Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

Gir cow milk to reach Krishna District soon

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

G. Sudarshana Rao at his farm with Gir breed cows at Veerankilakulu in Krishna district./ Photo:V. Raju / The Hindu
G. Sudarshana Rao at his farm with Gir breed cows at Veerankilakulu in Krishna district./ Photo:V. Raju / The Hindu

‘Gir cow fed with a special feed can produce milk that has medicinal values’

Milk from Gir breed of cows that originally inhabited the Gir Forest in Saurashtra region of Gujarat, are here in Krishna District, thanks to the entrepreneur-turned-medico G. Sudarsana Rao, who has set up a dairy at Veerankilakulu village in Vuyyuru mandal.

In an exclusive chat with The Hindu, he said that the Gir breed of cows give milk that contains conjugated lineolic acid, which has been proved to be an anti-cancer compound.

The claim that Gir cow milk not only prevents but controls diabetes is not yet settled. As per ongoing research by Sai Butcha Rao, a research associate at International Livestock Research Institute, ICRISAT, Patancheru, if the Gir cow is fed with a special feed it could produce milk that has medicinal values to stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin and thereby control diabetes.

According to him, the mention of this breed was made in the Vedas and the Brazilians had taken thousands of cows of this breed to their country centuries ago from Gujarat.

Today, the breed is called Girolando in Brazil, he said. The breed is on the verge of extinction in its native country, he claims. “Today, there are about 15,000 of these cows left in Gujarat. And to save the breed the Gujarat Government has embarked on an ambitious breeding project at a cost of Rs.1,400 crore,” he added.

Dr. Sudarsana Rao said that the Gir cow milk was lighter compared to others, has high concentration of calcium, proteins and vitamins D and C and is sweet and tasteful.

To begin with, he has imported about 34 animals and aims to have a stock of 400 in a year. Terming the milk as ‘organic milk’ under the brand Ayush Organic Product, he said: “No milk is organic, but it becomes organic based on the organic feed that is fed to the cattle.”

No chemical used

The farm has a hydroponic machine that produces tailor-made green organic fodder. The imported machine can generate fodder from seeds such as barley or horseshoe gram in a controlled environment. For every 1.25 kg. of seed we can get green and highly nutrient organic fodder up to 8 to 10 kg. and the facility can be easily expanded depending on the requirement, he observed.

Dr Rao also pointed out that no chemical is used in the processing. “The milk that is extracted goes directly to the chilling machine and is chilled at 2 degrees and immediately packed and transported in insulated boxes, where the temperature is maintained at 3 degree Celsius,” he said.

According to him, the yield of the native breed is much less compared to the Holstein Friesian (HF) breed. Initially, the milk will be marketed in half and one-litre packets in Hyderabad and later sold at other major cities such as Vijayawada and Guntur through select outlets. The farm will be inaugurated by Animal Husbandry Director D. Venkateswarulu on Wednesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Sumit Bharracharjee / Vuyyuru – November 13th, 2013

A model village in the making

About Seemandhra / Andhra Pradesh, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Uncategorized
A toilet completed with Village Development Committee funds at Pendalwada in Jainad mandal of Adilabad district. / Photo: By Special Arrangement / The Hindu
A toilet completed with Village Development Committee funds at Pendalwada in Jainad mandal of Adilabad district. / Photo: By Special Arrangement / The Hindu

All the 700 houses in Pendalwada in Jainad mandal of Adilabad district will boast of an individual sanitary latrine soon

The Village Development Committee (VDC) at Pendalwada in Jainad mandal of Adilabad district will have turned the impossible into the possible as all the 700 houses in the habitation will boast of an individual sanitary latrine (ISL) in a few weeks’ time. By pumping in additional funds in the shape of one time grant to every household, it has made a serious and successful effort in getting rid of the menace of open defecation in the village located on the banks of river Penganga.

“All of us were frustrated with the problem which is the root cause of illnesses among other things. About six months back, a collective decision was taken in the village to put an end to open defecation by providing funds to everyone who was willing to go in for an ISL,” says VDC president Kethireddy Madhusudan Reddy, as he shed light on the endeavour.

After due deliberation, it was decided that all the families which were sanctioned an ISL by the government will be given Rs. 7,000, in two instalments of Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 3,000, each from the VDC funds. This will help them work faster on construction of the latrines.

“None of the ISLs sanctioned by the government could achieve proper progress as the beneficiaries did not have sufficient cash in hand to take up construction. With our help, all of them have started construction and some of them have even completed the construction,” Mr. Reddy pointed out.

The help from VDC also required the beneficiaries to contribute labour in construction work and manufacture cement rings used to fortify the walls of the septic tanks. “This saved us a lot of money and resulted in better quality in construction,” points out Annela Gouramma, a beneficiary.

