A water storage facility breach at miner Vedanta Aluminium's unit in Odisha has impacted agricultural land, the company said on Monday. The incident, which happened at Vedanta's Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Odisha on Sunday, has alarmed environment experts who pointed out it was a serious matter as the toxic byproduct 'red mud' was involved. The pumped water level, or PWL, has causticity in water, meaning it can corrode organic tissue by damaging skin, eyes and mucus membranes. The water overflowed due to heavy rain, Vedanta Aluminium said. Visuals of the industrial incident show process water lake downstream of a pond that appeared to have been formed by 'red mud'. A large volume of muddy red water was also seen flowing into open areas. The water covered the ground where some trees stood, and ran over other forms of vegetation. 'Red mud' is the waste generated in production of alumina from bauxite. It is also known as 'bauxite residue'.
A beluga whale named Hvaldimir which captured the world's imagination in 2019 was found dead in Norway, a report said. The 14-foot-long and 2,700-pound whale was spotted with a harness seemingly designed for a camera five years ago, prompting the internet to nickname him Hvaldimir the spy whale. The harness bore the marking "equipment" from St. Petersburg, fueling widespread speculation that the whale was part of a Russian reconnaissance mission. The mystery deepened as no official claim of ownership was made by Russia, leaving the world to wonder if this whale was a spy or just an unfortunate whale caught in a strange circumstance. The beluga, whose name is a blend of the Norwegian word for whale, "hval," and the Russian name Vladimir, quickly became a subject of global fascination. Unlike other belugas, which typically inhabit the remote and frigid Arctic waters, Hvaldimir appeared unusually comfortable around humans, leading experts to believe he had been