All that was discussed in the House through the day
There were 127 tiger deaths in India last year, Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest And Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Ashwini Kumar Choubey, told the Rajya Sabha February 3, 2022.
North East forests
The forest cover of North East India decreased 1,020 square kilometres according to the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 released January 13, 2022, as compared to the previous assessment, ISFR 2019.
The loss of forest cover in the region may be attributed mainly to shifting cultivation, apart from natural calamities, anthropogenic pressure and developmental activities, Choubey said.
Powai lake
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has issued directions to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to take necessary measures and prevent the ingress of treated / untreated sewage into the Powai lake.
It has also asked the Corporation to divert such water to nearby sewage treatment plants and strictly follow the guidelines for idol immersion dated May 12, 2020, issued by Central Pollution Control Board, Choubey said.
NGT ban on RO
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the MoEF&CC in its order dated May 20, 2019, to issue appropriate notification prohibiting the use of Reverse Osmosis (RO) in areas where total dissolved solids (TDS) in water were less than 500 milligram per litre.
The MoEF&CC subsequently published a Gazette Notification vide number 724 (E) dated October 4, 2021 on ‘Regulation on use of Water Purification System’, Choubey said.
Dabaka reserve forest
The proposal for construction of a proposed two-lane highway in Assam (Hojai to Karbi Anglong) through the Dabaka reserve forest and elephant corridor has not been received on the Parivesh portal of MoEF&CC, Choubey said.
However, he added that the user agency National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd (NHIDCL) had submitted an application May 27, 2021, in connection with the diversion of 20.50 hectares of forest land in the Dabaka reserve forest for “widening / upgradation of NH-29 from two-lane to four-lane divided National Highway” on the portal.
Jharkhand sand mining
A total 2,235 cases regarding illegal sand mining have been reported in the state of Jharkhand in the last three years, Choubey said. This was according to the Department of Mines and Geology, Government of Jharkhand.
COVID-19 jobs
Employment increased to 3.08 crore (approximately) in the nine selected sectors of the economy for the period April-June 2021, according to the results of the first round of Quarterly Employment Survey conducted by the Labour Bureau under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment.
This was against a total of 2.37 crore in these sectors taken collectively, as reported in the sixth Economic Census (2013-14), reflecting a growth rate of 29 per cent, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameshwar Teli told the Rajya Sabha.
The most impressive growth of 152 per cent was recorded in the information technology sector, while growth rates in health were 77 per cent, in education 39 per cent, in manufacturing 22 per cent, in transport 68 per cent and in construction 42 per cent.
Female employment
The estimated Labour Force Participation Rate on usual status basis for females aged 15 years and above, both in rural and urban areas, was 29.5 per cent in rural areas and 20.1 per cent in urban areas in 2016-17, Teli said.
The figures were according to the Employment-Unemployment Survey conducted by the Labour Bureau.
Urban employment
The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above on usual status basis in urban areas was 6.9 per cent according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey report of 2019-20. This was 7.6 per cent in 2018-19 and 7.7 per cent in 2017-18, Teli said
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