The task of the villagers is further made easy as sand and stone used in construction are locally available. While sand is extracted from Penganga river, stones for basement of the structure is brought from Jainad.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by S. Harpal Singh / Pendalwada (Adilabad Dist) – November 20th, 2013

Payakapuram tank to have a new look

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
A man looks at Payakapuram tank which is totally covered with water haycinth, in Vijayawada. / Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar / The Hindu
A man looks at Payakapuram tank which is totally covered with water haycinth, in Vijayawada. / Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar / The Hindu

The encroachment of Payakapuram tank and dumping of garbage in it will be a thing of the past. Very soon the tank will have a new look with the Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTMUDA) chalking out ambitious plans to revive it.

The authority has estimated that it will cost Rs.12.30 crore to restore the tank and turn it into a recreation zone or tourist spot. The Tourism Department will foot the bill.

The tank has water spread over an area of 8.05 acre, but, with no steps being taken to preserve the water body, the people used to fling trash into the tank.

Even the VMC used it as dumping ground for sometime. The tank has now become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and poses a health hazard.

The UDA, as part of rejuvenation plans, will de-silt the tank and remove garbage dumped into it.

An island will be developed in the middle of tank. The island proposal is made with an idea that it would attract migratory birds. The trees that are suitable for nesting would be planted on the island. Pathways, compound wall, benches, boating facility, development of greenery, construction of approach road were some of the other works proposed in the project.

Approach road

The 80-ft approach road, which is part of Zonal Development Plan, will connect the Inner Ring Road and Vambay Colony road.

The basic objective is to develop a lung space in the city, preserve water body and protect the site from encroachments, officials say.

The Payakapuram Tank is perhaps like an Oasis in the city. Owing to poor management and maintenance, the water body is totally covered with water hyacinth giving an impression as if a green carpet was laid there.

“Despite vigil and necessary measures, the tank continues to be plagued by encroachments and we thought of rejuvenating it. The UDA has been asked to prepare a project report for it and develop it. The funds will be met from budget of the Tourism Department,” says Vijayawada (Central) MLA Malladi Vishnu, who made the proposal.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by G.V.R. Subba Rao / Vijayawada – November 07th, 2013

Farmers could benefit from IT, say experts

Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Indian farmers could benefit from information and communication technology in a big way if they get organised and become literate in computers, experts said today.

Speaking at a round-table conference on development of information technologhy for agriculture at the World Agricultural Forum Congress  2013 here, FICCI  Co-Chair J A Chowdary said that application of communication technology already benefits farmers in the form of mobile phones.

He cited examples of a farmer from the backward Anantapur district who took pictures of his crop and used it to consult experts, as well of another farmer in Hyderabad who used web-based technology.

Farmers also received various other information on their mobile phones, he said, adding that there are software companies in Hyderabad which offer information like prevailing market price of their their produce, he said.

Tech Mahindra’s  Senior Vice-President V Srinivas Rao said farmers could benefit further if they are organised into groups and computer literacy is spread among them so that they may access the Internet.

Providing information in local languages would be useful, he said, stressing that affordability of applications is important.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / by Press Trust of India / Hyderabad – November 07th, 2013

Engineering college in AP goes solar

Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

An engineering college has taken the clean energy route to power its sprawling campus and meet the energy demands.

Padmasri Dr B.V. Raju Institute of Technology in Narsapur, about 50 km from Hyderabad, has installed and commissioned a 100 kWp solar photovoltaic rooftop plant. The project is the first-of-its-kind among all the JNTU-affiliated colleges in Andhra Pradesh. It will harness solar power to the tune of 100 kWp from this month. The plant consists of a total 400 PV modules – each 250Wp – supplied by SIRIUS Solar Energy, Hyderabad, a press release from the Institute said. It was executed by Solaris Innovations & Systems, Hyderabad

“The Rs 1.3 crore project is installed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) Phase-III programme through New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP). Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), provided a subsidy of 30 per cent,” said Jagadishwar Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of the company.

A few students of BVRIT were involved right through the installation and commissioning and gained hands-on experience in putting together the different modules of the rooftop solar power plant, the release added.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Industry> Education / by The Hindu Bureau  somasekhar.m@thehindu.co.in / Hyderabad – November 12th, 2013

Greenko commissions first phase of Balavenkatpuram wind farm in India

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

Greenko Group has commissioned the 51.2MW first phase of the Balavenkatpuram wind farm in Anantpur District of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Built with an investment of around €40m, the first phase features enhanced General Electric GE 1.6 XLE turbine, which has the potential to deliver around 30% capacity factor in an average year.

Greenko CEO Anil Chalamalasetty said the company has commissioned the phase one of the Balavenkatpuram wind farm ahead of schedule.

