Guwahati : Assam finally has its own State Disaster Response Force on the lines of the elite National Disaster Response Force to tackle disaster situations.
NDRF personnel demonstrate a rescue operation. File picture
The state force will have two battalions, each comprising 140 personnel. The battalions are likely to be deployed in Guwahati and Barak Valley in April after its personnel receive specialised training on how to respond to emergency situations like fire, floods, earthquakes and landslides. Read more
Source : telegraphindia.com
India is yet to utilise its solar potential; at present, solar power (photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power) contributes a mere 0.4 per cent of the total power generation.
Despite the growing popularity of energy-saving fluorescent lamps, little has been done to address the issue of the safe disposal of the dangerous waste they generate.
A shop keeper displays the new generation energy saving compact fluorescent lamps at Parsh electrical appliances store on the electrical and sanitary street of Troop Bazar in Hyderabad. File photo: Mohammed Yousuf
Steady release of mercury into the air, soil and water poses a significant health risk. But, it appears, not for policymakers in India. Annually, a large amount of this toxic, complex metal is simply dumped into municipal landfills or released into the air from a “green” source — the millions of fluorescent lamps that are at the forefront of efforts to reduce power demand and carbon emissions. Read more
Source : thehindu.com
CHENNAI : The instruction manuals that usually come with your cell phone or television set most often lay down ways to properly discard these consumer items but do all of us read them? Come May, electronic device manufacturers might have to put in more efforts to ensure their ‘take back' schemes work better, as they will be responsible for the safe disposal of electronic and electrical goods that they produce.
As per the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2010, which will come into effect in May 2012, manufacturers of electronic goods, under the Extended Producers' Responsibility (EPR), will be responsible for recycling, reducing levels of hazardous substances in electronics and setting up collection centres. Bulk users such as large corporations, banks, insurance companies, government agencies and educational institutions will also need to keep a record of their e-waste disposal. Read more
Source : thehindu.com
BANGALORE : Squeezed by infrastructure works, residents find commuting downright dangerous
Traffic near Yelahanka Railway crossing in Bangalore on February 11, 2012. Photo : K .Bhagya Prakash
The Rs. 680-crore elevated expressway project on National Highway 7, designed ostensibly to ease the commute to the international airport, has virtually pulled the brakes on accessibility to one of the bustling residential areas it straddles.
The only two exits for Yelahanka Satellite Town are now chaotic bottlenecks, one particularly dangerous as it involves a manned level crossing. Read more
Source : thehindu.com
In a quiet coup of sorts, Maoists have taken control of panchayats in about 30 blocks of Malkangiri and Koraput districts in the ongoing panchayat elections in Orissa. All their nominees have been elected unopposed after the Maoists warned local people against nominating any other candidate. Close to 2,500 members of these panchayats have also been elected unopposed. Sources said at least 32 heads of panchayats (sarpanches) have known Maoist links.
Security personnels (PTI)
Wary that this could undermine anti-Naxal efforts by helping them expand their base, an alarmed centre has asked the state government to step in. The main cause of worry is that panchayats have access to considerable funds under various social schemes including NREGS, besides what accrues from the devolution package. Read more
Source : indianexpress.com
Mumbai : After 2 planes ferrying Union Ministers brushed disaster in 3 weeks, aviation watchdog orders probe, insists on strict obedience of air safety norms, warns violators of action
Representation Pic
After two major mishaps involving aircraft ferrying Union ministers on poll campaigns were averted in the past three weeks, a concerned Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has stressed on strict adherence of safety guidelines. Read more
Source : mid-day.com
Alarmed at the increasing number of road incidents in West Bengal, the state police has proposed to set up of a Road Safety Council, headed by the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, to ensure better traffic regulation and management along the 2,263 kilometer long National Highways and 2,764 kilometer long State Highways passing through various districts.
The proposal came after a state police’s report revealed that 28,726 have lost lives in road accidents between 2005 and 2010. Read more
Source : indianexpress.com
The population of Indian cities, already more than 340 million, is projected to reach nearly 600 million by 2030. By then daily passenger trips among 87 of the country's major cities will have doubled to roughly 482 million a day. In other words, embracing sustainable urban transport will quickly become an urgent need, and a key to doing so, according to a new report by EMBARQ India, may rest not in an emerging travel mode but an old reliable one: the rickshaw.
Private vehicle ownership in India is on the rise — climbing 85 percent during the 2000s to 110 million cars and motorcycles by the end of the decade. Meanwhile public transit ridership has fallen over that same period, in part because it hasn't kept up with demand. Bicycle riding is down too, as the length of trips grows longer with urban sprawl. In an extremely crowded country, that's a transportation recipe for high emissions, poor public safety, and massive congestion, among other social problems. Read more
Source : theatlanticcities.com
New Delhi : Shutting yourself from the outside world by plugging in earphones and listening to music while walking on the streets might help kill stress. But it can also kill you if one is to go by the recent accidents involving ''distracted pedestrians''.
Sixteen-year-old Kaushlendra Pal, a Delhi student, was crushed to death by a speeding train Saturday afternoon as he failed to hear the sound of an approaching train since he was listening to music on headphones in Ghaziabad. Read more
Source : deccanherald.com
Bangalore: With one-third of the global population living in India and China by 2025, the region will face imminent water scarcity unless there is action. Now experts from the two countries as well as US, Britain, Germany and other places are set to deliberate on water-related issues at a meet here from Tuesday. Billed as the first World Water Summit in India's IT hub, the summit is aimed at generating innovative ideas to meet the challenge of managing scarce water sources.
With one-third of the global population in India and China by 2025, the region will face imminent water scarcity.
"Ensuring adequate and safe water to all sections of the population, particularly the poor is a big challenge. The objective of the summit is to deliberate on issues and generate ideas," former Karnataka chief secretary A. Ravindra, the brain behind the meet, told IANS. Ravindra is now advisor to the chief minister and also heads the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), a non-profit organisation he started in 2003. Read more
Source : ibnlive.in.com
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