Environment

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.

28 Sep 2021; MEMO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday inaugurated the world's largest wastewater treatment plant.

The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that 20 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.14 billion) were spent on building and preparing the facility, adding that it has a production capacity of 5.6 million cubic metres a day.

Water from the Bahr Al-Baqar plant will be transferred to North Sinai and used to irrigate 476,000 feddans (494 acres) of land.

REYKJAVIK , Iceland (AP) — Climate change is top of the agenda when voters in Iceland head to the polls for general elections on Saturday, following an exceptionally warm summer and an election campaign defined by a wide-reaching debate on global warming.

All nine parties running for seats at the North Atlantic island nation’s Parliament, or Althing, acknowledge global warming as a force of change in a sub-Arctic landscape.

22 Sep 2021; MEMO: President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that the Paris climate agreement would be presented to the Turkish parliament for approval next month, which would make it the last G20 country to ratify the deal, Reuters reports.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Erdogan said Turkey had not ratified the deal due to injustices regarding responsibilities.

"Following the distance covered in this framework, I want to announce the decision we have taken to the world from here," he said.

Pune, Sep 21 (PTI) The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has indigenously developed a charger for electric vehicles to give a push to the EV ecosystem in the country, as per a statement.

ARAI Director Reji Mathai said to promote EVs, infrastructure for charging is important and since the mobility chargers are imported, the association's focus is to develop these indigenously, which will be cost-effective and boost the local economy.

19 Sep 2021; MEMO: Mediterranean nations must lead the way in addressing climate change, the Greek prime minister said, warning that the cost of doing nothing was unimaginable, with mankind possibly struggling to survive beyond the turn of the next century, reports Reuters.

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Monday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and discussed issues relating to "climate action".

"Good to see @ClimateEnvoy John Kerry. Continued our discussions on climate action and climate justice," Jaishankar tweeted.

Kerry is on a two-day visit to India, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasglow in November.

10 Sep 2021; MEMO: The UAE's Barakah nuclear power station began operating its second reactor, the Abu Dhabi government media office said today, after the first reactor started commercial operations in April.

When completed Barakah, which is being built by a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), will have four reactors with a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts (MW), equivalent to about 25 per cent of the UAE's peak demand.