Latest news with #Hitachi
Hans India
3 days ago
- General
- Hans India
Illegal mining near Harangi Dam poses threat
Madikeri: Harangi Dam, one of Karnataka's major reservoirs, is reportedly facing a threat due to illegal mining activities occurring near its limits. Residents of Kushalnagar taluk have filed complaints regarding these illicit operations, which have also resulted in the clearing of valuable trees across acres of land. Residents express fear that continuous human interference in this vulnerable area could lead to a disaster and are urging authorities to take immediate action against the illegal mining. Chandramohan, convenor of the Kaveri Swachata Andolana, stated, 'Huge loads of mud are regularly transported on the Harangi Dam road, and the increased truck traffic is damaging the road. Furthermore, just 200 to 300 meters from Harangi Dam, valuable trees have been cleared over acres of land to facilitate mining activities.' He added that despite this widespread illegal activity, no official has taken any action. He explained that valuable trees, including rosewood, sandalwood, and other old trees, have been illegally felled without the permission of the concerned authorities. He also expressed concern that the increasing interference with the land by those extracting soil is likely to endanger the safety of the reservoir. Resident Shekhar said, 'Mining activity is being carried out without any fear of officials. No official seems to be aware of this large-scale illegal activity. The road constructed by the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam from Harangi Dam to the village is being completely damaged due to the movement of heavy machinery and trucks carrying goods.' He noted that a huge hill is being excavated with Hitachi machines just 200 to 300 meters on the left side of the dam, and thousands of loads of soil are being illegally transported, yet officials from the concerned departments have reportedly taken no action. When questioned about the matter, Kushalnagar Taluk Tahsildar Kiran G. confirmed that the issue would be investigated. E.E. Puttaswamy of the Harangi division stated, 'We have received complaints about the activities happening near the reservoir. The Minor Irrigation, Revenue, Forest, and Mines and Geology departments will soon inspect the site. An inspection will be conducted, and appropriate action will be taken.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BofA Raises its Price Target for GE Vernova (GEV)
GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) is included among the Best Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now. It was recently announced that BofA has raised its price target for GEV from $520 to $550, while maintaining a 'Buy' rating on the shares. A Nuclear power plant with all its safety & security protocols in place. The firm anticipates the U.S. electrical demand to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2024 to 2035, prompting an upward revision of its projections for GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV)'s Power segment. BofA projects approximately 1,000 GW of capacity to be added by 2035, with about 330 GW coming from natural gas turbines – the core business of GEV. GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) could also be one of the largest winners from the ongoing nuclear energy renaissance, as its subsidiary, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy, is a world-leading provider of advanced reactors, fuel, and nuclear services. The company made headlines recently after it received permission to begin construction on a small modular reactor (SMR) in Ontario that would be the first reactor of its type in the Western hemisphere, capable of powering roughly 300,000 homes. GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) brings together General Electric's portfolio of energy businesses, including Power, Wind, Electrification and Digital businesses. While we acknowledge the potential of GEV as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 Cheap Energy Stocks to Buy Now and Disclosure: None. Sign in to access your portfolio
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Is this Britain's unluckiest village? Durham town was left stinking of rotten eggs from landfill site...now local authorities are introducing an INCINERATOR which residents fear will be just as bad
Families are fighting back against a proposed incinerator they fear will harm schoolchildren, vulnerable people and wildlife with chemicals it produces. Just over a year after a landfill site left Newton Aycliffe, County Durham smelling like rotten eggs, residents say they face another threat to their picturesque village. Plans submitted by Fornax Environmental Solutions were approved in 2021 but swiftly thrown out by the council which was concerned about the incinerator's impact on air quality. There were also fears about burning up to 9,800 tonnes of clinical and hazardous waste a year at a business park long dedicated to attracting companies offering high-paid jobs, including Hitachi and Fujitsu. Now, months later, the project is back on track after a planning inspector approved the firm's appeal. A 10,000-tonne incinerator, which lies within a mile of a nursery, a primary school and a sixth form college, is being built and will be up and running next year. But locals are making a last ditch attempt to stop plans, with a social media campaign gathering pace ahead of a consultation with the Environment Agency. Kate Ridgway, 60, used to live in London and the Cotswolds before heading to the countryside by Newton Aycliffe for its peaceful and picturesque scenery. She told MailOnline: 'It is beautiful here. We have cormorant, ducks, geese all outside our kitchen window. 