New Delhi (NVI): NITI Aayog is preparing the Vision Document for India 2047 and is taking inputs from a wide range of stakeholders.
The stakeholders are the young officers who will be responsible for providing the crucial governance inputs for realizing this Vision, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar tweeted.
He posted some pictures of such an interaction along with his tweet.
New Delhi (NVI): Artificial light at night is responsible for insect declines globally, as it affects insect movement, foraging, reproduction and predation, according to a United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
A study said habitat loss, pesticide use, invasive species and climate change have all played a role in insect declines globally, but that artificial light at night is another important but often overlooked cause.
The light affects insect movement, foraging, reproduction and predation, says the study which, however, suggests that insect biodiversity loss can be mitigated with better-informed lighting practices.
“Artificial light at night is unique among anthropogenic habitat disturbances in that it is fairly easy to ameliorate and leaves behind no residual effects. Greater recognition of the ways in which (artificial light at night) affects insects can help conservationists reduce or eliminate one of the major drivers of insect declines,“ it says.
With artificial light increasing by around 2 per cent per year globally, light pollution has become a pertinent issue.
Artificial light not only impacts insects. Turtles, seabirds and shorebirds, and ecosystems at large, are being affected.
Artificial light at night can disorientate adult and hatchling sea turtles, so they are unable to find the ocean.
Birds are also known to become disorientated by lights, resulting in higher bird mortality due to collisions with artificial structures such as buildings. Migratory shorebirds may be exposed to increased predation where the lighting makes them visible. They may also abandon preferable roosting sites to avoid lights.
Here are some ways to manage the impact of artificial light
New proposed guidelines drafted by the government of Australia provide a framework for assessing and managing the impact of artificial light on susceptible wildlife, including migratory species.
For example, they consider wildlife-friendly lighting design and the management of light sources near protected wildlife.
The guidelines recognize the potential of conflicting requirements for wildlife conservation and human safety and the need for a balance between the two.
To prevent harm to migratory species, the guidelines propose a multi-step approach. If artificial light is visible outside, best practice light design should be applied so as not to impact nearby habitats of threatened species.
An environmental impact assessment should consider negative effects before artificial light sources are installed.
New Delhi (NVI): Declaring novel coronavirus as a ‘notified disaster’, the central government today announced payment of Rs 4 lakh as ex-gratia to the family of each person who dies because of this disease.
So, far two deaths have been reported due to coronavirus — one each in Karnataka and Delhi. There are 81 others who have tested positive for the deadly disease.
“Rs 4 lakh will be paid as ex-gratia to the family of the person who will lose their life due to COVID-19, including those involved in relief operations or associated in response activities,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
It wrote to all the states regarding this decision.
Earlier in the day, the health ministry said home quarantine is meant “to protect you and your loved ones.”
Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar: Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad today met just-released National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah here and sought a political process which would ensure restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir was converted into a Union Territory in August last year when its special status, granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, was abolished.
After meeting Abdullah, who was released yesterday after seven-month detention, Azad addressed the media and asked, “How can such a huge state be called a UT?”
Azad, who has earlier served as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, was flanked by Abdullah when he addressed the media outside the National Conference leader’s Gupkar Road residence.
Referring to the release of Abdullah, MP and former Chief Minister of J&K, Azad described it as a matter of great happiness for him.
“I met him after over 7 months. He was detained for all these months. The reason for his detention is not yet known to me,” the Congress leader added.
He went on to add, “Such a punishment is given to criminals but what have he and the other political leaders in detention done?”
Azad said he is representing his party and all the MPs in RS and LS who raised their voice against this detention.
The rains and hailstorm were brought by the western disturbances, according to the weather forecasters.
Skymet forecaster said the weather of Delhi NCR will start clearing up from tomorrow onwards.
“Clear sky, bright sunshine and soaring temperatures will be witnessed. In fact, since the last many days, day temperatures are below normal by two to three degrees over Delhi and NCR,” it added.
As the Western Disturbance is moving away eastwards, the weatherman said that now the chances of moderate showers are almost over.
It also said that the trough which was extending from Punjab to Bihar has also shifted northwards over foothills of Uttar Pradesh.
Moreover, by March 20, it expects Delhi to witness maximum temperatures above 30 degree Celsius. By the end of March, the temperatures of Delhi and NCR may remain between the lower 30s and mid-30s.
“The next rain episode over Delhi NCR is ruled out for the next one week from now and weather will remain clear”, it added.
New Delhi (NVI): From March 16, new rules for credit and debit cards mandated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will come into force.
According to these new rules, only domestic card transactions will be allowed at ATMs and PoS terminals in India.
With regard to international transactions, online transactions, card-not-present transactions and contactless transactions, customers will have to separately set up services on their card.
Those already possessing the cards can decide whether to disable any of these features. They will have to inform their banks about it.
For existing cards, issuers may take a decision, based on their risk perception, whether to disable the card not present (domestic and international) transactions, international transactions and contactless transaction rights. Existing cards which have never been used for online/ international/ contactless transactions shall be mandatorily disabled for this purpose.
