Is India Winning the War Against Pollution? The fight for cleaner air and water intensifies as the nation grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change. From the devastating floods in Assam to the alarming rise in air pollution levels in Delhi, environmental challenges demand urgent action. This week saw crucial discussions on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy sources at the India Climate Change Conference, highlighting the government's commitment to tackling deforestation and promoting biodiversity conservation. But are these efforts enough? Experts warn of looming water scarcity and the need for stricter regulations on industrial emissions. The future of India's environment hangs in the balance, demanding collective responsibility and innovative solutions. Explore Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and the latest updates on environmental policies, climate activism, and the ongoing struggle for a sustainable India. Discover how you can contribute to a greener tomorrow.
Bhubaneswar: Plans to ensure zero open dumping of waste is still a distant dream in the city, with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) still shifting more than 50% of total daily municipal waste to the temporary transit station (TTS) in Gadakana. This indicates that around 300 metric tonnes of waste out of a total of 800 MT is processed at the micro composting centres (MCC)s and material recovery facilities (MRF)s. Officials said that including the proposed waste-to-methane project, the upcoming mega MRF and other methods of on-spot waste processing, it will take BMC at least another two years to stop dumping at TTS. Wet waste, which constitutes 60% of the total solid waste, is processed at MCCs, while dry waste is processed at MRFs. People living near the TTS have been opposing the dumping and in-situ processing of waste at the facility due to the stench."Now MCCs and MRFs take care of 300 MT of waste. The proposed bio-methane plant will require 200 MT of waste. Additionally, the conversion of waste into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at TTS helps dispose of around 100 MT daily, which is sent to a cement factory. The remaining waste is being processed through the windrows method to get rid of the stench. But, to close the TTS completely, all the factors have to work in tandem," said BMC assistant commissioner N Ganesh Babu.Earlier, sanitation workers of BMC visited Indore to learn about the ways they convert waste into energy. The exposure visit helped them learn the entire process, starting from waste segregation at source, handling green waste and shredding machine, environment in the plant, managing stores and other aspects of the methane unit.BMC officials said Indore has set up a successful model of turning segregated municipal waste into methane gas. The Indore civic body is selling the methane gas and, in turn, using the amount in other civic works and in different aspects of solid waste management.Through bio-mining, 10 lakh tonnes of legacy waste were processed and landfilled. After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed all civic bodies in India in 2021 to stop the practice, BMC stopped waste transportation to Daruthenga, a dump site on the city's outskirts, and started MCCs and MRFs. But the mountain of remaining legacy waste is being cleared through bio-mining.
Small-cap Stock: Krystal Integrated Services Limited (Krystal) share price rose 5 per cent to ₹779.3 on Tuesday, November 26 after the company announced receiving a ₹106.3 crore contract from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The contract, valued at ₹1,062.99 million ( ₹106.3 crore), covers three years and involves providing comprehensive attendant manpower services to BMC's Education and Security Departments. This initiative is aimed at improving public sector operational efficiency in Mumbai. Small-cap stock Krystal Integrated Services share was trading in the green, up 3.07 pe ...Read More >
Mumbai: The birth of three penguin chicks at Mumbai's Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo has sparked an unexpected row not over their care, but their names. BJP functionary Nitin Bankar from the Byculla Assembly constituency has objected to the chicks being given English names, insisting they be named in Marathi instead. The BMC is expected to respond by June 10, after which Bankar will decide his next move. Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Bankar said, "When penguins were brought from abroad, we accepted that their names would be in English. But these chicks were born on the soil of M ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches at 15 places in Mumbai and Kochi in connection with the Mithi River desilting scam that caused a wrongful loss of more than Rs 65 crore to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), official sources said. The massive crackdown is underway at the premises across Mumbai and Kochi linked to the accused and suspects as part of an ongoing probe into alleged financial irregularities. According to the sources, the searches are being carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at locat ...Read More >
