General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Oct 11, 2019

'Plastic-eating' Bacteria Discovered by Indian Scientists

Researchers have discovered two strains of 'plastic-eating' bacteria from the wetlands of Greater Noida, an advance that may lead to eco-friendly alternative clean-up methods for plastic waste worldwide.
The bacterial strains discovered by researchers at Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, have the potential to decompose polystyrene -- a key component in Single-Use Plastic (SUP) items such as disposable cups, cutlery, toys, packaging materials etc.
The bacterial species namely Exiguobacterium sibiricum strain DR11 and Exiguobacterium undae strain DR14 were isolated from the wetlands adjoining the university.

Huge New 'Shark Toothed' Dinosaur Found

THE LAND near Ban Saphan Hin in central Thailand is dusted with thin reddish soil where local farmers plant corn and tapioca. But more than 113 million years ago, this region hosted ancient floodplains that were terrorized by a fearsome dinosaur with shark-like teeth.
Described in the journal PLOS One, the newfound predator—called Siamraptor suwati—is the most complete dinosaur of its type and age ever found in Southeast Asia.
The bones of the 25-foot beast add to a string of major dinosaur finds from the region, and they reveal new insight into how a major group of predatory dinosaurs spread across the ancient world.

Oct 06, 2019

Hema Malini Inaugurates India's First Plastic To Diesel Conversion Plant In Mathura

Mathura MP Hema Malini inaugurated the country's first plastic to diesel conversion plant in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh claiming that this plant will fulfill PM Narendra Modi's dream of a Swachh Bharat.
A model of this plant had been placed for a demonstration before PM Modi when he had arrived in Mathura some time back as a part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
This model is now working on a full scale at the Mathura Municipal Corporation's (MMC) trenching grounds.

Government Launches Green Crackers

The Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed green crackers, which are new and improved formulations of the previous sound-emitting crackers and other fireworks.
The development of green crackers is aimed at reducing pollution and health risks.
The announcement was made by the Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan during a press conference in New Delhi on October 5, 2019.
The Health Minister displayed some of the green crackers including flower pots, pencils, sparklers and chakkar.

Oct 05, 2019

Tree Cutting Begins at Aarey

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation employees started cutting trees at Aarey Colony at the proposed car shed spot, following the Bombay High Court order.
The Bombay high court dismissed four petitions challenging the decision of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) tree authority permitting the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) to cut 2,646 trees to construct a metro car-shed in Aarey colony.
A division bench of chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre dismissed petitions filed by activist Zoru Bhathena and Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav, who is also a member of the tree authority.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is New Durga Puja Mantra

Two tall pillars decorated with crushed soft drink cans welcome everyone entering the Durga Puja pandal at Aradhana Park in IP Extension. Inside, Goddess Durga and deities Kartik, Ganesha, Lakshmi, and Saraswati appear uniquely silver-tinged.
Durga's face was made of material from an old gas cylinder, her ten arms were made of shock absorbers, and the rest of the idol was made from material cut out of discarded canister drums.
Themed on recycled scrap material, the pandal's (tent) message is that recycling and reusing waste in creative ways is one of the most efficient means of saving the environment.
As per Pinaki Ranjan Saha, one of the organisers of the puja at IP Extension, in the day and age that we live, if we do not make the best possible use of garbage, we will not be able to save our future.
Saving the environment is a recurring theme of Durga Puja in Delhi this year, with most pandals placing a strict ban on the use of plastic and thermocol.

India's First E-waste Clinic To Come Up in Bhopal

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have joined hands to set up the country's first e-waste clinic in Bhopal. CPCB will offer technical support.
The clinic is being conceived in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
This would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.
Electronic waste would be collected door-to-door or could be deposited directly at the clinic in exchange for a fee. Door-to-door collection will happen in two ways.
Either separate carts for the collection of e-waste would be designed, or separate bins would be attached to existing ones meant for solid and wet waste.
A three-month pilot project, the clinic, if successful, would be replicated elsewhere in the country.

Oct 04, 2019

Humans Produce 100x More CO2 Than All Earth's Volcanoes Combined

According to a decade-long study by an international team of researchers, human CO2 emissions total 100 times more than the planet-warming effects of all volcanoes combined.
The total amount emitted by volcanoes is only about 0.3 gigatons a year - a tiny fraction of the 37 gigatons humankind produced in 2018 alone.
That means they're not nearly as big of a contributor to global emissions as some prevailing theories hold.

ITC Launches First Multilayered Plastic Collection, Recycling Drive In Pune

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major ITC has introduced the country's first MLP collection and recycling initiative in Pune, tying up with a waste-pickers co-operative (Swach) at one end and recyclers such as Shakti Plastic at the other to ensure sustainable plastic waste management.
The plan, according to Chitranjan Dar, head of projects, EHS and quality assurance, ITC, is to scale up the project to more cities, including places such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Oct 03, 2019

Mega Drive Against Single Use Plastic

The government launched massive campaigns against single-use, or disposable, plastic products, as part of the year-long celebrations to mark 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Many organizations also played their part in the initiative, deciding to go plastic-free.
Flagging off the Bharatiya Janata Party's Sankalp Yatra to celebrate Gandhi's birth anniversary, Union home minister Amit Shah highlighted the perils of single-use plastic.
At a separate event, defence minister Rajnath Singh urged people to extend the cleanliness programme to cover environment protection and to vow not to use disposable plastic bags, as these are extremely harmful to nature.
Instead, he advocated the usage of cloth bags, which are environment-friendly.
Hardeep Singh Puri, the minister of state for housing and urban affairs, and civil aviation, also launched the Swachhata Hi Seva India Plog Run at Rajpath Lawn near India Gate in New Delhi to pay homage to the father of the nation.
Plogging involves picking up litter while jogging.
The event was organized to spread awareness on the harmful effects of plastic waste and to get the support of citizens to eliminate single-use plastic.
The GVK Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which manages the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at Mumbai, also announced that it will adopt 100% single-use plastic-free policy from 2 October, 2019.
While the government said that the single-use plastic ban will be imposed in phases, while exploring alternatives, plans are also underway to loop in the corporate sector.
The government may soon roll out stringent norms and impose heavy fines on corporates, including the hospitality industry, mobile manufacturers and packaging industry, for failing to stop the use of plastic.
Under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, which the government plans to implement more effectively, manufacturers, brand owners, and product importers will have to bear the responsibility for the environmental impact of the products through their life-cycle.
EPR, which is considered as a solution to the growing hazard of plastic waste, was introduced in the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2011, and was largely redefined in PWM 2016, wherein producers, importers and brand owners were asked to take primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachets or pouches or packaging.

Delhi-NCR Students Create Two Guinness Records

Students from Delhi-NCR region created two Guinness Book world records for environment protection on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.
The first record was in the category of 'environmental sustainability lessons to the largest number of students at one place' wherein close to 5,000 children participated.
The second record is of 'the largest number of assembly and lighting of solar lamps' in which more than 5,000 students took part.
Officials from Guinness Book of World Records were present at the event.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar congratulated the students and called for creating own oxygen bank by planting at least seven trees during one's lifetime.

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