'They've built this monstrosity a mile from us. It's clearly unsafe and a dumping ground for the north and Scotland. 'What will happen is the lovely River Skerne, which has been raised from the dead [extensively cleaned] in the last 50 years, will go back to how it was before.' She pointed out that it's the latest environmental issue facing the area after locals reported a spate of headaches, skin rashes and nausea last year which they claimed were associated with a new landfill site at nearby Aycliffe Quarry. At the time, residents said the majority of the waste causing the smell, blighting lives in the neighbouring villages of Aycliffe and Brafferton, was being driven 110 miles north from Hull in lorries. Ms Ridgway added: 'We're being dumped on again. They're there to take money and they simply don't care. 'People will have to move, although of course most won't be able to move. 'There's been a slight attitude of, these rich southerners must know what's best for us. Well, wake up, because that really is not the case at all. 'It's a David versus Goliath situation. They're obviously going to make a huge amount of money, or they wouldn't be interested. 'They would never do this in Chipping Norton - I've lived there.' Fornax insisted the site will 'meet and exceed all UK and EU strict rules on air emissions, odour control, and habitat protection'. The company added that the incinerator will burn between 8,600 and 9,800 tonnes of waste per year, of which around 6,000 tonnes will be 'infectious' and 3,000 tonnes 'hazardous'. Rachel Weighell, 51, lives in the nearest housing estate to the incinerator, just 500m from the site, with her 14-year-old son. She claimed that residents' main frustration was a lack of information regarding the nature of the waste that will be burned. Ms Weighell said: 'These companies can't tell us what they're putting into the atmosphere. Surely it has to be a no until something is in black and white. 'We know that in other parts of the country that mother's breast milk has been contaminated because they live next to an incinerator, and obviously the child is taking the milk from their mother, and that is passing on things. 'It is taking the likes of me, who is no better, richer or cleverer than anyone else, to physically get leaflets that somebody in my community has paid for out of their own pocket, to get them printed and distributed, just for people to go look what may be happening. 'We need it postponed or suspended to give time for solicitors, lawyers, researchers and volunteers to get specific black and white information.' Ms Weighell, who has lived in the area her entire life, is also worried about agriculture and local schools, including Little Cubs Day Nursery in the shadow of the proposed 10,000-tonne High Temperature Incineration facility. 'I work for the biggest agricultural manufacturer in the country, Mole Valley Farmers, and we are having feed for animals made on our site at Piercebridge,' she said. 'We're putting that feed into every farm in the North East of England that buy from us. What are the animals eating if all of this is in the air? 'What about the children at nursery schools? There are, I think, 17 nursery schools within 12 miles. What about the primary schools, the sixth form colleges?' Ms Weighell added that the incinerator is being fought by working class people who are worried about their livelihoods. She said: 'People are on the bread line, they are earning not much more than minimum wage, and they are putting what they can towards this because they care so passionately. 'What if my five bedroom house that's currently valued at nearly £400,000, was to go on the market in six months. If this was passed, I might not get half of that. 'I lost my husband to cancer two months ago, I've got a 14-year-old son who goes to the local comprehensive, I can't sell my house, I'm living on a single, poorly paid wage from an agricultural company and just need to feed and protect my family to the best of my ability.' She also pointed out that the Treasury's Darlington Economic Campus, which opened in 2021, lies just six miles from the incinerator. 'What happens when Keir Starmer wants to come and visit Darlington?' she added. 'What if the Treasury is up here and he has to put a mask on?' Mark Henderson, 50, has lived in the area since he was 13 and used to work on the industrial park on which the current business district now stands. 'One of the key things is that Aycliffe is a business park,' he said. 'A clinical and hazardous incinerator is not something you expect to see on a business park. 'It is 600 metres away from a UTC College, one of the first in the country, to drive the challenge between education and industry. 'You've got pupils in there that are coming in to grow themselves to be leaders within industry and work within industry, and yet you put them under the plume of a hazardous waste incinerator. 