Hyderabad: On the direction of  Chief Minister of Telangana K. Chandrashekar Rao, GHMC Officials led by Rammohan Rao, Deputy Director – GHMC along with 30 residents of Mamatha Nagar Colony and Venkataramana Colony visited Pragati Resort, part of Pragati Bio-diversity Knowledge Park near Chilkur Balaji temple on Saturday to have the first hand knowledge on development of herbal heritage plantation within the city limits. GHMC Circle Manager Bhaskar, Mahendar and Shoukath Hussain and Srinivas Reddy the President of Venkataramana colony and Mamathanagar colony were present on the occasion.

The chief minister during his recent public address at Nagole on 15th March, 2015, expressed his dissatisfaction over the unclean surroundings and accumulatd garbage in Mamatha Nagar Colonmy and Venakataramana Colony and directed the concerned GHMC Officials to arrange a visit of the colonies to Pragati Biodiversity Knowledge Park so as to bring in the required awareness among the residents of those and other colonies to replicate the Pragati model of herbal heritage plantation. In his address he lauded Pragati as an ideal Biodiversity Park created by DR.GBK Rao, Chairman & Managing Director, Pragati Group. The park spread across 2500 acres with 27 lacs herbal heritage plantation is zero pollution, mosquito free, bad bacteria free and virus free zone with the temperature levels 5 to 6 degrees lesser than city levels. He appealed to the public to follow Pragati model and try to improve the surroundings of colonies by enhancing green cover.

These officials and residents keenly observed and noted their observation on 750 rare varieties of sacred, herbal, medicinal, aromatic plants as explained to them by Dr. S.V. Rama Rao, expert Pragati Group on herbal green technology. These herbal heritage green plants have the capacity to absorb toxic emissions and make the surroundings pollution free. Pragati has reciprocated to CM’s call by launching it’s herbal urban forestry drive in association with representatives of various resident welfare associations following CM’s public address at Nagole.

Dr. G.B.K. Rao, CMD, Pragati Resorts explained the importance of various medicinal, herbal and aromatic plants and their usages for our wellness. He apprised the visitors of the imperative need for development of Greenery and plantation for protection of earth from global warming, natural calamities and deadly viruses to lead towards a ‘Disease Free Society’ espousing our rich Vedic culture. He suggested adopting innovative ways of plantation such as Vertical Gardens, Hanging Gardens, and Square Foot Gardens to overcome the threats posed by concrete jungles and stressed on the dire need for promoting urban forestry.

GHMC Officials said that Govt. of Telangana is going on a big way for development of greenery under ‘Telanganku Haritha Harram’ and Pragati as role model is to be replicated all over Telangana.

Al Jazeera’s popular environmental series, earthrise returns on Monday 20^th April.  Its recent journey around the globe has uncovered a host of uplifting and heart-warming stories which champion those individuals working on the frontlines of environmental conservation and the fight against climate change.

Each programme in this magazine-style series focusses on two or three short films ranging from ecological to scientific initiatives or technological and design projects. Whether they are on a village or a global scale, these ideas and schemes go far beyond simply cutting carbon emissions to finding solutions that could help restore the earth’s natural systems and contribute to a world economy genuinely founded on green principles.

In this, the seventh series, presenter Russell Beard is joined by regulars Gelareh Darabi, Nidhi Dutt and Juliana Schatz as well as Al Jazeera English environment editor, Nick Clark.  earthrise also welcomes new contributors South African presenter, Ndoni Khanyile, (who presented Al Jazeera’s Innovate Africa), and from Asia, Hong Kong presenter Diane To and Tokyo based reporter, Rachel Mealey.

Russell Beard, earthrise presenter:  “What we are trying to do with earthrise is switch people on to the environmental challenges facing us all, but in a positive and proactive way.  Hopefully this will encourage people to engage with the ongoing debate and maybe even take some action themselves, because the environment is our home, and what happens to it affects us all. In this series we meet the ‘Species Champions’ saving endangered animals from extinction and the community teams using low-cost technologies to monitor local pollution; from cleaning and greening a major port to a home-grown social enterprise using smart design to help farmers survive; from creating underground concrete flood tunnels to harnessing the potential of tidal power; earthrise introduces some extraordinary people and the vital work they’re engaged in to find solutions to global environmental challenges.”

Episode synopses and broadcast information

Episode 1, 20^th April

earthrise examines a global conservation initiative to protect evolutionary distinct species.  Ndoni Khanyile travels to the Seychelles to find out how the Evolutionary Distinct & Globally Endangered (EDGE) programme works.  A ZSL (Zoological Society of London) scheme, it looks to conserve the evolutionary endangered species many of which are lesser known yet rich in evolutionary history.  In New Orleans, Juliana Schatz meets the open source science and technology community, Public Labs.  This global electronic hobbyist movement is creating inexpensive tools to monitor and assess environmental hazards.

