General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - March 2017

Mar 2017

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.

Aug 30, 2019

Special Tiger Force for Corbett Reserve set up

The Uttarakhand government has decided to form a Special Tiger Force for Corbett Tiger Reserve, a move which will help serve as the much needed second layer of protection for the big cat.
The decision to set up the force was taken by the State Cabinet. The force will have 85 posts.
The STPF will be effective in checking illegal human intrusion into the reserve through villages located on its fringes and serve as a second layer of protection for tigers at the CTR.
Illegal intruders from fringe areas have been behind poaching incidents in the reserve in the past.

Centre Approves Gorewada International Zoo In Nagpur

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the approval for the new Gorewada International Zoo to be inaugurated in Nagpur district of Maharashtra.
According to Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCML), the Government of Maharashtra has already issued its Government Resolution, for establishing International Standard Zoo and Rescue Centre at Gorewada village, Nagpur District on 1914 hectares of Forest Land through FDCML.

Rare Tarantula Sighted In Villupuram District

The spider belonging to the genus Poecilotheria, commonly known as the Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula was spotted by a team of researchers of the Puducherry-based Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee in Villupuram district.
The known habitat of Peacock Parachute Spider is in degraded forests near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh.
In an interesting find, researchers have sighted a critically endangered species of tarantula for the first time beyond its known habitat in the Eastern Ghats.
The team of wildlife researchers was involved in field work in the reserve forests recently when they sighted a Gooty Tarantula (Poecilotheria metallica) resting in a cave.
The species was later cross-matched with photographic evidence published by the Zoo Outreach Organisation and Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society.

Aug 29, 2019

Cabinet Approves Establishment Of International Coalition For Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the Cabinet has approved establishment of an International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch CDRI during UN Climate Summit in New York on September 23, 2019.
Organized by the UN Secretary General, this event will bring together the largest number of Heads of States to generate commitments for combating the effects of climate change and resulting disasters, and will provide the high-level visibility required for the CDRI.
The government has given in-principle approval to provide Rs 480 crore (approx USD 70 million) to CDRI for corpus required to fund technical assistance and research projects on an on-going basis, setting up the Secretariat office and covering recurring expenditures over a period of 5 years from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

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