'The challenge is the immediate business park, the immediate school, the immediate nursery. There's a church and two secondary schools in Newton Aycliffe, and 1000s and 1000s of residents, including elderly and people with health concerns. 'We've got two farms within a very small radius which have cattle and crops. We've got a cattle market, which is a brand new investment by Darlington Council. 'We're not being told the truth. The original planning application was turned down and, very secretly and quietly, they got it passed off without anybody really knowing about it. And if it wasn't for the fact they had to go for their operations licence, nobody would really know about it. He also drew attention to the Aycliffe Quarry landfill site, as well as a similarly new methane facility, called Warrens Emerald Biogas, at the business park. The father-of-three added: 'We've got the landfill site which is horrific when you drive down the A1 and you come off on the Newton Aycliffe junction. It's causing the residents of a village called Brafferton absolute hell. 'We've also got a methane facility and the smell is going across Newton Aycliffe, if you want another one in the mix, just for the fancy of it. 'It just stinks, in two ways. 'It's not the classic, "not in my backyard", it's "not in many people's backyards". Mr Henderson joins many residents in being disappointed by a lack of jobs created by the proposed site, with Fornax confirming just 40 people will be hired. 'It's an absolute joke. What does it bring into the area? Absolute hell for everybody who lives there.' Mark Appleby, meanwhile, has two children and lives just over a mile away from the incinerator site. The 53-year-old army veteran said: 'There are no positives at all. My main negative feelings are the lack of transparency, the lack of public knowledge about this, and my dealings with Durham County Council which have led me to believe that it's been slid under the door. 'Why does nobody know about this? The business right next to it, Aycliffe animal feed. They didn't even know what it was. 'The jungle drums are beating around the local populace. Nobody's happy about it. 'It's just worrying, it's a lovely area, it's green belt, it's heritage land. We're right in the middle of a specialised opportunity area for protected species and things like newts and glow worms. 'It's going to affect farmers. The ground penetration, down to mineral level, is going to affect all the food that grows in that ground. The cattle that graze on the ground will not be able to take the milk. 'There's a lot of investors, like myself, I probably put about £350,000 in the house recently. 'And I'm worried for the children. I'm worried for my future, my health, the family's health, everybody else's as well. 'I rang my friend in conservation for advice and his first words were, "move house", and I thought, "wow".' An upcoming consultation with the Environment Agency (EA) has been moved from June 16 to an unconfirmed date due to a sudden surge of interest in attending. But Mr Appleby holds out little hope that the body, due to be represented by six officers in an eight-hour drop-in format, will use their power to stop the project. He added: 'I've dealt with the EA before with the landfill site and there was no strength involved. It was all very woke and "no blame culture".' Conservative Councillor Gerald Lee is also worried about the lack of information about the nature of the waste being burned. He added that Fornax had said there was 'no statutory requirement to report what's going on at the site' but they might make such reports on a 'voluntary basis'. 'It is causing a lot of consternation, frustration, and, dare I say, anger as it hasn't got the permit yet,' he said. Cllr Lee also expressed concerns over what happens when the wind does not blow in the area and emissions are not able to spread out. 'We've been told the wind would disperse the emissions away,' he said. 'What happens on those still days when the wind isn't blowing? 'We're talking about particles, which are heavier than air and will come straight down. What happens when it rains, particularly in this modern day and age with torrential downpour, which will sweep the particles to Earth? Or when it snows? 'It will be falling on the factories, it'll be falling in the fields where our animals are and ultimately will be fed into the rivers and washed into the sea. 'One of the reasons I've asked the Environment Agency to come down is that the residents need to know on what grounds they can object.' A spokesman for Fornax said: 'We do not believe it is appropriate to comment on the environmental permit application at this time other than to say that we have provided all the required documentation to the regulator in advance of their detailed technical review. 'Public and environmental safety is our number one priority and the new facility in Newton Aycliffe has already undergone extensive scrutiny and was approved by the planning Inspector following an enquiry in 2022. 'During this process residents concerns were carefully considered and addressed by the governments planning inspector. The facility has been designed and built to meet and indeed exceed all UK and EU strict rules on air emissions, odour control, and habitat protection. 'The fears concerning the impact that this facility will have on air quality and future employment uses are unfounded as clearly stated in the planning inspectors report.'