“Our first two wind farms refined our modular approach to wind farm construction, which is now delivering substantial and predictable growth.

“As a result, we should double our generating capacity this financial year to 600MW and remain in line to hit our 2015 target of 1,000MW,” added Chalamalasetty.

The company claims construction on the 50MW second phase is currently underway and is using Gamesa’s G97 turbine, which has a 90m hub height and 97m diameter blades.

Additionally, the company, which has commissioned the grid connection for the site’s 200MW full capacity, has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with the state.

The project will benefit from the recently increased tariff as well as from the generation based incentive (GBI), a federal government scheme under which GBI will be provided up to INR10m (€117,942) per MW with the claim period between four years to 11 years.

Early this year, the state government has announced a new tariff regime for renewable energy at INR4.7 per unit, laying the foundations for accelerated growth, investment and job creation.

source: http://www.wind.energy-business-review.com / Energy Business Review / EBR Home> Power Generation> Wind> Wind News / by EBR Staff Writer / November 11th, 2013

Japanese garden to come up at Jubilee Hills

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

GHMC to develop the theme park in 3,500 square yards

Adding to its list of different theme-based gardens in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is readying a Japanese garden at Jubilee Hills.

Estimated to cost around Rs. 80 lakh and spread over 3,500 square yards at Road No.3, it incorporates the finer aspects of Japanese gardens such as stone benches, arch bridges, water plants and flora that go with the theme. The GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar visited the garden on Wednesday and instructed the officials to complete it in a month’s time.

The Additional Commissioner (Urban Biodiversity) N. Chandra Mohan Reddy said the garden was being dotted with features that usually are part of a garden in Japan such as Gazebo, stone benches, stone lanterns, stone bridges and designs prepared with small stone chips. “These gardens usually are not elaborate in nature, but come across as trimmed ones with trees that preferably have red-coloured leaves and are flowering,” he said. The Japanese garden is being set up with an all-round pathway set in granite stone and a small island in a pond which would be connected with a stone arched bridge. “We are planning to introduce five different coloured lilies in the pond,” Mr. Reddy said.

SOLAR LAMPS

A total of 12 solar lamps have been set up around the place. Authentic lanterns as used in Japanese gardens were scouted for and finally they are being acquired from Bangalore. Work is on to set up arch bridges carved out of single stone. “The theme for such gardens is usually informal and we are emulating the same to incorporate styles that are not in an order or in straight lines,” he added.

Apart from 49 major gardens in the city, the GHMC presently has 520 colony parks and 15 parks and gardens that are based on themes such as Palm Garden at Malakpet, Bamboo Garden and Bougainvillea Garden in Jubilee Hills.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 06th, 2013

On an island of birds, India’s Mars dream takes wing

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

Sriharikota :

Flocks of pelicans and painted storks laze around Pulicat lake, about 100km north of Chennai. Their peace would be disturbed six noons later, when a nation’s ambition for interplanetary exploration takes wing.

A few hundred metres from where the migratory birds spend their warm days, an extra large Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle would lift off at 2.38pm on Tuesday, carrying an indigenous spacecraft that would fly to Mars. The 300-day journey to the red planet would keep the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on tenterhooks – and the world in rapt attention.

“This is our first step towards another planet,” says Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan. “Learning from this mission, we will take bigger steps. Isro’s 16,000 members are working together for that.”

And that shows at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre which is a beehive of activity during the run-up to the countdown that starts at 6.08am Sunday. The 80 consoles at the mission control room flash details from 150 computers and the innumerable circuits and parameters they monitor. Giant screens show simulation of flight events, the rocket velocity and altitude. Fifty-eight hand-picked scientists remain glued to the screens that show the simulated PSLV as a climbing blip.

“It’s a rehearsal,” says V Seshagiri Rao, associate director of the spaceport. On the day of the launch, the blip would disappear from the screens for about 28 minutes. “That’s when the rocket, making a peculiar manoeuvre, would go out of the range of our radars here,” explains Rao. To track this face, Isro has, for the first time, deployed two ships fitted with radars in the South Pacific Ocean.

But right now, the 44.4-metre-tall PSLV-C25 stands on the first launch pad, 7km from the mission control room. “It’s a versatile rocket, the same we used for Chandrayaan-1,” says vehicle director B Jayakumar, showing around the launch pad. “It can put satellites in different kinds of orbits.”

This time it will, after burning four stages, put the Mars orbiter in an elliptical orbit around the earth, about 43 minutes after the lift-off. After five orbital corrections to lengthen the farthest point, the spacecraft will begin its voyage to Mars on December 1. “September 24, 2014 would be the D-Day,” explains Radhakrishnan. “That’s when the spacecraft would enter the Mars orbit.”

