Sustainability Outlook Headlines

India to switch diesel and petrol vehicles to electric mode in 2 years

India will switch diesel and petrol vehicles to electric mode in two years, said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

The strategy is to cut oil import bill and mitigate pollution.

“Our scientists have made cost-effective, made-in-India lithium-ion battery (rechargeable) which will be extensively used to convert all means of transport to electric mode,” the minister said here at a function organized by the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC).

The conversion of vehicles from conventional fuel to electric energy would be completed in two years’ time, he said... Read more..

CCEA Approved World Bank Assisted Project "Neeranchal" in nine States including Odisha

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to:

• implement the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project "Neeranchal" with a total outlay of $357 million (Rs 2142.30 crore at Rs. 60 = $1)
• implement the project at the National level as well as in the nine States of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

The total cost of the project is Rs. 2142.30 crore of which the Government's share is Rs.... Read more..

Ozone pollution in Delhi crosses permissible limit again

Surface ozone pollution in Delhi has crossed the permissible limit, for the second time in a year, with experts blaming weak monsoon for the phenomenon.

Though the ozone layer limit in Mumbai and Pune has been in the permissible limits for the past two weeks, it is increasing in these two cities.

According to scientists at the Indian Meteorological Department and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorological (IITM), normally Delhi's surface ozone pollution crosses threshold level only during sometime in summer under scorching temperature around May-June.

However, it is... Read more..

Gamesa wins 40 MW wind power deal from ReNew Power

Gamesa, a wind turbine company in India, announced it has procured an order for a 40 MW Wind Power Project with ReNew Power, a clean energy company in India.

The project is scheduled to be commissioned in March 2016.

ReNew Power currently has more than 1300 MW of commissioned and under-construction wind and solar energy projects in its portfolio.

As part of the agreement, Gamesa will be supplying 20 G97-2.0 MW T-104m turbines for installation at Lingsagur site in the state of Karnataka, India. This is ReNew Power’s third project in the State of Karnataka with close to... Read more..

Colour code to treat trash at IIT-BHU

Soon, the green committee of Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) will place separate dustbins to segregate biodegradable and recyclable waste. This will help in bringing an effective waste management system on the campus. Initially, about 30 dustbins will be placed on the IIT premises by October end. The committee is also planning to set up waste treatment and digestive plants in the next phase to usher in a 'zero discharge' regime.

Chairman Green Committee IIT-BHU, prof S Hadi Hassan said, "segregation has become the the need of the hour on the campus... Read more..

Rethinking the business of business

Milton Friedman declared that the business of business must be only business. Now many global forces are making business leaders confused and concerned about the role of business in society.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to Indian business leaders to revive their “animal spirits”, to take risks and boost economic growth. At the same time (in a form of disguised taxation), corporations are being pressed to discharge their corporate social responsibilities by handing over 2% of their profits to social causes defined by the government. The message is: businesses must be... Read more..

India Takes Tentative Steps Toward Palm Oil Sustainability

According to an August 2015 report published by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, India’s palm oil imports totaled 9.2 million tons, a spike of 200,000 tons over 2014 owing to a steep increase in the demand for vegetable oil.

India is the largest consumer of palm oil in the world. However, the world’s second most populous country also relies heavily on imports to satiate its thirst for palm oil – trading mostly with Indonesia, where environmental activists and conservationists are up in arms against the palm oil industry’s unbridled deforestation.

In India, while well... Read more..

Six stretches to get solar traffic signals: Gurgaon

Six city roads in Gurgaon are all set to get solar- powered traffic signals in the next six months. HUDA will install these signals on the request of the traffic police at a cost of Rs 40 lakh.

According to HUDA's executive engineer Arun Dhankar the traffic signals will be installed at Sector 23/23A road, Palam Vihar Chowk, Sector 17/18 dividing road, HIPA T-point, Sector 39/46 dividing road, near Hong Kong market in Sector 56 and near Hilton Hotel on Sector 50/51 dividing road.

Dhankar said that traffic police had expressed their concern over the lack of signals leading to... Read more..

Aditya Birla Nuvo to develop solar plants with Abraaj Group

Diversified company Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) would roll out renewable energy platform focused on developing utility-scale solar power plants in India in association with Abraaj Group.

The group had earlier announced to foray in the solar power business through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and evaluating induction of investors in it.

"...the Company has, on October 06, 2015, entered into a definitive Share Subscription and Shareholders Agreement (SSA) with AEIF Mauritius SPV 1 Limited, an Abraaj Group Company, to build a renewable energy platform focused on developing... Read more..

Hrithik Is India Ambassador For UNICEF's Sustainability Campaign

Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan has been announced as India's ambassador for 'The World's Largest Lesson', an initiative launched by the Global Goals campaign and UNICEF.

Hrithik joins international public figures like Freida Pinto, Dani Alves, Kolo Toure, Neymar Jr, Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, UNICEF ambassadors Nancy Ajram, Serena Williams and eminent advocate for UNICEF, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan.

'The World's Largest Lesson' aims to teach children in over 100 countries about the new Sustainable Development Goals.

"Young... Read more..

Study reveals US doublespeak on emission cuts

America has for long sought to shift the greater onus of battling climate change on the developing world. But a new study seeks to remind the richest nation on the planet to first practice what it preaches. Indian think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has tried to bring the focus back on the consumption-fuelled lifestyle of the developed world, specifically the US, in a comprehensive study that substantiates the government's call for 'climate justice'.

The CSE analyzed USA's 'climate action plan' and studied World Bank and Human Development Index ( HDI) data to show... Read more..

1 year of Swachh Bharat: Cleanest and dirtiest cities in India

It’s a tale of two cities with contrasting ground realities: Mysore in Karnataka that has been adjudged the cleanest city in the country by a survey of the Union Urban Development ministry, and Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, which has been declared the dirtiest.

So what does Mysore do that Damoh doesn’t?

For one, Mysore processes 220 of the 410 tonnes of solid waste it generates daily. The city, in fact, plans to start selling the recycled waste under the brand name Mysuru Gold early next year, says M V Sudha, the public relations officer of the Mysore City Corporation.

Read... Read more..