Scoop
5 days ago
- Sport
- Scoop
Waikato And Bay Of Plenty Excavator Operators Duel At Fieldays
Mud flew at Mystery Creek at the end of last week as the heavyweights of Waikato and Bay of Plenty excavator operating competed for regional titles and a spot at next year's CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition grand final. The three-day regional event at Fieldays on 12-14 June saw 22 elite excavator operators compete for the Waikato crown and 11 vie for the Bay of Plenty title. They were tested on a wide array of tasks, from health and safety knowledge to quirkier crowd-pleasing tests of precision such as dunking a basketball and opening a beer using their Hitachi machines. Competition lead judge James Lux said the skill on display was exceptional, with the 'young guns' giving some of the more seasoned operators – including last year's Bay of Plenty champion John Rohloff – a run for their money. Last year's Waikato winner Michael Brown moved to the judging team this year, prompting an influx of operators to enter the Waikato field in hopes of nabbing the crown, Lux said. 'The rumble of the machines and our prime position at Fieldays brings a big crowd and adds to the pressure, but the operators love it. 'The wet conditions meant we had to alter the course a bit but that just gave us the chance to introduce some entirely new challenges.' Those new challenges included the 'Over-Under', requiring operators to pick up wood and lift it over a wire, before bringing it back under the wire, and the 'Log Squeeze', which involved operators navigating their machines through a log course without knocking anything over. An eye-catching 'Marble Run' was also included, challenging operators to push a ball along a guard rail using an attachment on their excavator arms, before nudging it into a pipe and making it roll back down to the starting position. Bay of Plenty competitor Ben Patterson said the weather and some of the new challenges made this year's event one of the trickiest yet. 'Visibility is harder in the wet, and some of those new challenges shocked me, but I love it.' The Papamoa local and Bay Civil employee has competed in the regional competition for three years straight, finishing third in 2023 and second last year. He said the rain didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, which added to the atmosphere. 'I love coming and feeling the energy – I thrive off it.' Patterson and other competitors now face a nervous two-week wait for the final results, which will be revealed at a regional award ceremony for Bay of Plenty operators on 26 June, and a regional award ceremony for Waikato operators on 27 June. Once confirmed, the champions of Waikato and Bay of Plenty will join winners from 10 other regional excavator operator competitions across New Zealand at the national finals, which will be held in Feilding in March 2026, during the Central Districts Field Days. Lux said as well as providing an enjoyable day out for operators, the regional excavator operator competition at Fieldays aimed to inspire the public to learn more about the civil construction industry and consider excavator operating as a career option. A 'Have a Go' dig for adults and a mini dig for children ran alongside the competition course at Fieldays for members of the public who wanted to try their hand at machine operation. 'Those 'have a go' events are really popular – who wouldn't want to jump into an excavator if given the chance?' Lux also acknowledged the sponsors of this year's CCNZ CablePrice Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional excavator operator competitions. National competition sponsors were CablePrice, Hirepool, Attach2, Connexis, Firstgas, Humes, beforeUdig, Civil Trades, Doug the Digger and Contractor Magazine. Regional sponsors included CTLNZ, Stormwater 360, Connell Contractors, King Drilling, Brian Perry Civil, Schick Civil Construction, Downer, Fulton Hogan, Success Group and HEB Construction, Waikato Post Rammers, Hautapu Pine and Carters Waikato.
NDTV
6 days ago
- NDTV
Pool, Bathtub Found Inside Religious Site During Demolition Drive In Gujarat
A swimming pool, a bathtub and huge, spacious rooms - these were among the constructions that were found inside an illegally-built religious site, that was demolished along with a series of other similar structures in Gujarat's Jamnagar on Saturday. According to sources, the luxurious facilities were found at a place of worship in Bachu Nagar Extension, which has come under the scanner of civic authorities over the construction of at least 294 houses, including four religious sites, illegally. The occupants of these houses had raised these structures around 20-25 years ago and have since been residing here, the sources said. Some of these houses were built at a significant environmental cost, as it blocked the flow of Rangmati river flowing in the area. "Due to this, rainwater often accumulated in residential areas. The municipality began the demolition work today. After years, all the houses are now being demolished," a source said. Twelve JCBs, three Hitachi machines and 13 tractors are being used for this purpose. Around 100 people are engaged in the demolition process, the source added. Another source said four religious places were illegally built at the spot. "They covered over 11,000 square feet. The police were shocked to find luxurious facilities inside a shrine. The price of the land where the demolition took place, under police surveillance, on Friday is approximately Rs 200 crore, the source said. According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Premsukh Delu, 300 illegal structures were razed on Saturday. "There was illegal encroachment near the Rangmati River. Due to this illegal encroachment, flood-like conditions arise in Jamnagar during the rainy season... An area of about eight lakh square feet has been cleared. Several criminals had built their houses and farmhouses there. All of them have now been removed," he said.
