Category:

Non-Life

Coal India alive and sensitive to need of environmental protection: Chairman

The statement assumes significance especially when there have been concerns about global climate change on account of the burning of fossil fuels, including coal, which releases green gases into the atmosphere.

”Restoration of the ecosystem, effective bio-reclamation, effective utilization of water are followed with equal fervor and importance as production,” Agrawal said in a communication.

read more

Willis Towers Watson collaborates on world-first insurance protection for endangered Mesoamerican Coral Reef

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems and is home to 65 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish, as well as many other protected marine species. Coastal wetlands, lagoons, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds also protect against storms and coastal erosion.

read more

U.S. cities hire specialists to counter climate change as impacts worsen

Since 2019 at least 30 U.S. cities have taken fresh action such as hiring specialists to combat the impact of extreme weather, including Phoenix, Houston, Louisville, Nashville, and Oakland, according to the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, based at Washington D.C.’s Atlantic Council think tank.

Many of those cities have created posts and initiatives to deal with worsening heat waves, seasonal wildfires or the effects of flooding, often with a focus on poor and minority communities, the group said.

read more

Environment Day: Climate change, toxic air remain issues of deep concern for India, say experts

As per the ‘State of India’s Environment 2021’ report, poor air quality was the fourth leading risk factor for early death worldwide in 2019, surpassed only by high blood pressure, tobacco use, and poor diet. Over the past two decades, deaths attributable to ambient PM2.5 in India has increased by 2.5 times, the report said, adding that between 1990 and 2019, deaths due to household pollution has increased by over 40 per cent, the report said.

read more

States begin easing COVID lockdowns as case numbers decline

The national capital territory of Delhi, the seat of India’s federal government, was among those relaxing restrictions and will allow shops to open on alternate days. Shops with even numbers will open on one day while those with odd numbers will open the next day. Private offices will also now be allowed to operate at 50% of normal staffing levels.

In the industrialised western state of Maharashtra, the local government will from June 7 allow malls, movie theatres, restaurants and offices to open regularly in districts where the positivity rate has fallen below 5%.

read more

FM meets insurers, New India pays Rs 209 crore for settling 419 health workers’ COVID-19 claims

A total of 4.65 lakh claims have been paid amounting to Rs 9,307 crore under PMJJBY. Since the beginning of the pandemic that is April 2020 onwards till date, 1.2 lakh claims have been paid amounting to Rs 2,403 crore, at a disposal rate of 99 per cent.

 She also called for accelerating disbursement of pending claims under PMJJBY during the pandemic. 

Sitharaman also took stock of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), under which a total of 82,660 claims of Rs 1,629 crore have been paid as on May 31, 2021.

read more