Express News Service
Heavy penalty for noise pollution
The government of Uttarakhand has decided to impose heavy penalty on noise pollution under the Union government’s Noise Pollution Regulation Control Act, 2000. According to the new set of guidelines, if an individual is responsible for noise that goes beyond the specified decibel, he/she will be fined Rs 1,000.
For the second violation, the penalty will increase to Rs 2,500. For the third time, it will be Rs 5,000. At religious places, if the noise exceeds the specified decibel, the first-time penalty will be Rs 5,000. Second and third violations will invite a fine of Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively
India home to 4 species from 42 mn years ago: Research
Studies conducted at IIT-Roorkee have found that India was home to at least four different animal species, including some very primitive ones that lived about 42 million years ago, and five another species that thrived about 20 million years ago. The studies were conducted by a team led by Professor Sunil Bajpai, his students and his collaborators. They examined the fossilized remains of sea cows found in the Kutch region of Gujarat.
“Ongoing studies show that the actual diversity could be even higher and India was a major centre of evolution and diversification in the past, not only for sea cows but also for other associated mammals such as whales,” said Bajpai, who is the Head of Earth Sciences Department at IIT-Roorkee.
State takes delivery of 15,000 vials of drug used to treat black fungus
Uttarakhand took delivery of 15,000 vials of Amphotericin-B – the drug used to treat black fungus infection – last week. The state had begun the production of the drug on May 24. The vials were delivered on Thursday, according to sources.
As of Sunday, 192 cases of the black fungus infection were reported in the state. While 13 people have been cured of the infection, as many as 15 have succumbed to it. Uttarakhand has imposed a strict Covid curfew till June 1.
Snow leopard spotted in low-altitude area
For the first time, a snow leopard was spotted in the Valley of Flowers National Park at an altitude of 11,400 feet in the Garhwal Himalayas. Last month, the elusive big cat was spotted in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve at an altitude of 10,000 feet.
Images from surveillance cameras confirmed the presence of the species in the low-altitude areas. Usually, the snow leopard is found above the tree line at an altitude of 18,000 feet. At present, according to estimates, Uttarakhand has around 86 snow leopards.
Last November, the state government started a first-of-its-kind survey over a 12,800-square-km-area covering 10 forest divisions where the species is found. Despite delays caused by the pandemic, the results are expected in November.