Episode 2, 27^th April

International shipping is a major contributor to atmospheric pollution, with 100 times more sulphur dioxide emissions than air traffic.  Nick Clark’s earthrise report explores the innovative technologies being implemented in Gothenburg, a major international port.  Diane To’s investigation is also water-based but this time, it’s the Yangtze Finless Porpoise which requires protection from the rapid development of the Yangtze River basin which has put pressure on the ecosystem.  Professor Wang Ding and his team of committed conservationists are working on a breeding programme to introduce captivity-bred creatures back into the wild.  A community project in London is trying to save food from becoming landfill.  Russell Beard meets the founder of the Real Junk Food Project, Adam Smith, who is waging war against the laws and companies that cause such colossal amounts of food to be wasted.

Episode 3, 4 May

Rampant logging in Mozambique is unchecked, unsustainable and has serious climate change implications.  Ndoni Khanyile visits a rural community in the north who are putting forest conservation of the areas rich hardwood trees at their heart of their local economy. The Mezimbite Centre is involved education projects and initiatives to break this damaging cycle.  A nursery grows thousands of trees for planting, and a design and production division uses natural resources to sell sustainable products, both locally and internationally.  A social enterprise is helping smallholder farmers adapt to climate change in Myanmar, one of the countries most at risk.  Russell Beard talks to farmers benefitting from low-cost products like the pedal-powered, drip-irrigation systems, solar lights and advice on growing crops in saltier conditions.

Episode 4, 11 May

Afghanistan’s first and only national park Band-e-Amir is changing attitudes towards nature and conservation as the country recovers from decades of war and political turmoil.  Four its newly employed park rangers are former housewives, and Gelareh Darabi meets the now fully trained rangers who patrol the park, help visitors and reinvigorate the once popular tourist trade.  Rachel Mealey goes underground in Tokyo to discover how a network of tunnels is protecting the city from flash floods every time there’s a heavy downpour.  Back in London Russell Beard visits start-up bio-bean which has developed a technique to turn waste coffee grounds into biomass pellets to heat homes and businesses.  Their new facility – the first of its kind in the world can recycle 50,000 tonnes of coffee grounds per year – and they’re on a mission to perfect technology to turn coffee into a bio-diesel.

Episode 5, 18 May

On a beach in Northern Ireland Deep Green’s scientists explain to Russell Beard how to expand the potential of tidal currents to produce electricity.  This project can even create electricity from low velocity tidal and ocean currents and is likely to power 8,000 homes in Wales by 2008.  Nidhi Dutt looks at how Gram Power, a solar powered initiative co-founded by Yashraj Khaitan, is providing sustainable, reliable and affordable energy in Rajasthan.  The solar smart microgrid provides energy for household appliances such as lights, televisions etc and has unique pay-as-you-use meters.

Episode 6, 25 May

The ‘Healthy Seas Initiative’ is a collection of leading marine NGO’s who recycle nylon goods to invest back into ocean clearing programmes.  Gelareh Darabi travels to the Adriatic coast to find out about the initiative to remove abandoned fishing nets from the oceans and reduce the damage to marine life by these ‘ghost nets’.    Finally, Russell Beard sets sail off the Hawaiian coast to understand more about Mary Hagedorn’s global mission to create a seedbank that will safeguard the future of the world’s highly threatened coral biodiversity. By freezing and storing coral sperm and cells it will be possible to repopulate the oceans with coral, should it become extinct.

Built by Bird’s Eye Systems, creators of Traffline, Ridlr is designed to make travelling within cities easier and more predictable for people using public transport systems.

Ridlr plans and optimises people’s travel around the city. It also factors in roadblocks and diversions before suggesting the best mode of transport across destinations at any given point in the day. With Ridlr, people can locate the nearest bus stop, metro station etc. It shows the latest time-tables of all modes of transportation and allows users of the app to download them in their phones.

Speaking on the launch, Ravi Khemani, C.T.O. and Co-Founder of Bird’s Eye Systems said, “In Delhi, public transport keeps the pulse of the city alive. However, it’s no small task to navigate its vast network of metros and DTC buses. After the huge popularity of the Traffline mobile app, we are certain that Ridlr is all set to become the go-to app for those using public transport in the capital. Using Ridlr, users will now find it extremely easy to determine the best and easiest way of getting to any destination at any time.”

Ridlr is available for all Android smart phones, free of charge. Users can save their regular routes as favourites for easy access on a daily basis. Designed to make the user experience as comfortable and convenient as possible, Ridlr has a sleek and attractive interface with all features in an easy-access menu.

