“The wild tiger continues to remain endangered the world over”

As many as 32 tigers have died this year, even as latest official data showed an increase in the population estimates of the big cats. Of these, 18 were natural deaths, Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said. Expressing concern over the endangered status of the tiger the world over, Ms. Natarajan on Tuesday said the Ministry was looking into the reasons for the deaths.

The LPG import terminal project of IndianOil Petronas Pvt Ltd (IPPL) near Chennai that can help in speeding up cooking gas supplies to millions of households in the South, especially Tamil Nadu, is facing delay in its commissioning for want of a clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment.

The Ennore terminal had been completed in all respects and was got ready for commissioning by March itself, say sources in Indian Oil Corporation.The wait, according to IPPL officials, is for the CRZ (coastal regulation zone) clearance from the Ministry for the pipelines connecting the jetty at the Ennore port and the terminal. A length of 675 m is falling in the CRZ zone, they add.

The Annual Plan for Punjab for the current fiscal has been finalised at Rs.14,000 crore at a meeting here between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Initiating the discussions on Punjab's Plan performance, Mr. Ahluwalia lauded the State Government's efforts towards improving the health of the State's economy as also initiatives targeted at providing a boost to sectors such as health and education.

A variety of birds flock the recovered stream within 48 hours

For the past couple of weeks Rakesh Kumar with his borrowed binoculars and relentless patience has been busy tracking and keeping record of the varieties and number of birds that have begun to flock to a small water body inside a park in Dwarka's Pochanpur village. The water body that has become home to the winged visitors has been revived in a park maintained by the Delhi Development Authority.

In the aftermath of the recent visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and an indication of rising U.S. pressure not to deal with Iran working, the Central Government, on Tuesday, admitted that it had cut the crude oil supplies from Iran by 11 per cent to 15.5 million tonnes this fiscal.

‘DG Shipping guidelines for granting licence to LNG vessels should be kept in abeyance'

Keeping in mind the continued shortfall in domestic gas production and the mounting demand for gas, an inter-Ministerial Committee has pitched for flexibility in transportation of LNG and keeping in abeyance the guidelines of Director-General (Shipping) for grant of licence to LNG vessels.

Demand for liquefied natural gas likely to go up in international market

The shutting down of nuclear power plants in Japan in the wake of the disaster borne out of massive tremor and tsunami there will have an impact on the energy scenario in Kerala. Projects based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), including the project to be commissioned in Kochi later this year, will have to chalk out strategies to face the increased demand for LNG in the international market.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, to formulate a comprehensive pharmaceutical policy aimed at making essential drugs more affordable to the common man, on Monday, met leading lights of the pharmaceutical industry to elicit their views on the issue.

The GoM is mainly examining the issues related to regulating prices of 348 drugs. Pharmaceutical representatives, including Zydus Cadila Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj R. Patel, and Dr. Reddy's Managing Director and COO Satish Reddy, presented their views to the GoM on the new policy.

With no end in sight to the continuing tussle between Coal India Limited (CIL) and power producers over the fuel supply issues, the Power Ministry has petitioned the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to intervene and settle the issue pertaining to signing of new fuel supply agreements (FSAs) and some controversial clauses in it.

Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan, came under attack from the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, for failing to save the Ganga and the Himalayas, but Speaker Meira Kumar reposed faith in her.

During the discussion on the steps taken by the government to protect the Ganga from pollution, and the Himalayas from ruthless exploitation, most Opposition members attacked the Congress, and were critical of the Environment Minister.