Pune: City-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology officially launched its second ‘System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) - Pune’ for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad on Wednesday. Other facilities such as ‘air quality and weather assessment and data on hitech-digital India’ (AWADHI) — a one stop-shop for metro air quality information was also launched.

In addition to it, an ‘interactive voice response (IVR) service’ was also introduced, where citizens of Pune can get the current and 24-hour advance forecast information on air quality and weather of Pune and Delhi just by dialing a toll free number.

Pune: Aerosol density, which cuts down solar radiation from reaching the earth’s surface, was found to be four times higher during Diwali last year as compared to a clear day.

PUNE: The Dhule-based solar power plant which is expected to generate 150 MW power is likely to be made operational from March 20 this year. The first phase would add 50 MW power to the state grid, said government officials.

The solar panels spread over 350 hectares of barren land will have 'thin film' and 'crystalline' technology based photovoltaic cells. The aim is to maximize the output from the solar panels. The efficiency of the power panels is 20% of the total heat absorption. The project was delayed by one year because of the dispute between the state revenue and forest department. Later the dispute was resolved and the project was cleared.

Total financial outlay for the project pegged at Rs 150 crore

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development ( Nabard), in association with the Haryana government, has prepared a farmer-centric cultivation project it hopes would facilitate advancements of loans to farmers for setting up poly houses — a farming technique used for absorbing incoming solar radiation heat.

Pune: A 150 MW solar power plant will be commissioned in the state by end of March this year. The Rs 1,600 crore plant is coming up near Nizampur village in Dhule district, around 330 km from here.

Dhule, in north Maharashtra, is known for dry land, bright sunlight and high solar radiation, mainly because its proximity to the tropic of cancer. V S Patil, executive director (solar power generation) of the Maharashtra state power generation company ltd (MSPGCL), said that “The Dhule plant would be the first solar power project that will be connected to the national grid.”

3 flights cancelled, train traffic disrupted

JAMMU/srinagar: While the day temperature in Jammu has broken about 30 years old record by remaining nearly 11 degree Celsius below normal today, the night temperature in the winter capital has further depleted to 4.3 degree Celsius from 6 degree Celsius, just in past 24 hours whereas, the cold wave conditions and fog continued to play havoc with the people in the State and other parts of northern region for the last about one week.

One dies of cold; train, air traffic remain hit

JAMMU: While cold wave continued to grip entire State including Kashmir valley and plain areas of Jammu region, Drass township in Kargil district recorded the lowest temperature of -27 degree celsius whereas, night temperature in Jammu has further receded to 5.7 degree celsius as Solar radiations have depleted to nearly 80 percent in the winter capital. Dense fog and mist continued to play havoc with the normal life of the people, causing suspension of some flights and disruption in the smooth movement of trains and vehicular traffic.

The Ozone Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) conferred a honor to the Chinese government for its contribution to ozone layer protection in an event marking this year's Int

Transporting materials into the stratosphere that can reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth could lower the effects of global climate change, a new study has found.