Before New Delhi, Bird’s Eye Systems, which is based out of Mumbai, had launched the app in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune. In Mumbai, it covers BEST, NMMT and TMT bus timings, metro, monorail and local train schedules from VT to Karjat and Churchgate to Virar. In Pune, it covers PMPML bus timings and local train schedules. Ridlr soon plans to expand its reach and cover Chennai and Hyderabad as well.

Seeking to overcome the hurdles in inter-linking of rivers, the Centre on Tuesday constituted a ‘Task Force’ to work on forging consensus among different states for speedy implementation of the NDA government’s ambitious project.

Apart from examining the existing links that are laid out as per the National Perspective Plan under both Himalayan and Peninsular components, the task force would also consider alternative plans in place of infeasible links in the present plan.

The panel would facilitate interlinking of intra-state and intra-basin Rivers also along with that of inter-state and inter-basin links.

The task force would also provide guidance on norms of appraisal of individual projects in respect of economic viability, socio-economic, environmental impacts and preparation of resettlement plans.

The task force would also try to forge a consensus among the states in order to take forward the speedy implementation of the project.

Mumbai: On the eve of World Earth Day, Growel’s 101 Mall in association with Earthoholics conducted a 2 hour workshop to provide hands on experience on optimum utilization of natural resources and urban farming to the participants. A live display of the innovative recycling process which turns scrap to useful objects was also being shown to encourage people to conserve environment.

The Tetra Pak recycling initiative was organized at the mall to educate people on how the empty Tetra Pak coming out of their home can be converted into benches which can be used in a classroom. This initiative will encourage the neighborhood people to collect the used Tetra Pak and dumped them in a recycled bin in the mall.

With depletion of green patches and degrading atmosphere across the globe, there is a dire need for taking such initiatives towards the conservation of environment. The mall has always been associated with environmental causes and involving its customers to participate in a way which can contribute to the conservation of nature.

Throughout the workshop, people learnt how a crushed plastic bottle, those soiled pair of boots could be used for planting the organic vegetables in your vicinity. Growel’s101 had also put up an outdoor display of recycled planters/pots growing organic vegetables in the mall premises. Other topics of discussion and demonstration in the workshop will be optimizing sunlight, soil & manure mix, pot &sizes of plants that can fit in, sowing seeds, transplanting plants, sowing spinach, micro green and natural pest remedies.

To mark thethird Anniversary of Planet 21, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre celebrated the occasion by undertaking environmental activities and spreading the message of “Nothing is lost, everything is transformed”.As a part of the celebrations the staff at the hotel organised several activities focusing on health and resource optimization with an objective to reduce carbon footprints and save environment.  The activities which were concluded over 20th& 21st April 2015 included a Blood donation camp which was conducted by Red Cross, Health Awareness session on fitness, eye & dental check-up, cycle sale for employees to promote “cycle to work concept”, Building a wall with recycled plastic bottles, Pollution check, Tree Plantations & Greenlunch at Timbuctu, staff cafeteria and much more. The activities received a fantastic response and participation from employees and guests at the property.

Planet 21 has been recognised world over and is looked up to both by its patrons and staff. This year’s theme of “Nothing is lost everything is transformed” is created with a focus to reduce carbon footprint, reuse and optimise resources and recycle products to conserve energy.

The celebrations began with the blood donation camp, which was part of the community welfare programme and saw immense participation by the employees and volunteers of NHCC & HICC who came forward in large number and donated blood. The team was also given a session on fitness along with an eye and dental check-up for maintaining the employees’ health and creating awareness about physical fitness.

A free Pollution Check-up Camp was organized for the vehicles of employees & vendors of NHCC and HICC to help reduce the pollution levels. The employees undertook Tree Plantation at the hotel premises with its prime focus being on creating and maintaining a green milieu around the property. NHCC also hosted a special Green lunch at Timbuctu on 21st April 2015 with an environment friendly theme to celebrate Planet 21’s anniversary. The entire menu for the Lunch was prepared by using local produce and healthy organic ingredients.

According to Mr. Neil Paterson, General Manager of Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & HICC, “The Planet 21 program which was launched amidst fanfare in the year 2012 has been very successful and has received fantastic response from everyone across the globe. With Planet 21 Accor Group had decided to take sustainable development to new heights covering the Group’s entire environmental, social and community investment actions and placing sustainability at the core of their business strategy worldwide. With the present year’s theme of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle we aim to create awareness on sustainable development by mobilizing our employees, guests and partners to actively contribute to the cause. We at Accor India are also deepening our focus on preserving the ecosystems in which our hotels operate. We strongly believe that nothing is lost everything is transformed and the constantly focus in creating an ecological balance and preserving nature at our property”.

