Environment

NEW DELHI (AP) — An energy crisis is looming over India as coal supplies grow perilously low, adding to challenges for a recovery in Asia’s third largest economy after it was wracked by the pandemic.

Supplies across the majority of coal-fired power plants in India have dwindled to just days worth of stock.

Federal Power Minister R. K. Singh told the Indian Express newspaper this week that he was bracing for a “trying five to six months.”

“I can’t say I am secure … With less than three days of stock, you can’t be secure,” Singh said.

07 Oct 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is planning to locally produce 70 per cent of the energy products it requires over the next ten years, the country's energy minister announced yesterday.

Abdulaziz Bin Salman told reporters in the Saudi city of Dammam that the move was part of the kingdom's efforts to "increase Saudis employment across various economic sectors."

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) People in the national capital breathe the "worst" air between November 1 and November 15 every year, an analysis of data collated by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) over the last five years showed.

The capital's average PM2.5 level oscillates between very poor and severe categories from October 16 to February 15.

It records an average PM2.5 concentration of 285 micrograms per cubic metre from November 1 to November 15.

Kanpur: The festival of Diwali is approaching fast. Is there a ban on firecrackers in Uttar Pradesh? Of Course, it is not reportedly.

The Yogi Adityanath government has not announced the ban on the sale and use of firecrackers all over the state.

The bursting of fire crackers are supposed to carry pollution. That was why there was put a ban on its use in as many as 13 cities of Uttar Pradesh were not enabled in the year 2020.

However, this kind of ban has not been reported on the sale and use of firecrackers across the state for this year so far.

05 Oct 2021; MEMO: Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are dying slowly as 97 per cent of the water in the coastal enclave is undrinkable, Euro-Med Monitor said yesterday.

Hyderabad, Oct 4 (PTI) Having achieved the initial target of 25 Giga Watt renewable portfolio four years ahead of schedule, the Adani Group now plans to triple its solar power generation capacity in the next four years.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 'TiE Sustainability Summit 2021' themed, "Where entrepreneurship meets sustainability", Gautam Adani said over the next decade, his group would invest over USD 20 billion in renewable energy generation.

Dubai, Oct 4 (AP-PTI) The death toll from Cyclone Shaheen rose to 13 on Monday while other fishermen from Iran remained missing as the storm moved further inland into Oman and weakened.

Authorities in Oman said they found the body of a man who disappeared when floodwaters swept him away from his vehicle. On Sunday as the storm made landfall, they said a child similarly drowned and two foreigners from Asia died in a landslide. The country's National Committee for Emergency Management announced Monday afternoon seven additional deaths from the storm, without elaborating.

New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) To combat air pollution in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced a 10-point "winter action plan" that focuses on dust control, using the Pusa bio-decomposer, installing smog towers and checking waste burning and vehicular emissions.

He also urged the neighbouring states to retrofit thermal power plants in NCR areas with new technology and ensure the use of CNG-operated vehicles and cleaner fuel in industries in the region.

04 Oct 2021; MEMO: Egypt has been selected as a nominee to host the COP27 UN climate conference 2022 set to be held in Glasgow in November.

The summit works towards actioning the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and is hosted by a different country each year representing a different region in the world.

Gangtok, Oct 2 (PTI) Sikkim Chief Minister PS Tamang on Saturday announced that packaged mineral water will be banned from January 1, 2022 in the Himalayan state, which is "blessed with natural resources that provide fresh and good quality drinking water".

Tamang, during his address here on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, also said that people, after the ban is implemented, will opt for water from natural resources, which is far healthier than that available in plastic bottles.