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Female elephant dies in goods train accident in Odisha
Surprise! India and China are greening faster than rest of the world
China has contributed 25 per cent to this increase while India added 6.8 per cent of the total global net increase in leaf area between 2000 and 2017. In China, the greening is from forests (42 per cent) and croplands (32 per cent), but in India it is mostly from croplands (82 per cent) with minor contribution from forests (4.4 per cent).
Database launched on flora in peninsular India - BioVoiceNews
Surprise! India and China are greening faster than rest of the world
China has contributed 25 per cent to this increase while India added 6.8 per cent of the total global net increase in leaf area between 2000 and 2017. In China, the greening is from forests (42 per cent) and croplands (32 per cent), but in India it is mostly from croplands (82 per cent) with minor contribution from forests (4.4 per cent).
Database launched on flora in peninsular India - BioVoiceNews
India projected to be on track to achieve its Paris climate change agreement target: US expert
India, which is successfully pushing its aggressive policy of adding renewable energy to its energy profile, is projected to be on track to achieve its target set under the historic Paris climate change agreement, a top US energy expert has said.
Testifying before a Congressional Committee on Paris Climate Agreement Commitment, an energy expert from the World Resource Institute and George Mason University, Andrew Light said that India's aggressive policy on renewable energy is primarily driven by its domestic incentives to keep its greenhouse gas emissions in check.
The most important is that India's air pollution levels have become a domestic crisis. Air pollution caused roughly 1.24 million deaths in India in 2017 alone.
"The WHO estimates that 11 of the 12 cities with the highest levels of particulate matter pollution in the world are in India. India is also seeking to provide electricity to over 30 million homes that are still without power, and ensuring that energy access is reliable for all its citizens," he said.
It also stands to benefit economically from being a leader in the solar energy industry, and will achieve greater energy security in the process.
"Because of India pushing forward with this transition, it is projected to be on track to achieve part of its Paris target of 40 percent non-fossil-based power capacity by 2030," Light told the members of the Environment and Climate Change subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
He said, India is an example of a large developing country that is still industrialising, but increasingly making strides to do so sustainably.
While its total emissions climbed an estimated 6.3 percent in 2018, most of this growth was in order to provide electricity to people who had previously lacked access to reliable power, Light told the lawmakers.
"India's total emissions remain much lower than those of the US (India makes up 7 percent of global emissions, while the US accounts for 15 percent) and its per capita emissions are still very low, at only 2.5 tCO2e per person as of 2014," he said.
The main approach in India for reducing emissions is by pursuing very ambitious targets for the deployment of renewable energy, especially solar power, he said.
For its Paris commitment, India set a goal of 40 percent electricity generation from non- fossil fuel sources by the year 2030, as well as a reduction in its economy's carbon intensity of 33-35 percent by 2030, he added.
Light said that even prior to setting their target under Paris, Prime Minister Narendra Modi established an ambitious target to install 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy, 60 GW of wind power, and an additional 15 GW of biomass and small hydro by the year 2022, creating an estimated 330,000 new jobs in the process.
"The solar target alone is the largest single-sector target of its kind in the world. India energy watchers in the US were skeptical of the feasibility of these targets when they were originally announced, but now India is making excellent progress on delivering these targets, Light said.
Asserting that India's growth in renewable energy over just the last five years has been staggering, he said the costs of renewable energy in India have fallen 50 percent in the past two years.
Its solar energy capacity increased eightfold from 2014 to 2018 (2.63 GW to 22 GW), and its wind power capacity increased from 21 GW to 34 GW over the same period. This brings its total renewable energy capacity to 70 GW.
"India is performing so well that it is now aiming to reach 227 GW of renewable capacity by 2022 by also adding floating solar and off-shore wind to the package. For context, this is nearly double current US levels of wind and solar capacity. Meanwhile, the number of planned coal plants has plummeted, shrinking by a quarter in the first half of 2018," Light said.
India projected to be on track to achieve its Paris climate change agreement target: US expert
India, which is successfully pushing its aggressive policy of adding renewable energy to its energy profile, is projected to be on track to achieve its target set under the historic Paris climate change agreement, a top US energy expert has said.
