Climate change will impact Hindu Kush-Himalaya water supplies:Study

Climate change will impact Hindu Kush-Himalaya water supplies:Study PATNA/KATHMANDU: More than a glacial retreat in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region (HKH), the shifts in rain and snow due to climate change are likely to have an impact on regional water supplies and groundwater recharge, a study said. The study was conducted by two Kathmandu-based experts from International Centre for

Heatwave In India In 2015 Got Worse Due To Human-Induced Climate Change: Study

Heatwave In India In 2015 Got Worse Due To Human-Induced Climate Change: Study NEW DELHI:  The deadly heat waves that killed nearly 2,500 people in India and 2,000 people in Pakistan last year were exacerbated by human-induced climate change, scientists including those from IIT-Delhi have found. Researchers examined observational and simulated temperature and heat indexes and found

Rise in forest fire spots: Parliamentary panel recommends replacing pine with broad-leaved trees

Rise in forest fire spots: Parliamentary panel recommends replacing pine with broad-leaved trees NEW DELHI: With nearly 55 per cent rise in forest fire spots in 2016 from last year, a parliamentary panel has recommended systematic replacement of chir pine trees in forests with broad-leaved trees, observing that its needles are highly inflammable due to high resin content. The panel also

Ancient trees at China's famous Mountain get digital ID cards

Ancient trees at China's famous Mountain get digital ID cards BEIJING: About 20,000 ancient trees on the renowned Mount Tai in east China's Shandong Province now have "digital ID cards" which will provide a range of information about the environment, condition of trees, climate, diseases and pests, official media reported on Sunday.The digital ID cards hold basic information on the trees

Surging methane emissions imperil climate goals

Surging methane emissions imperil climate goals PARIS: A decade-long surge of the potent greenhouse gas methane threatens to make the fight against global warming even harder, top researchers warned. "Additional attention is urgently needed to quantify and reduce methane emissions," they wrote Monday in the Environmental Research Letters journal, summarizing the

Just 3% forest area under community governance: Study

Just 3% forest area under community governance: Study NEW DELHI: Millions of forest dwellers in the country still do not have rights to conserve forests or access to forest resources. Ten years after the forest rights act 2006 was passed by parliament—a law that secures rights of forest dwellers and empowers them to protect forests, only about 3% of the potential forest area for

This Hidden Smithsonian Vault Contains The Oldest Things In The Solar System

 This Hidden Smithsonian Vault Contains The Oldest Things In The Solar System Everything in the lab gleams. There is no smell and no sound but the insectlike whir of the machine that pumps nitrogen gas into the dozen or so glass storage tanks lining the walls. The pressure of the gas inflates the white rubber gloves attached to the tanks and makes them reach, ghostlike, toward the center of

Greenland's Ice-Free Past Exposes Sea Level Rise Danger

Greenland's Ice-Free Past Exposes Sea Level Rise Danger PARIS:  The massive Greenland ice sheet has melted away at least once during the last 1.4 million years, according to a study published on Wednesday, raising fears that manmade climate change could provoke dangerous sea levels.Bedrock samples retrieved through more than three kilometres (two miles) of ice reveal for the first time that the

10,500 years old ancient camping site discovered in Ladakh

10,500 years old ancient camping site discovered in Ladakh  A release issued by the culture ministry states that an ancient camping site has been found near Saser La in the Nubra Valley, Ladakh at an altitude of about 4,200 metres that was used by pre-historic man and belonged to circa 8500 BCE.

