General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - February 2017

Feb 2017

Sep 08, 2019

Local And Regional Governments Day Observed On Day 6 Of The COP14

The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is currently underway at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida.
Keeping in line with the theme of the Conference i.e. "Restore land, Sustain future", host of deliberations were held on matters concerning restoration of degraded land.
In the above backdrop, Network for Certification and Conservation of Forest (NCCF) hosted a side event Panel Discussion on "Certification of Natural Resources to Combat Desertification and Restoring Landscapes", with focus on certification of various constituents of natural resources that enhances the sustainability of forests, agro forests, urban forests and NWFPs, thereby checking land degradation, helping in combating desertification and moving towards the ultimate goal of LDN.
Senior officers from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) – Shri Saibal Dasgupta, Additional Director General of Forests; Shri Jigmat Takpa, Joint Secretary; Ms Bharati, Inspector General of Forests, and eminent experts from notable organisations shared their views on the subject of combating desertification and how certification of natural resources could help address the problem of land degradation world-wide and in India.

Sep 07, 2019

NGT Asks Centre To Prepare Plan For Protection Of The Great Indian Bustard

Noting the high mortality rate of the Great Indian Bustard, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Centre to prepare a time-bound action plan within two months for protection of the birds.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also constituted a joint committee comprising officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The committee was asked to prepare an action plan for the implementation of suggestions put forth by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
The WII in its report also said steps should be taken to reduce poaching of the specie and other wildlife in the Thar landscape.

Sep 05, 2019

Food Ministry To Ban Single-Use Plastic Products

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan announced a blanket ban on all types of single-use plastic products in his Ministry and its all PSUs from 15th September.
The decision was taken in a high-level meeting with Secretaries of both the Departments and with other senior officials of the Ministry.
According to an official release, Mr Paswan has asked the officials to make alternate arrangements to ensure that the ban is effective.

Centre To Take Indian Army's Help To Protect, Breed Great Indian Bustard In Rajasthan

The Centre will seek the help of the Indian Army to conserve the population of critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) found in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan.
The decision was taken in the second meeting of the steering committee formed under the Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican Conservation Breeding and Research Programme held in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
Some population of the GIB is found in Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer.
It was informed that the population in the firing range is undisturbed and efforts should be made to get support from the Army in conservation efforts for protection of the bird.
According to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the GIB population has been reduced by 75 per cent in the last 30 years, with only 150 members of the species left.

Lata Mangeshkar Joins List of Celebrities Opposing Proposed Felling Of Over 2,600 Trees in Aarey

Singer Lata Mangeshkar has joined the list of celebrities opposing the proposed felling of over 2,600 trees in Aarey to make way for a Metro car shed.
The Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had recently approved cutting of over 2,600 trees for a Metro car shed in the Aarey Colony adjoining sub-urban Goregaon, which is known as the major green lung of Mumbai.

Sep 01, 2019

Varun Dhawan's 'Coolie No.1' First Bollywood Film Set To Go Plastic-Free

Bollywood has taken lead to promote India's plastic free movement with Varun Dhawan's upcoming movie "Coolie No. 1" becoming the first Bollywood film to go plastic-free.
The movie's producer Deepshikha Deshmukh announced that the movie is going plastic free and urged her peers to do the same.
Actor Varun Dhawan too applauded the move and tweeted that being a plastic free nation is the need of the hour.
This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, urged people to shun single-use plastic and encouraged usage of jute and cloth bags to protect the environment.

Nitin Gadkari Announces Decision To Use Kulhad For Serving Tea

Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari announced the decision to use tiny earthen pots or "kulhad " for serving tea at around 400 railway stations across the country, to promote traditional small industries.
He was addressing Swayam Rojgar Prerna Abhiyan, organised by MSME Development Institute and Swayam Foundation Nagpur.
Mr Gadkari said, his Ministry has discussed with the Railway Ministry the use of earthen pots in order to provide employment to pottery workers.

Aug 31, 2019

Germany's Forests in Critical State

According to Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner, forest fires, drought and insect infestations have left Germany's forests in a critical state. Forest owners have demanded 2.3 billion euros in emergency aid to tackle the crisis.
An area equivalent to 3,300 soccer fields had been lost to forest fires.
There is deep unease at the condition of trees in Germany, a country that prides itself on its environmental awareness and where centuries of romantic literature and legends of woodland clashes between ancient tribes and Roman legions have given rise to a veritable cult of the forest.
Last year's (2018) exceptionally hot and dry summer weakened millions of trees, undermining their defences against the bark-beetle, which often prove fatal to trees that have stood for centuries. This summer has been even hotter.
Environmental lobby group BUND also called for a focus on replanting forests that had become monocultures as a result of past reforestation plans that had focused on planting only fast-growing trees.

Part of Aravallis in Faridabad May Be Out of Protected Area

According to a preliminary ground-truthing report of the zone for the NCR regional master plan 2021, the Haryana government is likely to keep 1126.8 acres of Aravallis in Faridabad's Kot village out of the natural conservation zone (NCZ), where construction is banned.
The preliminary report also states that the government will first seek clarification from the environment ministry on whether gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable land of Aravallis) of Faridabad like Mangar, Dhauj, Badhkal, and Sarai Khwaja village are, in fact, Aravallis before deciding whether they should be declared NCZ or not.
Haryana plans to go by the 1992 notification of the environment ministry that limits Aravallis only to Gurugram in Haryana, and Alwar in Rajasthan to define the Aravallis in the state.
Going by the notification, Aravalli stretches in Faridabad or Jhajjar will not be considered as NCZ.

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