Katra, June 6 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Pakistan engineered Pahalgam terror attack to hurt Kashmir's economy and brotherhood in the country, but its evil designs failed and Indian Armed Forces hit the neighbouring country deep inside. "Pakistan attacked both humanity and Kashmiriyat in Pahalgam. Its intention was to incite riots in India and disrupt the livelihoods of hardworking Kashmiris. By attacking tourists, Pakistan aimed to damage the region's economy and peace," Modi said while addressing a massive gathering. Recalling the start of Operation Sindoor exactly a ...Read More >
New Delhi/Noida, Jun 27 (PTI) End-of-life vehicles detected at fuel stations or found parked at public places will be impounded and a penalty of Rs 10,000 imposed on four-wheeler owners and Rs 5,000 on two-wheeler owners starting July 1, officials said on Friday. EOL vehicles are diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years. Irrespective of the states they are registered in, they will not be given fuel in Delhi starting July 1, according to directions issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) earlier. Around 500 fuel stations in Delhi have inst ...Read More >
Mumbai: The death toll in Monday's BEST bus crash rose to seven and the number of injured to 42 even as the driver, Sanjay More, booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, claimed he had noticed a spark and mistakenly accelerated the bus instead of applying brakes. Seeking More's custody, police said they want to investigate if he intentionally used the vehicle as a weapon. The bus on Route 332 had accelerated on a congested 200m stretch near Kurla station hitting vehicles and pedestr ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], December 15 (ANI): Godrej Agrovet informed stock exchanges that the Gujarat government has allotted area to it in three districts for the expansion of oil palm cultivation under the palm oil mission. Those three districts are Vadodara, Surat, and Tapi, the company informed stock exchanges in a filing late on Saturday. The filing didn't elaborate further details about the allotment of land. India is the world's second-largest consumer and number one vegetable oil importer, and it meets 60 per cent of its need through imports. A large part of it is palm oil and its derivativ ...Read More >
New Delhi: India's coal sector has registered a 5.88 per cent increase in production to 830.66 million tonnes (MT) during April 2024 to January 2025 of the current financial year, from 784.51 MT recorded during the same period of 2023-24, according to a Coal Ministry statement issued on Monday. The total coal production during January 2025 has reached 104.43 MT, reflecting a 4.38 per cent increase over 100.05 MT recorded during the corresponding period of the previous year. The contribution from captive, commercial, and other entities for January 2025 has also been particularly strong, with ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], May 19 (ANI): Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said that his ministry's resolve is to increase the Kharif crop production while reducing the production cost. He added that the synergy between the agricultural research and the farmers will be increased. The Minister was speaking to reporters here after a meeting with the State agricultural ministers. "Today, I held a meeting with the Agriculture ministers of all the states...Agriculture is important for the country, whether it is a question of livelihood, employment, contribution to the economy or ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, Justice Prakash Shrivastava, said that the plastic, in its myriad forms, has become an indispensable part of our lives, yet its convenience masks a devastating reality and from the single-use plastic bags that clog our drains and pollute our water bodies to the microplastics that infiltrate our food chain and even our own bodies, the hazards are undeniable. Citing the 2025 World Environment Day theme, "End Plastic Pollution," the NGT chief underscored the urgent need to acknowledge the inextri ...Read More >
Rajamahendravaram: As part of World Environment Day celebrations, a major initiative to plant 4 lakh saplings across the district has been launched, district collector P Prasanthi announced on Thursday. She called on everyone to protect these saplings for the benefit of future generations. The main event was held at the Government Arts College campus in Rajahmundry under the aegis of the Forest Department, where the district collector participated as the chief guest. Chief Conservator of Forests BNN Murthy and other senior officials were also present. Speaking on the occasion, collector Prasa ...Read More >
Durg: It was a proud moment for Chhattisgarh to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate the world's highest railway bridge over Chenab river on Friday as steel used for building this architectural marvel was supplied by Bhilai Steel Plant, located in Durg district. This is India's first cable-stayed rail bridge. Located in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, this bridge connects the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link project. This arch bridge spanning 1,315 metres is at a height of 359 metres from Chenab river, which means it is 29 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower of Paris, w ...Read More >
