<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal (Central Zone Bench, Bhopal) in the matter of Kamal Tiwari Vs Union of India & Others dated 27/05/2025.</p> <p><a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Nahargarh-Wildlife-Sanctuary-NGT-order-May28-2025.pdf"
The Punjab government has rejected the Rajasthan government's demand to supply 20,000 cusecs of canal water over and above the existing use of the water for irrigation purpose through the Rajasthan feeder being made by it. Sources said Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje had written to Parkash Singh Badal for additional supply of canal water during February and March for the rabi crop. Even the Rajasthan Irrigation Department had contacted the Punjab government in this regard. However, the sources said the Punjab government had decided to write back to the Rajasthan government that it could not spare additional water. Punjab, in fact, itself was facing problem to meet its irrigation requirements through canal water in absence of adequate rainfall in the region during this winter. Except light rainfall near the Shivalik foothills, there was no rainfall in the countryside. More over, the level of water is also low in the various dams. During the summer availability of water from the dams for irrigation would be less this year. Keeping in view these circumstances, the state government had decided to refuse the additional water. Rajasthan had been alleging for the past several years that Punjab had been using its unutilised share and it should be compensated for that. However, Punjab had been saying that the flow of water in the rivers had come down by 3 MAF over the years. Even the BBMB and the Central Water Commission (CWC) was aware of this fact. Meanwhile, the Punjab government had also decided to oppose the second barrage on the Ravi-Beas waters. Sources said the state government would seek the CWC report prepared with regard to the leakage of water to Pakistan from the river water systems. There were reports that the CWC had found that there was no such huge leakage of water from the river systems to Pakistan. Hence there was no need to construct the second barrage. Moreover, Punjab had not been taken into confidence before taking a decision regarding the barrage by the Union government. As Punjab was a host riparian state, the Union government could not execute any barrage like project without its consent. The sources said the Haryana government had given a concept paper to the CWC for constructing the barrage.
Entrepreneurs and NGOs find innovative models to take solar energy to rural homes in the country. As dusk slowly lapses into night, it is time for millions to call it a day. For, before the night falls, farmers with their cattle have to be at home, children have to finish studies, housewives have to finish the household chores, as life comes to a standstill once it is dark.
DOWN TO EARTH Sunita Narain / New Delhi February 26, 2008 It was the mid-1980s, environmentalist Anil Agarwal was on a mission: to track down the person who had conceptualised the employment guarantee scheme in Maharashtra. His hunt (I tagged along) led him to a dusty, file-paper filled office in the secretariat. There we met V S Page. I remember a diminutive, soft-spoken man, who explained to us why in 1972 when the state was hit with crippling drought and mass migration of people, it had worked on a scheme under which professionals working in cities would pay for employment in villages.
The erratic and heavy rainfall last year has turned a large part of the deep desert country into a vast submerged landscape.
Why is the Keoladeo National Park attracting fewer birds? ONCE THE PRIDE Siberian cranes no longer visit Keoladeo I had heard a lot about Keoladeo and for the last three years had waited for the right time to go there
The erratic and heavy rainfall last year has turned a large part of the deep desert country into a vast submerged landscape. Barmer District, Thar Desert, Rajasthan has an average rainfall of 280 mm annually, but during the monsoon of 2006 it received about 600 mm of rain within 2
Some state governments, without waiting for a decision by the group of ministers (GoM) on bio-fuels, headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, have gone ahead with their own programme of large-scale plantation of Jatropha. "We have launched our Jatropha plantation programme taking a cue from the Planning Commission's document, National Mission on Biodiesel. We are aware that the GoM on bio-fuels is deliberating the issue. The broad policy of the central government has already been enunciated in the Planning Commission document. The GoM is discussing incentives to be provided and the work of central government agencies in aiding implementation of the programme,' SK Shukla, executive director of Chhattisgarh Bio-fuel Development Authority (CBDA), told FE. The CBDA, which is headed by the chief secretary of the state, has identified 15.7 million hectare out of 201.5 million hectare revenue fallow land in different parts of the state for Jatropha. Chhattisgarh has 170.18 million hectare of degraded forest land in 17 out of 18 districts which can used for Jatropha plantation. "But for this, we need clearance from the Union ministry of environment and forests,' Shukla said. The Indian Railways also owns 7,309.557 hectare land along the tracks and other holdings amounting to 1,096.871 hectare, which can be used for Jatropha, he added. State government agencies have raised about 390 million Jatropha saplings in nurseries and have distributed them free to farmers for planting in 1,55,000 hectare in the last three years. In 2008-09, 200 million Jatropha saplings would be raised in nurseries. Chhattisgarh has also announced support prices for Jatropha seed at Rs 6,500 a tonne, Karanj seeds at Rs 6,000 a tonne and for Jatropha and Karanj oils at Rs 18 per litre. Also, it has framed a new policy for leasing out wastelands to investors. In addition, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is being used for Jatropha plantation. The Bio-fuel Authority of Rajasthan, too, has identified 2,106.8 hectares in 11 districts for Jatropha, said PC Chaplot, of the directorate of extension education in Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology. The state is also exploring the possibility of diverting 2% to 3% farm land for Jatropha in the form of hedges around fields for protecting crops, water harvesting as well as acting as a windbreak. In the south, Karnataka has set up an autonomous Bio-fuel Board with members drawn from institutions, agriculture universities, forest and agriculture departments, industry and NGOs for integrated development of the bio-fuel programme and formulating support prices for seeds, oil and oilcakes, KV Sarvesh, of the state agriculture department told FE.
UPA's thrust on education is massive, says M.A.A. Fatmi The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government has laid thrust on education, M.A.A. Fatmi, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development has said. Inaugurating the library block of H.M.S. Institute of Technology (HMSIT), near here on Saturday, Mr. Fatmi said the UPA Government would increase allocation to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan by Rs.10,000 crore and to the mid-day meal programme by Rs. 5,000 crore. He said while the percentage of school dropouts was brought down considerably at the primary level, it remained as high as 63 per cent at the secondary level. Mr. Fatmi regretted that only 9 per cent of those who finished secondary education, entered colleges. Less than 2 per cent got admission into professional courses. "We still need to set up lakhs of polytechnics and thousands of technological institutes,' he said. "We have permitted existing polytechnics to run courses day and night to cater to more aspirants.' Three new Indian Institutes of Technology in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, and three new Indian Institutes of Science in Maharastra (Pune), Punjab, and West Bengal (Kolkata) were being set up, he said. Sixteen new universities were being formed. There would be at least one Central University in each State, he added. He promised to process the sanction of a new IIT for Karnataka and said: "I will see that it is located in Tumkur.' Mr. Fatmi asked students to give equal priority to sports and academics and said: "If you play well, you will be much inclined to read books.' "Acquisition of sportive spirit when you are young will enable you to become a good leader,' he said, inviting engineering graduates to enter the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies.
One of the biggest challenges in climate research is to arrive at reliable future projections.
At a time when the poor infrastructure of the state's heath department has been constantly inviting criticism from every nook and corner, a model developed in West Bengal to reduce mortality rate of newborns, has been praised and recognised by the United Nations. The newborn care unit model of the state, known as the Purulia model, would be adopted by the other states to bring down children mortality rate under United Nations Millennium Development Goal-IV (UNMDG-IV). Such states include ~ Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
