Environment 🧿

The Green New Deal involves investing in advanced technology initiatives to create jobs.

The plan calls for an expansion of solar panels and wind turbines to 42.7 gigawatts in 2025, up from 12.7 gigawatts last year. The government will also install solar panels on 225,000 public buildings.

Central to the plan are so-called “smart grids” – digital technology that allows an energy utility to communicate with and respond to its customers, and vice-versa. Korea plans to install “smart meters” in five million more apartments, to help consumers reduce their electricity use.

The government will also invest in microgrid communities. This involves using renewable energy and energy storage systems in regional areas, and those with many islands, creating decentralised, low-carbon energy systems.

“When people depended on ponds, they took care of them. When wells came up, they forgot about ponds; then when hand pumps arrived, wells were neglected. And, finally, with piped water, hand pumps went into disrepair,”
178 ponds were desilted and channels bringing water from Arasalar, Noolar and Thirumalairajan rivers were cleared. Pond bunds were strengthened with the sand dug up during desilting. Saplings of local species were planted.
Local people have understood the importance of preserving traditional water bodies; they now water the saplings planted along the bund. Raja says an afforestation programme was also launched with public participation. A petrol bunk owner donated 10,000 saplings. More than 30,000 saplings were planted in public places.

The degradation of the Aravalis threatens Gurugram and National Capital Region’s water security. High levels of natural cracks and fissures in the Aravali hills make this mountain range a superior zone for recharging groundwater, which is in the red zone at this point in time as extraction is several folds more than what is put back into the ground.

Plastic waste—everything from shopping bags to chairs—could be made into tiles. The manufacturing process would also emit less pollution.They are working with government-approved technology that upcycles plastic while preventing poisonous gases from being let out. The process ensures that the tiles “are anti-microbial”.Once the waste is collected, They segregate it manually, according to polymers and colours. On average, a person takes about a day to separate 800-900 kg waste.”After this, they put the raw material in the first machine—the shredder.The plastic material is divided into three parts—toys, disposable cutlery, chairs, and tables, which consist of Polypropylene (PP); PET bottles, their caps, and crates are made of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE); while the Low-Density Polyethylene makes up milk pouches, mainly.Once shredded, the plastic is sent for washing, drying, mixing (with granules that help in making the tiles anti-microbial), extruding, and finally placing them into moulds. Depending on the size of the final tiles, it may take about 1 kg of plastic to make four tiles or 2 kg of plastic to make one.

The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad districts for heavy to very heavy rainfall. The Kerala government has set up a 24-hour control room and said these four districts are prone to landslides. Fishermen have also been advised to not venture into sea.

Though a short circuit was said to be the reason for the fire, the departmental enquiry report and the CID report are yet to be submitted to the government.

The concerned factory Rumit Chemsynth Pvt Ltd. manufactures a chemical used for making medicines. The officer said that presence of a number of nitrogen gas cylinders and barrels containing chemicals in the factory increased the severity of the blasts.

"Prima facie, a fire was triggered due to leak of chemical from a barrel which spread to cylinders causing blasts," the officer said.Police initially suspected that the boiler of the company had exploded, but have found it to be intact.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the SDRF, the Navy, experts from Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and the AP Fire Services located the boat at a depth of 215 feet. District Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy then assigned the task of retrieving it to Balaji Marines.

Police said a case has been registered against the mining owner, unknown mining officers and others under the relevant section of the IPC.

The country needs to implement rainwater harvesting, micro-irrigation, etc, while transitioning away from water-guzzling crops and pricing water correctly to discourage wastage. Without a holistic outlook on water, the country suffers—research shows a clear link between water-stress and conflict.

Since 1970, the surface temperature has risen about 0.9 degrees Celsius. This translates to a warming rate of around 0.18 degrees Celsius per decade.The scientist wrote that in the first nine months of 2020, there were record concentrations of greenhouse gases including methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.

“Phansad witnessed maximum tree fall cases among any other protected area along Konkan due to the cyclone. The office headquarters building witnessed minor damages, with portions of the roof blown away, but no impact on the foundation. However, branches and barks of large trees have fallen on adjacent rest houses and huts. Tin roofs of major structures were damaged due to gusty winds,”

HIL is now in the process of production and supply of 25 tonnes Malathion Technical for supply to locust control programme to Iran under Government to Government arrangement," HIL supplied malathion technical to municipal corporations for dengue and chikungunya control programme.

During the lockdown period till May 15, 2020, HIL produced 120 tonnes of Malathion Technical, 120.

40 tonnes of DDT Technical, 288 tonnes of DDT 50 per cent, 21 tonnes of HILGOLD (water soluble fertiliser), 12 tonnes of Mancozeb Fungicide for exports and 35 tonnes of different agrochemical formulations.These are used in the agriculture and health sectors.

The story is not different in other developed nations. Employers and employees are increasingly experimenting with WfH (of course with no other option given the virulence of Covid) and have realised gains in terms of improved efficiency, better levels of satisfaction, work-life balance, saving in time spent in commuting and saving in expenses towards office space. In an information economy and a gig economy, indeed WfH is seen as one of the determining factor for choosing a company to work for by millennial. Unsurprisingly, many companies have announced ambitious plans to continue with WfH even after Covid19. TCS is set to allow 75 per cent of its workforce to work from home, by the year 2025.

Facebook has extended its work from home policy until July 2021. Google will allow its employees to continue working from home until at least June 2021. Similar is the story across major IT giants world over.One thing is very clear that the WfH is going to be the norm wherever possible and is likely to alter the development trajectory of cities. The very reason for people to live in cities, which is to stay near their offices, is losing its relevance. When one can work from a remote location, there is no financial sense in spending an exorbitant amount for living in cities. The impact of this game changing trend in urbanisation is evident in declining demand for housing in once burgeoning cities and falling value of real estate in big cities.