Earth Day is being observed worldwide today. The first Earth Day was observed in 1970. The idea for Earth Day was proposed by then-Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. After seeing the damage done by a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara in California, Nelson was inspired to organize a national “teach-in” that focused on educating the public about the environment. Rallies, conferences, outdoor activities and service projects are organized worldwide on this day.

On the occasion of Earth Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is the perfect occasion to reaffirm our commitment to keep our Planet clean, green & focus on sustainable development.

He added that we belong to a culture that believes in the Mantra that “Earth is our Mother and we are her children.” He also said that caring for the environment is an integral part of our ethos and India can truly show the way to the world in mitigating climate change.

The Government on Wednesday released its first forecast for this year’s South West Monsoon.

Rainfall is expected to be 93% of the Long Period Average with an error margin of plus minus 5%. There is a 35% probability of a below normal monsoon, 33% probability of deficient monsoon, 28% probability of normal monsoon and no probability of above normal and excessive rainfall.

Union Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the forecast will be shared with the PMO, Cabiney Secretary, related departments and state govts so that authorities can proactively prepare for any eventuality.

Rainfall distribution details will be shared in June and forecast on the onset of the monsoon will be made in May.

The Govt said that the impact of the El Nino phenomenon has been factored into the forecast.

Mumbai:  On the occasion of Earth Day, Bal Snehalaya, a joint enterprise of the Thane municipality, the railway police and the rainbow foundation along with Mrs. India- Queen of Substance Priyanka Khurana Goyal organized a tree plantation drive at Thane. The event was also graced by Shri Ravinder Singal (Special IG (Training)),  Shri Madhukar Pandey (CP of GRP Rly Police), Shri Sunil Chavan (Additional CP of TMC), Shri Manish Joshi ( DCM Local Body Tax Escort of TMC) and Rainbow Foundation team. As a part of this initiative to make earth a greener place, Bal Snehalaya with Mrs. Priyanka Khurana Goyal  planted 500 saplings with a prayer to nature that may all of them grow up to become healthy fruit giving trees. The NGO along with the dignitaries also made the children understand the importance of growing their own food and  learning skills that they can take with them wherever they go in life.

On the occasion Mrs India 2015 – Priyanka Khurana Goyals talks about her being able to associate with this nobel project, “Research says that one large tree can provide lifetime supply of oxygen for 2 people! With earth becoming a warmer place day by day, it is the duty of each one of us to become cognizant of this fact and realize that greenery is not just a luxury to be found in resorts but a survival requirement. Only when the last tree on the planet has died and the last river is poisoned, we will realize how meaningless money is. We preserve money and possessions for our posterity, of what use is a house if there is no planet to put it on. I congratulate Mrs Naomi on the initiate to plant fruit bearing trees for Bal Snehalaya that will not only give greenery to the world but also make the NGO self-sustaining for food production.

Bal Snehalaya works with the street children, runaways; children found begging and rehabilitate them. The NGO teaches all these children to grow and produce fruit, vegetable, herb saplings and seeds /soil / good quality compost, containers /pots ,bins, grow bags, / garden equipment. This way all these children can grow their own food and no child would ever need to go hungry!

Mumbai : Accor Group’s sustainable development initiative – PLANET 21 is the day when Accor employees worldwide mobilize in favour of a greener environment. Accor Hotels and by extension, Sofitel Luxury Hotels, have made 21 commitments to act together for the well-being of our world. PLANET 21 initiatives reaffirm its promise towards responsible development with a goal of protecting our planet and the environment.

This year, celebrating World Earth Day, Sofitel Mumbai BKC organized an extensive sapling plantation drive and a healthy breakfast for their guests.

In the past Sofitel Mumbai BKC has supported the ‘Earth Hour’ by switching off exterior lights, non-essential lighting in public areas, offices, cafeteria and decorative lights across the property from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, and also encouraged their guests in the hotel to participate.

Mr. Biswajit Chakraborty, General Manager, Sofitel Mumbai BKC says, “In our Planet 21 initiative, the hotel regularly conducts activities including a unique Coffee Bean Waste Project where used coffee beans are collected from all areas of the hotel and transferred into the Waste Converter Machine to create recycled waste that is later used as manure for plants.  The hotel is happy to encourage greenery and gardening by pledging support to a healthier environment.”

Further steps taken to reduce the carbon footprint by the hotel have included:

Incandescent lamps changed to CFL in rooms and corridors, saving 95,000 KW of units per year

By working closely with Housekeeping and Front Office, air-conditioning in all vacant rooms is shut down to conserve energy, resulting in savings of approximately 10 KW per room per day, amounting to total saved units of 91,250 KW

Changed minimum room temperature criteria from 200C to 230C and light consumption has been minimised in all Back of House areas and car park, saving 155 KW per month

Building Management System time scheduled for restaurants and kitchens, saving 450 KW per month

Replaced all 453 halogen lamps in the hotel to LED, saving 9,143 KW per month

Rescheduled ventilation and exhaust usage in running hours, saving 25 KW per month

Chilled water outlet temperature of 70C was maintained between 90C to 120C in the chiller based on ambient temperature and banquet events, resulting in savings of 3,000 KW per day

Source : Lokesh Shastri

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slammed the Assam govt over a CAG report which has detected a number of lapses and anomalies by the state in maintenance of the Kaziranga National Park.

