more..

Saranda to map mining, pristine zones

Saranda forests in West Singhbhum will get fixed mining and no-mining zones within a month to benefit both the demands of economy and ecology.

Chief secretary R.S. Sharma, in his directive to the forest department yesterday, asked for a strict demarcation of mining and no-mining zones in Saranda and issued a deadline of 30 days to complete the task.

Differentiating mining and no-mining zones becomes imperative ahead of the inter-ministerial group meeting to be chaired by the Union steel secretary D.R.S. Choudhary.

The meeting, earlier scheduled for August 8, has been... Read more..

Centre identifies 1,279 sites in NE for mini hydel plants

 The hue-and-cry over construction of hydro-power projects in the North-East, notwithstanding, the Centre has identified a total number of 1,279 sites including 119 in Assam for setting up mini hydel plants with an estimated potential of 2598.63 MW.

The Centre on Tuesday further clarified that the mitigation measures recommended by the Joint Steering Committee constituted by National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) would be implemented concurrently with the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Power Project.

The measures would help in addressing concerns expressed by the agitating... Read more..

TN unveils solar power tariff, leaves industry sore

 Solar power producers in Tamil Nadu will be paid Rs 5.78 per unit, among the lowest in the country, as per the draft tariffs set by Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission ( TNERC).

In a draft consultative paper, the state's energy regulator has sought public comments before August 31, to aid in fixing final tariffs for solar power producers . These draft guidelines are separate from the state's plan to purchase 1,000MW of solar power at Rs 6.48 per unit under a separate tender process. The Rs 6.48 per unit offer had met with little success.

TN, which is... Read more..

Aid for coal-fired power plants on the slide

The world's richest nations, moving to combat global warming, are cutting government support for new coal-burning power plants in developing countries, dealing a blow to the world's dominant source of electricity.

First it was US President Barack Obama pledging in June that the government would no longer finance overseas coal plants through the US Export-Import Bank.

Next it was the World Bank, then the European Investment Bank, dropping support for coal projects. Those banks have pumped more than $US10 billion into such initiatives in the past five years.

“Drawing... Read more..

Government to build strategic crude oil storage capacity at four new locations

 Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Panabaaka Lakshmi told the parliament that government would set up an additional 12.5 million tonne strategic crude oil storage capacity in the country.

The project, which is being implemented by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), will be set up in Bikaner, Rajkot, Chandikhol and Padur, she said.

ISPRL has conducted a detailed feasibility study for construction of additional 12.5 million tonne of crude oil storages in phase-II at the four locations, she said.

In the first phase, ISPRL is setting up... Read more..

‘Commuters waste fuel worth Rs. 54 crore every year due to jams’

 As told by Chetan Agarwal, environmentalist and resident of Gurgaon, to HT. 

Tolls play an important role in financing highway projects but if traffic is beyond a certain level, then the externalities of toll plazas in terms of time wasted, fuel consumed and incremental air pollution make them an inefficient and counterproductive instrument for financing roads.

The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway is a lifeline for the National Capital Region but has claimed the lives of hundreds of pedestrians and motorists.

Public pay price for chaos

The lack of footover... Read more..

First decide Hyderabad status, water sharing

Even as Telangana protagonists are opposing the very proposal of making Hyderabad a Union territory after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana on Sunday joined chorus with Union minister Chiranjeevi and said issues like status of Hyderabad and sharing of river waters are to be addressed before bifurcation.

“It is not a question of how to find a new capital for Andhra state. It is the question of how to address the concerns of five crore people of Seemandhra who are worried about educational and employment opportunities for their children after bifurcation.... Read more..

Illegal trash trade: E-waste smuggling contaminate developing countries

 Disposing of electronic waste these days somehow resembles dumping radioactive waste in a third-world country: it’s illegal, but profitable. Millions of tons of used electronics end up in Asia and Africa, where recycling is a big yet dangerous business.

New models of gadgets and electronic components are released every day, while outdated computers, television sets, mobile phones, printers, fax machines are sent to the already existing, multi-million ton scrap heaps in the ‘Golden Billion’ countries.

A total of 9 million tons of e-waste is scrapped in the European Union... Read more..

India's first hydrogen fuel bus unveiled