Tamarind seeds has antiviral properties and can potentially be used to develop antiviral medication for chikungunya, according to a research by Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee. The research conducted
The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to constitute committees in each ward of the City to monitor garbage disposal, before January 21. The direction was issued in a public interest litigation filed by G R Mohan, a city-based advocate and others alleging failure on the part of the Palike in disposing garbage generated in the City.
The Union government has sanctioned a Rs 402-crore contingency plan, under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, to tide over the water crisis in the State. The move follows recommendations by task forces of various districts, said Revenue Secretary (disaster management) Tushar Girinath, here on Tuesday. He told a press conference that the funds will be utilised for all the drought-prone districts in the State. While Mysore district gets Rs 13.41 crore, Chamarajanagar will receive Rs 21 crore.
Karnataka, which has been desperately waiting for release of funds from the Centre under drought relief for 2012, stands the risk of not receiving any grants at all. This is the fear harboured by the Revenue Department (Disaster Management), which has sought Rs 11,146 crore from the Centre under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to carry out drought relief works chalked out for 2012. The department apprehends that if the High-Level Committee headed by the Prime Minister fails to set aside an amount, before the Central budget, the State stands to lose all.
The State government will ration drinking water to address shortage this summer, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday. The Water Resources department has been taking adequate measures to ensure there is sufficient drinking water in the coming summer months, the minister told reporters. Given the depleting water levels in the State’s reservoirs, including in the Cauvery basin (KRS), Bommai said a special meeting of officials from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Water Resources department and the engineering division would be convened on Tuesday to work out suitable measures.
Rehabilitation programmes stalled owing to severe financial crunch Left high and dry by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the State Forest department has been forced to approach the State government in the hopes of getting funds for rehabilitation projects under Project Tiger in Karnataka. The department, the nodal agency responsible for Project Tiger, claims it is in the throes of a financial crisis as it has suffered a poor flow of funds for rehabilitation projects aimed at reducing human presence in tiger habitats.
BDA accused of forming sites on 6.21 acres of encroached lake bed The Mestripalya Lake at Koramangala is likely to get a fresh lease of life, after nearly seven years, with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) agreeing to fence the nine-acre lake bed soon. The BDA engineer in charge of the area told Deccan Herald that a Rs 12-lakh tender has been called to fence the lake and the work is expected to be executed in a week. The decision, however, came after much dillydallying in preparing the detailed project report (DPR), followed by getting approvals from the Lake Development Authority (LDA) and the Revenue Department.
Water pollution is a problem the residents of villages under Byramangala Gram Panchayat have been struggling to deal for more than two decades. The river, channel and the underground water lines in the 20-odd villages are all contaminated by chemical and other waste. The channel has not been desilted for about a decade. Worse, the people have to deal with the utter apathy of the authorities concerned, says Kumar, a GP employee. The farmers complain of the condition of their fields. The 17,000 acres of agricultural land in the villages are losing value. Also, the crops are affected by the pollutants. “Breeding cattle is a huge challenge as we have to keep a constant eye on them, lest they fall ill drinking water from the channel or the river,” said Rangaiah, a farmer from TB Doddi.
Depleting reservoir levels aggravate situation An acute water crisis looms large over Bangalore this summer, if the monsoon fails again as the levels of reservoirs that supply water to the City have depleted dangerously due to last year’s scarce rains. The warning comes from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), despite the Board’s delivery of an additional 500 million litres (MLD) of water to the City daily, under Cauvery IV stage II phase, last year.
In the first week of December 2012, the state government awarded a Rs 2,184-crore gas-based electricity project to Alstom, Switzerland. The company will set up the facility at Bidadi. The company will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the 700-mw project. But it is ironical that the company has been debarred by the World Bank. On February 22, 2012, the World Bank had said: “The World Bank group today announced the debarment of Alstom Hydro France and Alstom Network Schweiz AG (Switzerland)—in addition to their affiliates—for a period of three years following Alstom’s acknowledgment of misconduct in relation to a bank-financed hydropower project.”
Shettar’s letter to PM delayed process, Supreme Court told The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Centre’s plea seeking time till January 31 to notify the decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal passed in 2007. A bench of justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur, however, pulled up the Centre for failing to notify the decision by December end. The court further said it could not allow Karnataka to play “hide-and-seek” over the issue, after being informed that Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, asking him to not to notify the decision unilaterally, contributing to the delay.