“Our attention is drawn to the report of CAG published by the government of Assam… according to the report the area along and around NH37 is illegally exploited for commercial purposes and there is inaction on the part of Assam.

“Certainly, whatsoever is revealed is not conducive to the environment of the area in question, with particular reference to the normal movement of wildlife across the Kaziranga National Park,” a bench headed by Justice U D Salvi said.

The tribunal was hearing a plea opposing expansion of NH-37 which passes through Jakhalabandha to Bokakhat through the Kaziranga Park.

The observations came after petitioner Rohit Choudhary placed before the bench the CAG report titled “Performance Audit of Kaziranga National Park – Issues and Challenges”.

The green panel after going through the report directed the Assam government to take positive action in respect of the recommendations made in the report and asked it to place before us the action taken report within three weeks.

The matter is fixed for next hearing on 26th May.

According to the CAG report, against the financial outlay of Rs 93.76 crore proposed in the original Annual Plan of Operations for 2010-11 to 2012-13, the Kaziranga authorities got only Rs 17.37 crore, which was about 19 percent of the funds demanded.

“From the results of physical verification, interactions with wildlife authorities/villagers and scrutiny of various correspondences, it would appear that uncontrolled and ever increasing construction/human settlements with urbanization at places, commercial activities/mining had contributed to blocking majority of stretch of NH 37 including designated animal corridors (except some patches of Haldhibari and Burapahar),” the report said.

“Non declaration of the ESZ for such a long period of time had a direct bearing on such activities detrimental to the well being of animals. The dangerous trend, if not checked immediately and permanently could lead to an irreversible impact on conservation and protection of wildlife with the potential threat that in case of a major flood, majority of the internationally acclaimed species – one horned rhinos would be wiped out forever,” the report added.

CAG, in its recommendations, said that “in view of the GoI directive of July 2013, a default area of 10 km from the park boundary may be declared as the eco-sensitive zone and action as per the points prescribed in the guidelines of GoI taken immediately.”

It also recommended investigation into construction of resorts and hotels without permission of the national park authorities change in the land use pattern of two resorts by the Circle Office, Bokakhat and encroachment of government land.

“The entire stretch of NH-37 from Burapahar to Bokakhat needs to be freed from illegal encroachments and the dhabas, parking of trucks need to be cleared immediately.

“All constructions made on either sides of the NH along with validity of the people residing in these areas need to be examined in co-ordination with the Circle Offices Bokakhat and Kaliabor with reference to the land holdings, permissions, etc and all illegal constructions/persons removed from the area within a fixed timeframe,” the CAG report said.

“There is a complete inaction by the state of Assam, so far as protection of rhinos are concerned. The CAG report should have been a wake-up call for the government to take urgent action, however, the same apathy continues and government seems to be happy with increase in rhino population without considering the warning signs of the impending doom,” said advocate Ritwick Dutta, appearing for the petitioner.

Talking to a news agency, Choudhury said, “At present, on an average one rhino per 10 days is being killed in Kaziranga and then the state tries to shift the blame. The matter should be investigated and action taken.”

Monsoon is expected to arrive on time this year, hitting Kerala on 1st of next month.

As per IMD, the normal date for monsoon onset on the southern coast is 1st of June and as of now there is no possibility of delay in the arrival of monsoon.

However, the south west monsoon is expected to be below normal this year and the country will receive 93 per cent rainfall.

The timely onset of south-west monsoon is crucial for sowing of kharif crops like paddy as almost 60 per cent of the farm land in the country is rainfed.

The deficit in rainfall may lead to decrease in the production of rice and other crops.

The Agriculture Ministry has also prepared a contingency plan for 580 Districts of the country to minimise the impact of weak monsoon on kharif production.

Pune :  City dwellers in NCR are being invited by Blueairto plant a tree to celebrate World Environment Day on June 5 this year. Sweden’s Blueair, the world’s leading indoor air purifying company, has pledged to donate one tree seedling on behalf of each of the first 10,000 people who click on the ‘share’ button on the Clean Air India Movement Facebook page.

“This is an easy yet exciting opportunity for people living in NCR or any other city across India to get involved in a cool urban tree planting programme designed to reduce our carbon footprint by releasing oxygen into our atmosphere,” said Vijay Kannan, head of Blueair India.