Going around the red planet in a highly elliptical path (365km being the nearest to Mars and 80,000km the farthest), the orbiter would sequentially switch on its five instruments to study the martian atmosphere and surface. Most crucial among the search operations would be those for deuterium and hydrogen to study possible early presence of water, and methane that may suggest biological presence on the planet.

The Isro chairman is proud, but measured when he speaks about the probability of success of the mission. “Orbiting around Mars itself is a challenge. It will be an achievement if we do it.”

Whether India’s Mars orbiter spots methane or water, the winged visitors of Pulicat lake will be frequently disturbed as Isro revs up for a series of satellite launches. The next big one: A GSLV with an Indian cryogenic engine on December 15.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Science> Sathish Dhawan Space Centre / by Arun Ram , TNN / October 31st, 2013

Gene which prevents fungal disease in rice discovered

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

In a major breakthrough, city-based Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), an arm of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, has discovered a gene that is resistant to rice blast. The researches said the new variety will be released as seed in the next Kharif season.

Rice blast is a plant-pathogenic fungus that affects rice in more than 90 countries across the globe and destroys rice crop which is enough to feed about 60 million people worldwide, experts informed. Over the years, the fungus has developed resistance to both chemical and genetic  treatment in some varieties of rice. After working on the project since 2005, the new gene is now being inserted into a variety of rice which will be blast-resistant, Maganti Seshu Madhav, a DRC scientist said.

“The worldwide ‘great blast-resistant gene hunt’ began around 10 years back. We surveyed most of the landraces (naturally formed plant varieties) collected from India as well as the varieties from different countries. We even searched wild species which are distantly related to rice. Finally our hunt ended with the discovery of the resistant gene in Vietnamese variety called ‘Tetep’,” Seshu Madhav told TOI. Madhav, who discovered the gene, cloned and transferred it (Pi-54) to popular varieties to save them from the deadly fungus.

Scientists say the rice blast fungus, also called ‘magnaporthe grisea’ causes a huge yield loss in the country. In Andhra Pradesh , all the zones, including north coastal zone, Godavari zone, Krishna zone and the Telangana zones are prone to blast disease causing an average loss of 40%. Once the varieties are released into the market before Kharif 2014, it would eliminate use of fungicides to control the disease.

Stating that some fungicides do control the disease partially, Seshu Madhav said when the fungicides are used intensively and regularly, the fungus rapidly develops resistance and finally destroys the crop.

After winning many national awards and the Ohio state university’s best international research scholar award for his research on the blast resistance genes, Madhav said the Pi-54 gene will address the concern of millions of farmers.

“Another strategy would be to develop a broad spectrum race-non specific resistance using latest molecular biology approaches,” he added. India’s first blast resistance gene (Pi-54) along with two more genes, Pi1 and Pi2, are being studied extensively. Improved varieties, are now undergoing tests throughout India and after the successful tests in Andhra Pradesh, the new varieties with blast-resistance gene will be released to farmers mostly in Kharif next year,” he added.

Another important breakthrough for DRC has been the discovery of multiple genes, responsible for the aroma in various landraces. After determining major genes that control the aroma, Seshu Madhav, in association with Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, is working to understand metabolic profile of the chemical compound that causes aroma in rice.

This would help in transferring the gene to local varieties, making Sona Masuri, Samba Masuri, Jaya, Nelloore Sannalu, Warangal culture, Kurnool Sona among others retain an aroma like Basmati rice. “This is bound to boost the market worldwide,” he added.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad> Gene / by Jinka Nagaraju, TNN / September 23rd, 2013

Power production from garbage

Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

PowerHF30oct2013

Visakhapatnam: 

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation is planning to have a tie-up with a Bengaluru-based company for setting up a power generation unit, on pilot basis, utilising locally available solid waste material. It came forward to set up a unit that initially utilises 25 MT of waste. It offered highly sophisticated technology from Germany that would lessen emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

“The company had put a proposal before the Corporation regarding the unit. Since it has to be approved by the government we suggested they submit in writing,” said chief engineer B. Jayarami Reddy. The modus operandi of the proposed project will be like this— GVMC has to collect waste from the city and supply to the unit for power generation. The entire activity will be on win-win basis where no one pays any costs.

Further, many international agencies are also showing interest on power-generation from solid waste collected in the city. Reputed companies from Japan and the USA have also come forward to take up the project, said commissioner M.V. Satyanrayana.

The proposed project would lessen financial burden on the GVMC to shift the entire material to the dumping yard located at Kapuluppada. He said when considering the relative environmental benefits of landfill and energy from waste, the most important factor is their potential contribution to climate change. Environmentalists suggest though there are a number of technologies to produce energy from waste, but the process should be done by direct combustion that reduces emission of gases.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / October 21st, 2013