New Delhi: Three Indian citizens vanished mysteriously in Tehran. Darkness closed in as hope seemed lost. A ruthless Pakistani gang with potential links to ISI snatched them away, casting a shadow of fear. But relentless Indian diplomats refused to back down. Against all odds, a daring rescue mission ignited. Now, the captives are free, and a chilling game of espionage comes to light. The Punjab-based trio - Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur, Jaspal Singh from SBS Nagar and Hushnapreet Singh from Sangrur - had landed in Iran on May 1. Promised a clandestine route to Australia via Dubai and Tehra ...Read More >
Srinagar: Before towering cranes and cutting-edge engineering transformed the Himalayan landscape, the monumental dream of connecting "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" by rail began with the plodding footsteps of humble mules. This extraordinary backstory underpins the official realization of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6, 2025, a project crowned by the awe-inspiring Chenab Bridge. According to Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the company behind the Chenab Bridge, the earliest and most formidable hurdle wasn't just the design of ...Read More >
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Bollywood actor Dino Morea and asked him to appear next week. He has been summoned in connection with the Rs 65 crore Mithi river desilting case, ED officials said. On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at fifteen locations in the Mithi river desilting case, including at actor Dino Morea's home in Mumbai. The raid comes days after the actor appeared before the Mumbai Police for questioning in a corruption case. His brot ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, instead of introspecting on the defeat in the 2024 state assembly polls, has been repudiating the mandate given by the people because they rejected him. The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha is preparing his excuses for future defeats in the upcoming assembly elections, including Bihar, Fadnavis said in his articles published in the Indian Express and Marathi daily Loksatta. On Saturday, Gandhi, in an article published in several newspapers and in posts on X, claimed the 2024 Maharas ...Read More >
So, we believe the seasonality flavour should work out in the month of December. Apart from that market breadth that is more important to look out for where only if you look in the current corrective phase only 12% of the stocks were trading above the day moving average of total CNX 500 and that is coming to now improving to around 33%."We expect Nifty to find the support in the range of around 23,500 to 23,700 and we should be gradually heading towards the target of 24,500," says Dharmesh Shah, ICICI Direct. How is the new series looking to you? Do you think we are all awaiting that Santa ra ...Read More >
New Delhi: ONGC's production trend is beginning to turn after eight straight years of fall as a key new field in KG Basin ramps up and the old Mumbai High asset arrests decline. ONGC's crude production rose 3% year-on-year in November to 53,804 tonnes per day (tpd) and the output growth so far in December has accelerated to 4.2% to 54,535 tpd, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The output was marginally higher in three of the first seven months this fiscal year but there is a cle ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Former head of Air India and chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani is the new Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) director. The official order for his appointment was issued on Wednesday. A 1980-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME), Lohani is known for turning around various organisations during his illustrious career. Following his retirement from IRSME service, he joined the GMR Group as the CEO. According to the order dated June 4, his appointment to the post of director, Prime Ministers Museum and Library in the rank and pa ...Read More >
Mumbai: Recycling of packaging material into something useful and lasting for the community is an initiative that represents the kind of sustainable thinking Mumbai needs, said Jeetendra V Pardeshi, Superintendent of Gardens, BMC. "Such partnerships can bring sustainability into public spaces, and the public can actively participate in this transformation," Pardeshi said on Thursday, about a set of garden benches, made entirely from recycled Tetra Pak cartons, that were donated to Patwardhan Park in Bandra. The inauguration of the benches marked the start of a campaign to collect used bevera ...Read More >
BHUBANESWAR : Unable to regulate retail price of the potato even after normal flow of the tuber from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, the state government has decided to provide the kitchen essential to consumers at a subsidised rate through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED). In the first phase of its market intervention initiative, the state government has procured 60 tonnes of potato from Uttar Pradesh through NAFED and the same will be available ...Read More >