Under the campaign, the first ten thousand people to pledge their support to the Blueair ‘Share to Plant’ campaign will see a carbon dioxide removing tree planted. Noting that 300 trees can balance the amount of pollution one person produces in a lifetime, Blueair says the name of each sharer will be added to a list of tree sponsors.

“Some 10,000 tree seedlings will be planted after June 5 this year,” said Mr. Kannan. He explained that the planting campaign is part of aClean Air India Movement (CLAIM) campaignlaunched by Blueair. The CLAIM programmeis designed to educate the general public – and especially children – about the rising burden of air pollution and engage them in activities that can help to reduce it.

“Our campaign aim is to tell people that we are not helpless individuals when it comes to challenging air pollution. Even simple acts by individuals or sole companies such as Blueaircan make a difference when it comes to showing responsibility and care, which is why we have taken the initiative to make the call and mobilisation for action,” said Mr. Kannan.

Monsoon is likely to hit the Kerala coast on 30th May, two days before its scheduled arrival.

Indian Meteorological Department has said that conditions are becoming favourable for advancement of southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea and adjoining areas during the next 3-4 days.

The forecaster had already predicted that India is likely to witness a below normal monsoon season for a second consecutive year.It has partly blamed the El Nino phenomenon for the low forecast.

At least 145 people died due to intense heat wave in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana since Saturday, raising to 368 the death toll in the blistering weather conditions which continued in many parts of the country on Sunday, including national capital Delhi.

In Delhi, the day temperature was recorded at 44.5 degree celsius, the same as yesterday, which is five notches above normal.

In Andhra Pradesh, 87 deaths were reported since Saturday, taking the toll to 182. The death toll in the state on Saturday stood at 95.

People in Rajasthan sweated it out with mercury in Jaisalmer touching 46.5 degree Celsius mark.

Kota recorded maximum at 45.4 degrees Celsius followed by Churu at 45.2 degrees Celsius.

Intense heat wave swept Punjab and Haryana with mercury soaring sharply above normal level at several places in both the states.

Chandigarh, joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, had a high temperature of 41.7 degree C, four degrees above normal.

For the second day in succession, Nagpur city on Sunday recorded a maximum temperature of 47 degree Celsius as the heat wave in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra continued.

Bhutan is all about pristine natural beauty, an uncompromising traditional culture, an unwavering reverence for the monarchy and an environment that inspires spiritual as well as physical well-being. To maintain and heighten this the Bhutanese are attempting to create a Guinness world record through a maximum tree plantation.

Coinciding with the coronation of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and the Social Forestry Day, 100 Bhutanese will plant 50,000 trees in one hour on June 2, 2015. This mass tree plantation event is an attempt to beat the current world record of 40,885 trees planted by 100 heads in one hour. Participants will undergo vigorous 10-day training on tree plantation technique prior to the event for proper coordination, speed and technique to beat the current record. The name of the venue is Kuenselphodrang in Thimphu. This record breaking attempt, will be one of the many beautiful mementos to commemorate the 60th birth anniversary of His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck the beloved 4th King.

Bhutan’s pristine environment currently has around 72% forest cover, that encompasses high rugged mountains and deep valleys, offering ecosystems that are both rich and diverse. Recognizing the importance of the environment, conservation of its rich biodiversity is one of the government’s key development paradigms. In fact the Constitution of Bhutan states that “The government shall ensure that, in order to conserve the country’s natural resources and to prevent degradation of the ecosystem, a minimum of sixty percent of Bhutan’s total land shall be maintained under forest cover for all time”.

Mr. Damcho Rinzim, Head, Marketing and Promotion Division, Tourism Council of Bhutan said, “Bhutan has unique geographical and climatic variations. It is one of the world’s last remaining biodiversity hotspots. The attempt to create a Guinness World Record through ‘Maximum tree plantation’ is an effort to maintain and foster the natural beauty. We hope to succeed and create a record for something that Bhutan is known for- its exquisite beauty” It is also a tribute to our Monarchs, especially our beloved fourth king for his vision to protect our natural environment.

In Bhutan taking this step of  creating the record, will further endorse its vision – “To foster a vibrant industry as a positive force in the conservation of environment, promotion of cultural heritage, safeguarding sovereign status of the Nation for significantly contributing to Gross National Happiness.”

Source : Lokesh Shastri

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations issued a message to the People of Tomorrow “Let’s work as one towards dignity for all”. This message was engraved on a wooden board and mounted as part of One World, the 600 m long bridge at the recreational domain De Schorre designed by Arne Quinze.