Testifying before a Congressional Committee on Paris Climate Agreement Commitment, an energy expert from the World Resource Institute and George Mason University, Andrew Light said that India's aggressive policy on renewable energy is primarily driven by its domestic incentives to keep its greenhouse gas emissions in check.
The most important is that India's air pollution levels have become a domestic crisis. Air pollution caused roughly 1.24 million deaths in India in 2017 alone.
"The WHO estimates that 11 of the 12 cities with the highest levels of particulate matter pollution in the world are in India. India is also seeking to provide electricity to over 30 million homes that are still without power, and ensuring that energy access is reliable for all its citizens," he said.
It also stands to benefit economically from being a leader in the solar energy industry, and will achieve greater energy security in the process.
"Because of India pushing forward with this transition, it is projected to be on track to achieve part of its Paris target of 40 percent non-fossil-based power capacity by 2030," Light told the members of the Environment and Climate Change subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
He said, India is an example of a large developing country that is still industrialising, but increasingly making strides to do so sustainably.
While its total emissions climbed an estimated 6.3 percent in 2018, most of this growth was in order to provide electricity to people who had previously lacked access to reliable power, Light told the lawmakers.
"India's total emissions remain much lower than those of the US (India makes up 7 percent of global emissions, while the US accounts for 15 percent) and its per capita emissions are still very low, at only 2.5 tCO2e per person as of 2014," he said.
The main approach in India for reducing emissions is by pursuing very ambitious targets for the deployment of renewable energy, especially solar power, he said.
For its Paris commitment, India set a goal of 40 percent electricity generation from non- fossil fuel sources by the year 2030, as well as a reduction in its economy's carbon intensity of 33-35 percent by 2030, he added.
Light said that even prior to setting their target under Paris, Prime Minister Narendra Modi established an ambitious target to install 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy, 60 GW of wind power, and an additional 15 GW of biomass and small hydro by the year 2022, creating an estimated 330,000 new jobs in the process.
"The solar target alone is the largest single-sector target of its kind in the world. India energy watchers in the US were skeptical of the feasibility of these targets when they were originally announced, but now India is making excellent progress on delivering these targets, Light said.
Asserting that India's growth in renewable energy over just the last five years has been staggering, he said the costs of renewable energy in India have fallen 50 percent in the past two years.
Its solar energy capacity increased eightfold from 2014 to 2018 (2.63 GW to 22 GW), and its wind power capacity increased from 21 GW to 34 GW over the same period. This brings its total renewable energy capacity to 70 GW.
"India is performing so well that it is now aiming to reach 227 GW of renewable capacity by 2022 by also adding floating solar and off-shore wind to the package. For context, this is nearly double current US levels of wind and solar capacity. Meanwhile, the number of planned coal plants has plummeted, shrinking by a quarter in the first half of 2018," Light said.
India projected to be on track to achieve its Paris climate change agreement target: US expert
Sewage treatment plants can turn E Coli into superbug
Andaman & Nicobar wants to take a reverse gear on oil palm
26-yr-old engineer brings 10 ponds back to life
Ramveer Tanwar, who has a BTech in mechanical engineering, recently quit his job with a multinational to focus on a cause dear to him — saving ponds. “Water conservation is a more significant career for me than sitting in an AC office,” says Greater Noida’s resident water crusader, who has been instrumental in reviving 10 village ponds in the last five years.
Greater Noida, part of Gautam Buddh Nagar district, is home to hundreds of smaller ponds have been neglected — until now.
A farmer’s son, Tanwar grew up in Greater Noida’s water bodies. The bigger ones, like the 60-acre Surajpur wetland, are protected by forest conservation rules, but Dadha village, an area that has witnessed water shortages time and again. He noticed how small water bodies, around which community life traditionally revolves in the rural hinterland of Uttar Pradesh, were often treated as garbage dumps. “I grew up seeing this mistreatment of water bodies, even when we were facing droughts,” he says.
Then a 21-year-old college student, Tanwar organised a jal chaupal (meeting place) of villagers to discuss the need for cleaning up the ponds.