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), considered the richest civic body in the country, tabled its budget of Rs 74,427 crore for 2025-26 at its headquarters in Mumbai on Tuesday. The additional municipal commissioners presented the budget to BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, the state-appointed administrator. BMC is currently run by an administrator since the term of the corporators ended on March 7, 2022. This is the third year of the budget being presented to the administrator, in deviation from the norm where the municipal commissioner presents the budget to the standing co ...Read More >
The agency has now moved a fresh plea for their remand in the court, saying the duo need to be interrogated about alleged involvement of other senior officials of NCLT in the bribery case. The CBI has approached a city court seeking custody of deputy registrar of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai bench, arrested for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from a businessman for helping to favourably settle ownership dispute of a hotel. The CBI on May 29 arrested de ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar: The state govt on Tuesday received investment intent worth Rs 4.5 lakh crore on the first day of Utkarsh Odisha-Make in Odisha Conclave 2025, and given the massive response the event has generated, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi feels they could see proposals worth four times than the target of Rs 5 lakh crore that had been set in the run-up to the business summit. "The investment proposals are likely to take a big leap as the investors are highly encouraged by the PM's assurances," Majhi said on a day his govt received over 100 investment intents and signed 54 MoUs in various ...Read More >
Hyderabad: With the early onset of pre-monsoon showers, farmers across Telangana have started their agricultural activities ahead of schedule. However, the agriculture department is facing strong criticism for failing to provide adequate fertilizers and seeds necessary for the current season. According to officials, there is a significant shortfall in the availability of essential inputs like urea and cotton seeds, which may negatively impact crop planning and productivity across the state. Also Read: Madhuri Dixit Recalls 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun' Magic with Salman Khan as Monsoon Arrives For ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI): As the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government completes 11 years of governance, India's agricultural sector has undergone a profound transformation over the years which is rooted in the philosophy of Beej Se Bazaar Tak (seed to market), while also championing inclusivity, supporting small farmers, women-led groups, and allied sectors, while making India a global agricultural leader, said a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW). PM Modi also highlighted today about ensuring prosperity of farmers and also focussing on issues ...Read More >
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday warned educational institutions that cases would be booked against them if drugs were found in their premises. The CM announced that the state's Anti-Narcotics Bureau would henceforth be known as Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) and was tasked with curbing the menace of narcotics in the state. Speaking at an event marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2025 at Shilpakala Vedika here, Reddy placed an onus on educational institutions to ensure their campuses were free of drugs. "It is the ...Read More >
A 55-year-old man, who was among the several persons injured in the BEST bus accident in Kurla area here, died on Monday morning, taking the death toll to eight, a civic official said. The electric bus, hired by the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking on wet-lease basis, ploughed into a crowd and fatally knocked down seven persons and injured 42 others on a crowded road in Kurla area on December 9. Several vehicles were also damaged in the incident. One of t ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) The National Turmeric Board will help develop new markets internationally to promote exports and double production to about 20 lakh tonnes in the next five years, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. Inaugurating the Board, he also said that it would promote research and development into new products and develop on the country's traditional knowledge for value-added turmeric products. "Turmeric is also called as golden spice. India accounts for 70 per cent of global turmeric production... We are looking to double the production to 20 lakh tonne ...Read More >
West Bengal [India], February 5 (ANI): At the 8th edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit 2025, Bhutanese Minister Younten Phuntsho emphasised the importance of the summit as a platform for strengthening the collaboration between India and Bhutan. Addressing the audience, he said, "For Bhutan, this summit is an opportunity to further deepen our (India-Bhutan) collaboration and identify strategic areas where our shared aspirations align. There are several key areas where we can forge even stronger partnership - first is tourism, we invite investors to explore opportunities in wellness tou ...Read More >