Users will have 24×7 access to switch ON/OFF or change all transaction limits via all available channels — mobile application / internet banking / ATMs / Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
Issuers shall provide to all cardholders facility to switch on/ off and set/ modify transaction limits (within the overall card limit, if any, set by the issuer) for all types of transactions – domestic and international, at PoS/ ATMs / online transactions / contactless transactions, etc.,
The provisions, however, are not mandatory for prepaid gift cards and those used at mass transit systems.
Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar: Over 500 vehicles, including trucks and passenger vehicles, are stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway as the only surface route connecting Kashmir Valley with rest of the country remained closed for third consecutive day today due to landslides and shooting stones at many places.
The stranded vehicles included 130 passenger ones, according to officials.
The highway has been closed since March 12 after landslides and shooting stones hit the arterial road in the Ramban district.
IGP (Traffic), Jammu and Kashmir, T Namgyal told NVI that clearance operations are still on. “Efforts are on to clear the road which has been blocked by fresh landslides and shooting,” he said.
He said once the road is cleared,only stranded vehicles will be allowed to move.
According to the traffic officials, due to rainfall last night, the traffic was blocked at Kunfar Nalla and Dugi Pull at Ramban on Srinagar-Jammu highway.
“Mudslides and shooting stones blocked highway at Marog and Monkey Morh. Heavy slides at Iron stand and shooting stones at Digdol, Gujjar Morh shooting stones blocked the highway,” officials said.
The landslides also blocked highway at Digdol, Panthyal, Mompasi and Hingani in Ramban sector.
On March 8, A truck driver from Rajasthan was killed and six persons, including three CRFP personnel, were injured as rolling boulders from hillocks hit vehicles and also disrupted traffic along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar (NVI): Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today met National Conference patron and Member Parliament from Srinagar constituency Farooq Abdullah who was released yesterday after seven-month-long detention.
According to sources, Azad, former Chief Minister of J&K, met Abdullah at his Gupkar residence soon after his arrival from Delhi.
After meeting Abdullah, Azad is expected to return to Delhi in the evening.
Azad is the first leader to meet Abdullah, a former Chief Minister of J&K, after his release.
Earlier in the day, Farooq Abdullah met his detained son Omar Abdullah at Hari Niwas, which is a designated subsidiary jail.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration yesterday revoked the detention of Abdullah.
He was under detention since August last year when the central government abrogated Article 370 and ended the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.
His release has been hailed by many political leaders, who called it a welcome step.
New Delhi (NVI): The economic damage caused by plastic pollution to marine ecosystems is estimated to reach around USD 13 billion every year, according to a United Nations report.
Plastic accounts for 80 per cent of all ocean debris but only about 1 per cent of this waste floats in surface waters.
Moreover, scientists say that waxworms and other organisms are capable of breaking down plastic, which could provide as a solution to reduce plastic waste.
Waxworm is a larval form of the greater wax moth. Its gut can digest plastic, and researchers are trying to understand why and how this happens.
More than 50 species of plastivore – small organisms that consume plastic have been discovered, which are mostly bacteria and fungi but include some insects capable of turning plastic waste into energy.
“The waxworm and its gut bacteria must break down these long chains,” the study author, Christophe LeMoine said.
“And presumably, because plastics are similar in structure, they can also co-opt this machinery to use polyethylene plastics as a nutrient source,” he added.
If scientists can discover how eating plastic enhances waxworms’ gut bacteria, though, LeMoine says they may be able to design “the perfect plastic biodegradation system”.
Waxworms aren’t the only plastic-eaters. It’s been found that mealworms, can digest plastic too and still be nutritious food for other animals.
Mushroom corals are common in the shallow waters around the Maldives. The researchers have studied one species in an area in which they described the amount of plastic pollution as staggering.
Even more particles get stuck to the coral’s rough surface, helping to further sequester microplastics from the water.
The corals could pay a heavy price for this cleaning, with the researchers noting that both this ingestion and adhesion could have a negative impact and further threatening a species.
The researchers say this could help explain why despite millions of tonnes of plastic ending up in the ocean, microplastics measuring under 1mm are found in much lower concentrations than expected in surface waters.
New Delhi/Taipei (NVI): Taiwan, which is making strident efforts to fight coronavirus, has earmarked a special fund to the tune of $1.99 billion to contain the deadly disease and deal with its impact on the economy.
The special budget was approved by Taiwan’s legislature with an overwhelming support from lawmakers.
Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang told lawmakers that the budget is aimed at creating quick effects, spread benefits to as many industries as possible, push for infrastructure and eventually strengthen the economy.
According to the approved bill, the special budget will be effective from January 15, 2020 and run through June 30, 2021.
The fund will be spent on transforming hospitals into isolation venues, establishing quarantine and testing venues for the virus, requisitioning medical materials and allocating funds as subsidies for schools and the transportation industry to battle the virus contagion.
The government will also subsidize a wide range of industrial sectors that have been hit by the COVID-19 spread. These sectors include service industry, the manufacturing industry, the tourism industry, the transportation industry, the agriculture/fishing industry, and the arts/cultural industry.
The government will also pay compensation to the people who are in mandatory quarantine and home isolation or who have to take unpaid family care leave to take care of family members who are in quarantine or home isolation without self-care ability, such as children under the age of 12.
In addition, the government will give vouchers for local consumers to spend in restaurants, retail shops, night markets and traditional markets, besides art and cultural events.