Engineer gives tuitions to meet expenses, secures CSR funding
Teams of volunteers were set up to create “a sense of ownership over the project”. Tanwar said, “Soon, jal chaupal became a platform for us to go from village to village and speak about the need to stop throwing garbage into our ponds.”
The first pond cleanup the volunteers undertook back in 2014 was in a village called Dabra. “It was full of sludge, hyacinth and garbage. It took us months to just clear the surface. Then, we treated the water, created a filter system and a sort of canal to help farmers use the water for farming,” says Tanwar, who spent his weekends on this work. To ensure its upkeep, they encouraged fishery in the now-pristine pond.
To get more manpower, he turned to social media. “Our Facebook page, ‘Boond Boond Pani’, now has over one lakh members. Each time we wanted volunteers, we would make an announcement on the page. Almost a hundred volunteers would reach the conservation location, often in far-flung villages, every time,” he says.
Rohit Adhana of Kasana village has been involved with Tanwar’s conservation efforts for a few years now. “It is important that villagers come forward and help save their water sources. We are showing them it is possible,” he says.
Tanwar, who has quit his job and does tuitions in the evening to meet his expenses, isn’t on his own anymore. His work got some attention last year after he created the hashtag #SelfieWithPond encouraging villagers to send photos with water bodies, and sponsorship opportunities have been coming up. “After a lot of effort, we got our first CSR funding of Rs 2.5 lakh in 2018,” he says. He used the money to complete many of his ongoing pond projects. Restoring a small pond takes six to seven months and anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, depending on its condition, This year, he received Rs 7 lakh funding from a company to restore a pond in Ghangola village. The pond has been desilted, and will be fully restored and beautified in a few months.
Pawan Khatana, a resident of Bharana village where a pond was revived, says the spirit of water conservation is spreading. “After hearing about what Ramveer has done at our village pond, a lot of other villages have shown interest. Some people even want to do the cleanup themselves now.”
India lost more than a million hectares of forest cover in 17 years — that’s more than four times the size of Goa
India has reportedly lost over 1.6 million hectares of forests in the last 17 years — from 2001 to 2018 — causing nearly 172 metric tons of carbon emissions in India in the given period.
According to a recent study pushed out by a global research firm World Resource Institute (WRI) on Thursday, the total forest cover loss during this period is equivalent to four times the geographical size of an Indian state of Goa.
According to the Indian government, the vegetation cover taller than five metres accounts for the forest cover. plantation cover can be considered as a forest, if there is a 10% density of tree cover per hectare, it added.
Of the total tree cover loss, the north-eastern states of India — Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur — account for over half of the loss, highlighted the report. The forest cover was 12% of India’s geographical area, back in 2000, decreasing to 8.9% in 2010.
One of the main reasons for the loss seen in north-eastern states is climate change, which directly affects the quality of forests, according to Ruchika Singh, director at WRI India.
The states that have lost the maximum forest cover between 2015 and 2017 include Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
This is also due to the public and private projects that have been going on in states, including the bullet train project.
On the flipside, according to ‘State of the Forest Report,' total forest cover in India is nearly 22% of the country’s geographical area, and has been gradually increasing over these years (2001-2018).
“In the last two years forest and tree cover has increased by 1% in India, said Saibal Dasgupta, former director general of FSI.
India lost more than a million hectares of forest cover in 17 years — that’s more than four times the size of Goa
India has reportedly lost over 1.6 million hectares of forests in the last 17 years — from 2001 to 2018 — causing nearly 172 metric tons of carbon emissions in India in the given period.
According to a recent study pushed out by a global research firm World Resource Institute (WRI) on Thursday, the total forest cover loss during this period is equivalent to four times the geographical size of an Indian state of Goa.
According to the Indian government, the vegetation cover taller than five metres accounts for the forest cover. plantation cover can be considered as a forest, if there is a 10% density of tree cover per hectare, it added.
Of the total tree cover loss, the north-eastern states of India — Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur — account for over half of the loss, highlighted the report. The forest cover was 12% of India’s geographical area, back in 2000, decreasing to 8.9% in 2010.
