Environmentalists urge MoEFCC to reconsider implementation of Aravalli green wall project
Environmentalists are urging the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to reconsider the implementation of the Aravalli Green Wall Project, warning that the plan poses significant risks to India's oldest mountain range.
The statement was made by the 'People for Aravallis' group shortly after Union Minister Bhupender Yadav announced during a national workshop in Rajasthan on 22 May 2025 that the project would enhance green cover and biodiversity in the Aravalli range.
Neelam Ahluwalia, a founding member of the non-profit People for Aravallis, expressed concern about the project's implementation through the 'Green Credit Programme' for eco-restoration work in the Aravalli landscape.
Additionally, a legal petition is currently pending in the Supreme Court, filed in early March 2025 by People for Aravallis and the Goa-based group 'Rainbow Warriors'. This petition challenges the existing Green Credit Rules (GCR), emphasising that the rules inadequately address the responsibility of the entity seeking green credits. Specifically, the GCR focuses only on the initial planting of trees and does not ensure the long-term survival of those trees.
Further, the GCR allows the plantation of 1,100 trees per hectare without any scientific study and permits plantations in fragile ecosystems such as open forests, scrublands, wastelands and catchment areas.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
42 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Breaking News Live Updates: North Korea internet hit by a major outage, analyst says
07 Jun 2025 | 06:23:54 AM IST Breaking News Live Updates: North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday affecting all routes coming in and while the cause is yet unclear it may be internal rather than a cyber attack, said a UK-based researcher who monitors North Korea's internet. Breaking News Live Updates: North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday affecting all routes coming in and while the cause is yet unclear it may be internal rather than a cyber attack, said a UK-based researcher who monitors North Korea's Korea's main news web sites and its Foreign Ministry internet site are currently inaccessible, according to checks by Reuters. Show more A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Friday, causing minor infrastructure damage and cutting power to over 20,000 US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake hit at 1:15 p.m. local time (5:15 p.m. GMT) at a depth of 76 kilometers (47 miles). Its epicenter was located near the coast of the Atacama the quake was felt across several communities in the expansive Atacama Desert region, initial reports confirmed no immediate Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service said the earthquake's characteristics did not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami along the South American coast. Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts. Nine-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky notched another impressive victory at the US Swimming Championships on Friday, clocking 3min 48.56sec to win the 400m freestyle to add another event to her 2025 World Championships who had already punched her ticket to the World Championships in Singapore with a victory in the 800m free, was under world record pace at the 200m mark and came home 1.49sec in front of Claire Weinstein -- who led Ledecky in a one-two finish in the 200m free this week."I just wanted to put together a solid race," Ledecky said after capturing her 32nd national title. "I was definitely hurting the last 100, but overall I'm pretty happy with that."Ledecky, who is also slated to swim the 1,500m free as the championships conclude in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, will be heading to worlds in Singapore next month on a high note. Norway Chess 2025 winner in women category, Ukrainian grandmaster Anna Muzychuk says, "I'm very happy. This tournament and this win mean a lot, and I think it's a great success... India is getting many new and good players from the new generation, but also from the older, like, Koneru Humpy. I played my first game with Koneru when I was seven years old and she was 10. It was 28 years ago... India is doing great in women's and men's competitions, and I think we will have many more players coming. It will always be challenging to play against them..." Senior U.S. administration officials will meet with a Chinese delegation on Monday in London for the next round of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, President Donald Trump said meeting comes after a phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the U.S. president described as a 'very positive' conversation as the two countries attempt to break an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. side in the trade talks.'The meeting should go very well,' Trump wrote on his social media platform Friday afternoon. North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday affecting all routes coming in and while the cause is yet unclear it may be internal rather than a cyber attack, said a UK-based researcher who monitors North Korea's Korea's main news web sites and its Foreign Ministry internet site are currently inaccessible, according to checks by Reuters.