Each year, the entire world gathers in one place for Tomorrowland. All nationalities are represented and for three days, Tomorrowland bears a striking resemblance to a meeting of the United Nations, in a colourful, magical world where Peace, Love, Unity and Respect take centre stage. The “People of Tomorrow” all speak the same language: friendship. The thousands of flags attest to their pride in their origins. What they all have in common is an enthusiasm for meeting people from other cultures, experiencing an unforgettable weekend and forging lifelong friendships. Tomorrowland and the United Nations share these values and want to pass on positive messages to the youth of the world.

Quotes:

 Michiel Beers, founder Tomorrowland:  

 “In the past 10 years, we have built a magical world in which everyone comes together in a spirit of positivity. Tomorrowland has become the world’s most international event and welcomes more different nationalities than the Olympic Games. We are now organising three “global gatherings” per year: one in Belgium, one in the USA and one in Brazil.”

 Manu Beers, founder Tomorrowland:

 “When we decided to design the bridge in honour of the 10th anniversary of the festival in collaboration with the province of Antwerp and Arne Quinze, as a permanent symbol of the annual gathering, we felt it was important for the entire world to be able to take part. The One World bridge now displays 210,000 positive messages from everyone from our neighbours in Boom, Belgium to faraway friends in Australia. We are very honoured to receive the contribution from the Secretary-General of the United Nations and we intend to continue to spread this message for many years to come.”

Quote Mr. Ban Ki-Moon:

I would like to thank you for your invitation to carve a message of peace on behalf of the United Nations on the One World bridge. I am honored and very much touched by this carving of my name. I hope this will remind many people who will be seeing [this] and participating of the work of the United Nations, working as one to promote and protect human dignity for all people.

At the onset of the “World Environment Day”, India Inc is all set to go live with their initiatives that contribute positively to environment conservation. From growing trees, displaying electrical vehicles to encouraging the use of organic food, the corporates are doing it all.

Today, companies are looking at various ways to mitigate the problems arising out of changing environment and are rigorously working towards saving the planet. Making sustainability their top priority, India Inc is certainly treading the eco friendly route.

Focusing on the “Environment Day” agenda, companies such as Vodafone, Infosys, Godrej Group and Godrej Nature’s Basket are all geared up for this specific day.

Vodafone India along with Grow-Trees.com, has launched a novel private initiative to benefit the wildlife corridor between Kanha-Pench wildlife reserves by planting 3,00,000 trees over 3 years. The tree planting activities will be spread out over 100 hectares of forest land between the two reserves. As a part of this project, Vodafone India and Grow-Trees.com planted 100,000 trees last year. Planting of additional 100,000 trees for this year will commence in July.

Infosys is conducting various initiatives across their different development centers (DC) thus engaging their employees on ‘World Environment Day. At the Pune DC, the company is setting up of eco stalls for smartbin and jute bag, displaying electric vehicles and screening ‘Home, Planet Earth’ movie. Furthermore, in association with the Department of Forest, the Mysore DC has facilitated a platform where employees can register places where the Govt. body will plant saplings.

Godrej have articulated its commitment towards building a more inclusive and greener India – Godrej Good & Green.  By 2020, the company aspire to build ‘Greener India’ through achieving zero waste, carbon neutrality and a positive water balance, while reducing specific energy consumption and optimising the use of renewable energy.

Godrej Nature’s Basket has introduced an exciting range of organic food that is available at their stores. From exotic vegetables, fruit juices, pulses, spices to snacks, Nature’s Basket has everything to cater to your taste buds. Switch to a healthier lifestyle by moving to healthy food alternatives like quinoa, flax seeds, ragi flour, whole wheat atta, amla bars, brown chana, wheat dhaliya and others.

World Environment Day is one of the foremost environmental campaigns of the United Nations, which is celebrated every year on June 5. Popularly branded as WED, the campaign seeks to spread awareness and encourage people and nations to play a definitive role towards environmental sustainability. With significant contributions over the years, the World Environment Day has progressed into a global platform for public outreach and is celebrated in over 100 countries. It also provides an opportunity to individual stakeholders to do their bit towards protecting and nurturing the environment.

Newspatrolling is cognizant of the growing stress that our planet is facing due to increased population and rapid industrialization. Lack of awareness about the environment is also one of the primary reasons for the rapid decline in the planet’s natural resources. The theme of World Environment Day this year is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.”, which aptly describes the current situation and seeks contributions from individual stakeholders. While it may seem that individual actions would do little in face of global threats and trends, the truth is that when thousands and thousands of people become more aware and start contributing, it would make a significant difference. It would involve simple things such as saving water & electricity, choosing renewable energy sources such as solar & wind, opting for public transport, etc.