One of the main reasons for the loss seen in north-eastern states is climate change, which directly affects the quality of forests, according to Ruchika Singh, director at WRI India.
The states that have lost the maximum forest cover between 2015 and 2017 include Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
This is also due to the public and private projects that have been going on in states, including the bullet train project.
On the flipside, according to ‘State of the Forest Report,' total forest cover in India is nearly 22% of the country’s geographical area, and has been gradually increasing over these years (2001-2018).
“In the last two years forest and tree cover has increased by 1% in India, said Saibal Dasgupta, former director general of FSI.
India lost more than a million hectares of forest cover in 17 years — that’s more than four times the size of Goa
This made my day.
Indian temple helps nurture ‘extinct’ turtle back to life
Black soft-shell turtle was believed to have been totally wiped out in wild by 2002
by Phoebe Weston, Science Correspondent
The black softshell turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) was declared extinct in the wild in 2002(AFP/Getty Images)
An “extinct” species of turtle is being reintroduced to the wild after a small population was found flourishing in a pond at an Indian temple.
The black softshell turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) was declared extinct in the wild 17 years ago by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, in Hayagriva Madhav temple in Assam, these reptiles are believed to be a reincarnation of Hindu deity Vishnu and so they are protected.
Jayaditya Purkayastha, from conservation group Good Earth which is working to protect the remaining turtles at Hayagriva Madhav temple, told AFP: “There are plenty of turtles in the temple pond.
“The population of the turtle in Assam has gone down by a great extent. So we thought we needed to intervene and do something to save the species from extinction.”
Mr Purkayastha, who is working with authorities at the Hayagriva temple, released 16 black softshells in a nearby wildlife sanctuary for the first time in January this year.
Mr Purkayastha collects eggs laid by females on the sandy banks of the pond and cares for them in an incubator
He collects eggs laid by females on the sandy banks of the pond and cares for them in an incubator. At least 40 turtles have been bred in the pond before being taken to Guwahati zoo where they are reared.
Freshwater turtles were once abundant in Assam but they were a popular local food and much of their habitat has been destroyed. The state has 20 out of 28 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises found in India
Two years after being declared extinct in the wild in 2002, some turtles were found in a few ancient ponds where they are fed by devotees. The discovery gave conservationists hope the species would not be lost altogether.
Conservationists at Good Earth have now identified 18 other ponds which could become sanctuaries for the rare turtles.
Pranab Malakar, who is caretaker at the pond at Hayagriva Madhav, says the turtles are respected and are also reliant on people feeding them bread.
“No one harms them here as they are incarnations of Lord Vishnu. I was born and grew up here. We have been seeing the turtles since our childhood,” he said.
Fifty per cent of fresh water turtle species are threatened with extinction.
Indian temple helps nurture 'extinct' turtle back to life
Indian temple helps nurture ‘extinct’ turtle back to life
Black soft-shell turtle was believed to have been totally wiped out in wild by 2002
by Phoebe Weston, Science Correspondent
The black softshell turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) was declared extinct in the wild in 2002(AFP/Getty Images)
An “extinct” species of turtle is being reintroduced to the wild after a small population was found flourishing in a pond at an Indian temple.
The black softshell turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) was declared extinct in the wild 17 years ago by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, in Hayagriva Madhav temple in Assam, these reptiles are believed to be a reincarnation of Hindu deity Vishnu and so they are protected.
Jayaditya Purkayastha, from conservation group Good Earth which is working to protect the remaining turtles at Hayagriva Madhav temple, told AFP: “There are plenty of turtles in the temple pond.
“The population of the turtle in Assam has gone down by a great extent. So we thought we needed to intervene and do something to save the species from extinction.”
Mr Purkayastha, who is working with authorities at the Hayagriva temple, released 16 black softshells in a nearby wildlife sanctuary for the first time in January this year.
Mr Purkayastha collects eggs laid by females on the sandy banks of the pond and cares for them in an incubator
He collects eggs laid by females on the sandy banks of the pond and cares for them in an incubator. At least 40 turtles have been bred in the pond before being taken to Guwahati zoo where they are reared.