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
Deadly Russian bombardment of Ukraine further dampens hopes for peace
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations "Russia doesn't change its stripes," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy war has continued unabated even as a U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock. But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands."The Kremlin continues efforts to falsely portray Russia as willing to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, despite Russia's repeated refusal to offer any concessions," the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected in coming weeks, as is another exchange of prisoners of are struck The attack involved 407 Russian drones and 44 ballistic and cruise missiles, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said. Ukrainian forces said they shot down about 30 of the cruise missiles and up to 200 of the Kyiv emergency workers were killed while responding to the strikes. "They were working under fire to help people," the Interior Ministry said in a Defense Ministry said it aimed at Ukrainian military targets with "long-range precision weapons" and successfully struck arms depots, drone factories and repair facilities, among other fitting a pattern for Russian attacks throughout the war, Friday's bombardment also struck apartment buildings and other non-military targets, Associated Press reporters Kyiv, explosions were heard for hours as falling drone debris sparked fires across several districts, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration. He urged people to seek Vasylchenko, a 14-year-old Kyiv resident, sheltered in a parking garage with her 6-year-old sister and their mother after an explosion blew one of their windows off its hinges."I heard a buzzing sound, then my dad ran to me and covered me with his hand," she said. "Then there was a very loud explosion. My whole life flashed before my eyes - I already thought that was it. I started having a panic attack. ... I'm shocked that I'm alive."In Kyiv's Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story apartment building. Emergency services evacuated three people from the burning unit. The attack caused a blackout in some areas, and more than 2,000 households on Kyiv's eastern bank were without power, city officials 10 people were injured by an aerial attack on the western city of Ternopil, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water also targeted the western Lviv and Khmelnytskyi regions, the northern Chernihiv region, and the central Poltava region, where at least three people were also reports drone attacks In Russia, air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. As a precaution, flights at Moscow airports were temporarily suspended overnight Thursday into Friday and then again late Friday drones also targeted three other regions of Russia, authorities said, damaging apartment buildings and industrial plants. Three people were injured, officials Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 174 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions early Friday. It added that three Ukrainian Neptune missiles were also shot down over the Black struck airfields and other military targets in Russia, such as fuel storage tanks and transport hubs, the Ukrainian General Staff a locomotive derailed early Friday in the Belgorod region after the track was blown up, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Russia has recently accused Ukraine of sabotaging the rail network.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Breaking News Live Updates: North Korea internet hit by a major outage, analyst says
Breaking News Live Updates: North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday affecting all routes coming in and while the cause is yet unclear it may be internal rather than a cyber attack, said a UK-based researcher who monitors North Korea's internet. North Korea's main news web sites and its Foreign Ministry internet site are currently inaccessible, according to checks by Reuters. In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) Breaking News Live Updates: North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday affecting all routes coming in and while the cause is yet unclear it may be internal rather than a cyber attack, said a UK-based researcher who monitors North Korea's internet. 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits northern Chile A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Friday, causing minor infrastructure damage and cutting power to over 20,000 people. The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake hit at 1:15 p.m. local time (5:15 p.m. GMT) at a depth of 76 kilometers (47 miles). Its epicenter was located near the coast of the Atacama Desert. While the quake was felt across several communities in the expansive Atacama Desert region, initial reports confirmed no immediate casualties. Chile's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service said the earthquake's characteristics did not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami along the South American coast. Deadly Russian bombardment of Ukraine further dampens hopes for peace Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts. Ledecky holds off Weinstein to win 400 free at US Swimming Championships Nine-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky notched another impressive victory at the US Swimming Championships on Friday, clocking 3min 48.56sec to win the 400m freestyle to add another event to her 2025 World Championships programme. Ledecky, who had already punched her ticket to the World Championships in Singapore with a victory in the 800m free, was under world record pace at the 200m mark and came home 1.49sec in front of Claire Weinstein -- who led Ledecky in a one-two finish in the 200m free this week. "I just wanted to put together a solid race," Ledecky said after capturing her 32nd national title. "I was definitely hurting the last 100, but overall I'm pretty happy with that." Ledecky, who is also slated to swim the 1,500m free as the championships conclude in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, will be heading to worlds in Singapore next month on a high note. Anna Muzychuk wins Norway Chess 2025, praises India's rising talent Norway Chess 2025 winner in women category, Ukrainian grandmaster Anna Muzychuk says, "I'm very happy. This tournament and this win mean a lot, and I think it's a great success... India is getting many new and good players from the new generation, but also from the older, like, Koneru Humpy. I played my first game with Koneru when I was seven years old and she was 10. It was 28 years ago... India is doing great in women's and men's competitions, and I think we will have many more players coming. It will always be challenging to play against them..." People in huge numbers reach the Jama Masjid to offer morning Namaz on the occasion of Eid Al Adha US, Chinese officials to meet in London next week for new round of trade talks Senior U.S. administration officials will meet with a Chinese delegation on Monday in London for the next round of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, President Donald Trump said Friday. The meeting comes after a phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the U.S. president described as a 'very positive' conversation as the two countries attempt to break an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. side in the trade talks. 'The meeting should go very well,' Trump wrote on his social media platform Friday afternoon. North Korea internet hit by a major outage, analyst says North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday affecting all routes coming in and while the cause is yet unclear it may be internal rather than a cyber attack, said a UK-based researcher who monitors North Korea's internet. North Korea's main news web sites and its Foreign Ministry internet site are currently inaccessible, according to checks by Reuters.