On the World Environment Day 2015, Newspatrolling.com is doing its own bit for the environment by planting some saplings, and encouraging its staff to adhere to the norms of the “go green” campaign. This would require Newspatrolling.com staff members to be mindful with resources such as printing paper, electricity, water, etc. Newspatrolling also requests its readers to be aware of the fact that the wellbeing of humanity eventually depends on the wellbeing of the planet.

We are in a time when we are consuming far greater resources than our planet can sustain. Given the current rate, our population is likely to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, which would put even more stress on our planet’s natural resources. The focus of this year’s World Environment Day is all about “consuming with care”, which essentially means to acknowledge and respect the limitations of our planetary boundaries. Each one of us aspires to be prosperous, but it’s time we realized that prosperity cannot be sustained at the cost of the planet. Sustainability is all about finding ways to do more and better with less.

A number of events have been organized this year by various stakeholders to celebrate the World Environment Day. PM NarendraModi would be there for a plantation drive, and something similar would also be done by SachinTendular and ViratKohli. Several schools, colleges, corporates, NGOs, and public and private institutions have also organized internal events to mark the World Environment Day. If you care about the environment, you can do your own bit towards environmental sustainability. Things like using the bicycle more often, saving electricity and water, reducing paper wastage, and sowing some seeds would be great ideas to start with on the World Environment Day 2015.

Mumbai: Any solution to global warming and climate change must be universal, through collaborative measures rather than leaving one nation or a single nation responsible to find answers. Almost 900 people surveyed over the past week, suggested that governments had to work together to find answers and share technology that provides sustainable development.

Conducted by the social change community- I Am Who I Am, the survey received 837 responses and concluded that change or an attempt to change needed to be participative be it individuals or governments.

Titled “Do You Care about the Environment”, the survey covered large parts of urban India, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Pune. 92 per cent said that governments must have a policy on environment and sustainability. Effectively ruling out ad-hocism, the respondents felt public policy must be stated by a government.

The respondents also said that if the world had to improve the environment, it had to be treated universally important to all. In effect, a slippage in green cover does not impact merely that region but influences other regions. This is an argument that several developing nations have argued at international forums insisting that technology should be shared and at affordable prices.

*Survey indicates that environmental issues should be part of public policy

Who is responsible? Not one single cause is what comes out clear in the survey. Over 43 per cent of them felt it was a combination of industrialization and the lack of sustainable options. The respondents did not shy away from taking responsibility for climate change as they admitted that most of the problems the world faces is man-made. In many ways, they may have agreed with the belief that the heating sun is a problem but global warming has been accelerated by man himself.

On a positive note, almost all of the respondents (over 96 per cent) were ready to throw their hat in as part of the solution.

As pointed out by one of the respondents, “Change can happen only if it is affected at the community level. To make the world a better place to live in, the least that one can do is be more considerate towards the nature and do little things like recycling waste, judicious use of water, electricity etc.

The Imperial New Delhi celebrated World Environment Day to support the global environment initiative by United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Hotel Association of India (HAI). The Imperial conducted allied promotional activities, to commemorate the occasion and to create substantial awareness.

To make the associates and guests abreast about the importance of saving environment we live in by protecting our natural resources from depletion, The Imperial New Delhi conducted the following activities:

·        Displayed responsive posters in guest and employee areas to promote the message ‘7 BILLION DREAMS. ONE PLANET. CONSUME WITH CARE’

·        Organized a poster making and slogan writing competition for employees to highlight the key message: CONSUME WITH CARE, SAVE ENVIRONMENT

·        For water conservation, 100KL of recycled water was given to NDMC for horticulture purpose

·        An flower art installation based on UNEP logo for 2015 :  7 BILLION DREAMS. ONE PLANET. CONSUME WITH CARE  was designed to create awareness and instill action amongst guests

·        A Pollution check-up camp was set up for all employee vehicles on the occasion to contribute towards smoke free living

Mr. Vijay Wanchoo Sr. Executive VP and Executive GM The Imperial New Delhi expressed his views on the occasion “The Imperial New Delhi takes pride in joining hands with HAI and promoting UNEP’s theme, again this year for World Environment Day.  Being part of the 7 billion dreams on this planet, we pledge to consume with care. We have always demonstrated a commitment to environment conservation, whilst providing our guests with experiences which will enhance the awareness and understanding of the environment like installation of solar panels for heating water in guest rooms, use of Roti maker in staff cafeteria and launch of Organic waste composter. All these have helped in saving energy, reducing carbon emission of coal and has led to an organized waste management system.”

He further said “ This year we have gone a step further with the completion of our STP and are also giving 100KL of recycled water to NDMC for horticulture purpose. The Imperial key initiatives and significant efforts have been modeled to encourage healthy tourism and eco balance. An exclusive flower art installation for the occasion has been put up for World Environment Day to create awareness amongst guests on conservation of environment and be conscious about it.”