The site indicates that humans were camping in that area about 10,500 years ago and its 14,000 feet

United Nations launches strategy to minimise environmental footprint of its peace operations

United Nations launches strategy to minimise environmental footprint of its peace operations , 

The United Nations Department of Field Support (DFS) on 29 November 2016 launched a new strategy to maximize its peace operations' efficiency in the use of natural resources. The strategy will also help in minimizing peace operations' risk to people, societies and ecosystems. The step was taken to highlight the significance of environmental protection and management in the work of peacekeeping

Chinese Capital Under Orange Alert For Air Pollution

Chinese Capital Under Orange Alert For Air Pollution

BEIJING:  The Chinese capital city today issued an orange alert for air pollution in Beijing for the next three days starting midnight, cancelling outdoor activities in schools and construction projects in the smog-hit city. The orange alert, the second highest in a four-tier warning system, will be effective from

Gymnothorax indicus, new species of eel found in Bay of Bengal

Scientists from have discovered Gymnothorax indicus (proposed name Indian unpatterened moray), a new species of eel (a snake-like fish) in the northern Bay of Bengal region along the West Bengal coast. It was discovered after it was collected in a trawl net by fishermen in northern Bay of Bengal, about 70 km off the coast. About Gymnothorax indicus The ell species Gymnothorax indicus is slender-bodied. It was found at a

Long-term study suggests small link between neonicotinoids, wild bee declines

Wild bees that forage from oilseed rape crops treated with. . . neonicotinoids are more likely to undergo long-term population declines than bees that forage from other sources, according to the findings of an 18-year study.  Going back to data from 1994 up to 2011, the scientists analyzed how large-scale applications of neonicotinoids to oilseed rape crops influenced bee population

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GOVERNMENT SCHEME-DAILY-NEWS-11-08-2016 AND 12-08-2016

e-Marketplace launched

Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday launched the government e-marketplace. It's a one stop online marketplace for govt buyers and is expected to be a game changer. The "e-marketplace" has been launched online purchase of goods and services by various central government ministries and departments. The e marketplace is expected to bring tranparency and improve governance. To begin with common use

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Finance ministry starts studying rail, general budget merger

NEW DELHI: The Indian railway budget may no longer be a standalone financial plan and may instead be merged with the general budget as early as next year, with the government considering a proposal to combine them. "It's a possibility next year," Arvind Panagariya, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, the government's policy-making body, said on Monday, responding to a query on the possibility of merging the

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Agriculture in 115 Indian districts most at risk from climate change

As floods ravage eastern and northern India, agriculture in 115 districts across 15 states is "highly vulnerable" to climate change, according to a study published in the Indian Academy of Science journal Current Science. The first to analyse 38 meteorological, agricultural and social data across all of India's 572 rural districts, the study creates a climate vulnerability index for agriculture, divided into five categories of vulnerability: Very

Great Red Spot storm heating Jupiter's atmosphere: Study

Astronomers in a new study claimed that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a storm three times bigger than Earth, is hundreds of degrees hotter than anywhere else on the planet. The study was published in Nature on 27 July 2016. GRS, the largest storm in the solar system, was detected using an infrared telescope at Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Observatory. The storm is based in Jupiter’s lower atmosphere and spans 13670 miles by 7456

Solar plane completes round-the-world trip

International Airport, from where it took off in March 2015. "This is a very special moment for us, we have completed this journey step by step and we are very excited with the arrival in Abu Dhabi," second pilot Andre Borschberg told EFE news at the airport. The plane was piloted by Bertrand Piccard during the last stage between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Solar Impulse 2 has completed a 40,000-km journey in 17 legs. It has taken more than 500 hours of flying over the Arabian Sea, India, Myanmar, China,

2016 set to be world's hottest year on record: WMO

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on 21 July 2016 announced that global temperatures for the first six months of 2016 broke many records. It means that 2016 is on the track to be the world's hottest year on record. The WMO stated that Arctic Sea ice melted early and fast, which is another indicator of climate change. In addition, Carbon dioxide levels have also reached new highs.

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Isro and Nasa join hands to develop data satellite by 2021

New Delhi: India's space agency ISRO and USA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the NASA are jointly working on the development of a 'Dual Frequency (L&S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite' which will be useful for variety of applications including natural resources mapping and monitoring. The joint mission is expected to bring result by 2021. Named as the Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR),

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