Government Gears Up for Single-Use Plastic Items Ban by June End
The Central Pollution Control Board undertook comprehensive measures to give effect to India's commitment to ban identified single use plastic items by 30th June 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said.
Plastic items that will be banned from the beginning of July 2022 include ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 microns and stirrers.
Jun 21, 2022
Biggest Freshwater Fish ever Documented Found in Cambodia
A 300 kg (661lb) stingray caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia is the biggest freshwater fish ever documented, scientists say.
It unseated the previous record-holder, a 646lb (293 kg) Mekong giant catfish caught in Thailand in 2005.
There is no official record-keeping or database of the world's biggest freshwater fish.
The Mekong is rich in biodiversity but overfishing, dams and pollution threaten its fragile ecosystem.
It flows from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Jun 20, 2022
Mongolia's Khuvsgul Lake Added to UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves
Mongolia's Khuvsgul Lake National Park was added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO.
The decision was made during the 34th session of the International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme, which took place in Paris, France.
Khuvsgul Lake is located in the northern Mongolian province of Khuvsgul near the Russian border, holding nearly 70 per cent of Mongolia's fresh water, or 0.4 per cent of the world's total.
Jun 18, 2022
Industrial Decarbonisation Summit 2022
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, inaugurated the "Industrial Decarbonisation Summit 2022"- road map for carbon neutrality by 2070.
During the inauguration the minister emphasised on maintaining equilibrium between environment, ecology and development.
The 'Industrial Decarbonisation Summit 2022' was inaugurated to overcome power shortage because it is necessary to develop alternative fuels.
The Industrial Decarbonisation Summit focused on variety of research topics related to decarbonisation, policy issues, sustainability, climate change including their management, etc. During the summit, academia, researchers, policy makers, business, industry, concerned government department etc will learn at large from each other and identify best practices and promising technologies. Outcome of this summit will help organisers in developing roadmaps on how innovative technologies can contribute towards Decarbonisation, and thus lead to energy transition for clean energy.
Jun 17, 2022
Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' is Losing Ice Faster than in the Past 5,500 Years
Thwaites Glacier also known as Antarctica's so-called Doomsday Glacier is losing ice at its fastest rate in 5,500 years, raising concerns about the ice sheet's future and the possibility of catastrophic sea level rise caused by the frozen continent's melting ice.
The finding came from a study of prehistoric sea-deposits found on the shores surrounding the "doomsday" Thwaites Glacier and the neighboring Pine Island Glacier, both located on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
These currently elevated rates of ice melting may signal that those vital arteries from the heart of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet have been ruptured, leading to accelerating flow into the ocean that is potentially disastrous for future global sea level in a warming world.