Freshwater turtles were once abundant in Assam but they were a popular local food and much of their habitat has been destroyed. The state has 20 out of 28 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises found in India
Two years after being declared extinct in the wild in 2002, some turtles were found in a few ancient ponds where they are fed by devotees. The discovery gave conservationists hope the species would not be lost altogether.
Conservationists at Good Earth have now identified 18 other ponds which could become sanctuaries for the rare turtles.
Pranab Malakar, who is caretaker at the pond at Hayagriva Madhav, says the turtles are respected and are also reliant on people feeding them bread.
“No one harms them here as they are incarnations of Lord Vishnu. I was born and grew up here. We have been seeing the turtles since our childhood,” he said.
Fifty per cent of fresh water turtle species are threatened with extinction.
Indian temple helps nurture 'extinct' turtle back to life
Afforestation Drive in Tripura, Mizoram
June 13, 12:34, 2019, by Northeast Today
Mevar Kumar Jamatia, the Tripura Forest and Tribal Welfare Minister, during an interaction with the media in Agartala on Wednesday informed that Tripura and Mizoram governments have undertaken an ambitious plan for afforestation.
“The Tripura government has decided to plant at least 10 lakh trees across the state this year,” Jamatia said.
The state minister further informed that the 70th anniversary of the ‘Banomotsav‘ (annual afforestation celebrations) would be held at Sachirambari (in southern Tripura) on July 2.
From July 2, plantation of at least ten lakh trees of numerous varieties and species would start simultaneously across the state.
“The state government will provide Rs 200 per month to those families residing along important roads for maintaining and protection of the roadside plantations to make Tripura a beautiful green state and attract tourists,” Jamatia added.
The Mizoram government has also undertaken a massive afforestation programme and it observed Tuesday as “Green Mizoram Day”.
Mizoram CM Zoramthanga while addressing an event on the occasion said that the state would be made a model among the eight Northeastern states with the planting of lakhs of trees in the coming days.
“Around 39 lakh trees have been planted in the state since 1999,” informed Mizoram’s Mizoram Principal Chief Conservator of Forests CH Muralidhar Rao.
It may be mentioned here in Tripura, CPI (M)’s youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) like the previous years has been distributing saplings of diverse species among people for planting.
Notably, the week-long free distribution of saplings programme of DYFI has become a popular annual event and people are cheerfully participating in the environment-friendly scheme.
Source: Pratidin Time
Afforestation Drive in Tripura, Mizoram » Northeast Today
June 13, 12:34, 2019, by Northeast Today
Mevar Kumar Jamatia, the Tripura Forest and Tribal Welfare Minister, during an interaction with the media in Agartala on Wednesday informed that Tripura and Mizoram governments have undertaken an ambitious plan for afforestation.
“The Tripura government has decided to plant at least 10 lakh trees across the state this year,” Jamatia said.
The state minister further informed that the 70th anniversary of the ‘Banomotsav‘ (annual afforestation celebrations) would be held at Sachirambari (in southern Tripura) on July 2.
From July 2, plantation of at least ten lakh trees of numerous varieties and species would start simultaneously across the state.
“The state government will provide Rs 200 per month to those families residing along important roads for maintaining and protection of the roadside plantations to make Tripura a beautiful green state and attract tourists,” Jamatia added.
The Mizoram government has also undertaken a massive afforestation programme and it observed Tuesday as “Green Mizoram Day”.
Mizoram CM Zoramthanga while addressing an event on the occasion said that the state would be made a model among the eight Northeastern states with the planting of lakhs of trees in the coming days.
“Around 39 lakh trees have been planted in the state since 1999,” informed Mizoram’s Mizoram Principal Chief Conservator of Forests CH Muralidhar Rao.
It may be mentioned here in Tripura, CPI (M)’s youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) like the previous years has been distributing saplings of diverse species among people for planting.
Notably, the week-long free distribution of saplings programme of DYFI has become a popular annual event and people are cheerfully participating in the environment-friendly scheme.
Source: Pratidin Time
Afforestation Drive in Tripura, Mizoram » Northeast Today