For the first time in Tamil Nadu, a lion has died of coronavirus while nine others in the pride have tested positive for the infection at a zoo near Chennai, an official said.
Addressing the nation on Independence Day, the prime minister also spoke on renewable energy and the need to maintain a balance between development and the environment. Referring to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), launched in January 2019, Modi said, "A special campaign is being worked out to reduce pollution in 100 selected cities with a holistic approach."
Officers of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service officers overstaying on foreign assignments or remain on unauthorised leave without permission stand to lose their jobs under new rules unveiled by the government on Tuesday that reduces the grace period.
A plea has been filed in Supreme Court seeking quashing and interim stay of three notifications of the Centre declaring Nilgai, monkey and wild boar as vermins for one year in the states of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Here are some best moments from Hollande's visit.
'The Elephant Whisperers is a hopeful story of respect and cooperation with nature in an era rife with conflict and threat to our beautiful planet.'
There's a need to train 40,000 pilots over the next year-and-a-half.
'Farmers love cows but find it uneconomical to afford fodder expenses'
The weather office on Monday forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next three days over some parts of Uttarakhand, which is still recovering from a deluge last week that is feared to have taken over 1,000 lives.
We need to clarify the rules for legal slaughterhouses and make sure that these can be enforced.
Close on the heels of Kenya, which recently set on fire over a hundred ton of its ivory stockpile, experts in India are mulling a similar provision to destroy the "white gold" to send a strong message against poaching.
Mini cloud bursts are marked by intense short spells which may not exceed 10cm in one hour-a classical definition by India Meteorological Department, he noted.
On International Tiger Day, India is still a long way from making sure that the future of our national animal is safe.
'As an aspirational district, one of the main challenges is health and nutrition of the tribal community.' 'They are 1.5 lakhs to 1.6 lakhs tribals in this district.' 'The major issue among tribals is malnutrition and anaemia.'
'And Joshimath has already shown the dangers ahead.' 'We have to acknowledge that our mountains are still young babies.' 'You don't put an extra load on the back of a growing child!'
Several rivers burst their banks near the southwestern city of Mocoa, 500 km southwest of Bogota, in the early hours of Saturday, sending water, mud and debris crashing down streets and into houses as people slept.
The Centre on Monday earmarked a separate Rs 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres to tackle air pollution and announced the much-awaited voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and polluting vehicles, even as it shrunk the budgetary allocation for the environment ministry from the last fiscal by nearly eight percent. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech for 2021-22, announced a total of Rs 2869.93 crore for the ministry, Rs 230 crore less than the last fiscal. Officials said the outlay has been lesser this time as the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
'Himalayan glaciers are expected to become smaller, and small glaciers will have disappeared, but by no means will all glaciers have melted by the end of the 21st century,' glaciologist Markus Stoffel tells Rashme Sehgal.
Fresh images from satellite has shown that the effective area under fire in Uttarakhand has come down to 110-115 locations from the earlier about 427
Hemant Shivsaran lists the number of projects the Modi government has announced since August to woo Gujarat voters.
The study also found that most GM foods did not disclose the fact on the label. "A few also made false claims of being GM-free," the study by CSE said.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd started hacking trees from Friday night to make way for a car shed, hours after the Bombay high court dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs and activists challenging the decision to allow felling of trees in the prime green lung of the city.
'With just 2.4 per cent of global landmass, India houses six to eight per cent of planetary biodiversity and hence is a prime target of wildlife criminals.'
'Like public smoking, like the decriminalisation of homosexuality, like the acceptance of medical marijuana, veganism awaits its generational change,' says Aakar Patel.
To believe that the key job of his senior ministers is to ensure that his image be kept intact whatever be the outcome of his policies is to expect too much even of someone as ambitious as Narendra Modi, asserts Rashme Sehgal.
With CPCB saying that the air quality is not severe now, the SC partially lifted its ban.
From using bio-fuels to revamping in-flight food and drinks services, eschewing mass-produced chicken/eggs in favour of local, farm-raised options to offering eco-friendly toys for children, airlines try out inventive measures to encourage carbon-neutral practices.
Opposition parties in Lakshadweep and Kerala are up in arms against various measures initiated by the Administrator of the group of islands, terming them as 'anti-people' and have sought his recall.
These natural wonders are all under threat.
Rediff reader Thomas GK who recently travelled to Gavi, an eco-forest in Kerala with his family shares his experience.
'Greenpeace has been brutal in targeting both India and the Manmohan Singh government. The push to go after Indian coal is driven by its long-term agenda. What is surprising is that China has not been meted out the same treatment, despite the fact that the rise of China as an economic power has been built around generating power from coal. 'Being richer and more affluent, yet far less democratic, there is less room for an NGO such as Greenpeace to drive home a complicated global agenda, so there is more of a tendency to go along with anything the Chinese offer despite China being the biggest by far with regard to coal use. But for India, it reserves tougher prescriptions, notably for its middle class, says Srinivas Bharadwaj.
'Defaulters like Mallya can't be offloaded, but activists like me are. And that too for raising questions.' 'Today, what is the meaning of development?' 'Take over land, water and forest from the Adivasis and hand it over to corporates.' 'I am surprised how a minister who is supposed to protect the forests and the environment is happy reaching out to investors for more and more clearances.'
Far more important than governance is to ensure how different states get necessary representation a'The pressure to expand the council of ministers will come from states where the BJP has formed a government after ousting the Congress,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
'We are facing a crackdown for more than a year. Our permission to collect funds was cancelled. Our bank accounts were frozen.' 'We believe that our work in India is very important. We want to be the environment watchdog. We do not want to waste time fighting legal battles.'
Debanjan Ballav, a student of Sanskrit College and member of Left radical United Democratic Students Front, told reporters that it was Babul Supriyo who had threatened and abused him when he wanted to speak of the concerns about lakhs of people who were rendered homeless due to the National Register of Citizens' exercise in Assam.
Coal accounts for more than 60 per cent of India's electricity capacity, and the government plans to nearly double annual coal output by 2020, opening a new mine nearly every month
An animal rights activist on June 15 asked the court to quash the three notifications that declared nilgai (blue bulls), monkeys and wild boars as vermin in the states of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, respectively.
Khan also said Pakistan has decided to partner any other country only for peace and named the partnership with the US as the one.
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