The tigers of the Tadoba reserve in Vidarbha region, have new owners. They are the tribals who live in the 79 villages just outside the reserve (known as the buffer zone), who have been given a direct economic stake in the well-being of the tigers. “Visitors who wish to see the tigers in the buffer zone have to pay a fee to the village,” said a senior forest official. “And, each party travelling in that area has to hire a guide, who must be a tribal, and pay him Rs200, up from the Rs100 earlier. This gives the tribals a sense of ownership in the wellbeing of the tigers.”

The Supreme Court has refused to re-examine its judgement and expunge the adverse remarks made in it against Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) on the issue of land acquisition for Omkareshwar Dam project in Madhya Pradesh. The apex court dismissed the review petitions filed by the NBA saying that the May 11, 2011 judgement “does not suffer from any mistake” and “no ground is made out” for review of the September 29, 2011 order by which it had declined to expunge the adverse remarks against the NBA in the verdict.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced that 50 per cent seats of Van Panchayat Sarpanch will be reserved for women in addition to which, all Van Panchayat members will be insured by the State Government. The Chief Minister made these announcements while speaking at a State level workshop on strengthening and developing Van Panchayats organised by the Forest Department on Monday.

A day after Maoists killed six CISF personnel and a driver inside the biggest iron ore mining facility in the country, the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) complex here remained unguarded. Locals dropped in, “examined” the damaged Bolero, went through belongings of the deceased, noted the bullet marks and clicked photographs and made video films, even picking up the occasional empty shells.

Noted population expert T. V. Antony has expressed concern over the increasing population in Rajasthan, saying it would adversely affect the State's growth rate and reduce livelihood opportunities significantly in the near future.

Mr. Antony, who is State adviser to the Rajiv Gandhi Population & Health Mission, said at a meeting of medical officers in Alwar on Wednesday that any programme for population control can succeed only with proper awareness among the rural populace. The departments concerned will also need to work in mutual coordination, he added.

In the run-up to next month’s Rio+20 sustainable development conference in Brazil, the UN Asia-Pacific Human Development Report takes a hard look at how an extremely dynamic region can build rural resilience and create cities that can adapt to climate change.

The study also determined that 'in terms of total population', the largest city by 2020 is likely to be Tokyo with 37 million people, followed by New Delhi with 26 million. The report argues that in the face of climate change, Asia-Pacific nations 'will need to move to greener, more resilient, lower-emission options that not only sustain the environment but also offer opportunities to the poor'.

Process on to give jobs to members of displaced families
Jammu: After a struggle of nearly two decades, there is some good news for the displaced families of Ranjit Sagar Dam which had been left out from the employment package offered by the dam authorities, which have now initiated the process to fulfil their commitment of providing jobs to them.

Faridkot: The state government had acquired large chunks of land for some specific projects many years ago. With the government failing to implement the projects, the land at many places has become a cause of protracted litigation. The original owners of the land, mainly farmers, want it back as its market value has increased manifold.

For instance, in 1977-78, the Education Department had acquired about 22 acres along the Kotkapura-Faridkot road for the construction of a B.Ed college. That time, it was a waterlogged area and the farmers readily agreed to give their land.

BHUBANESWAR: With patience running thin after a long wait to see its greenfield projects in Odisha and Jharkhand take off, ArcelorMittal seems to have learnt it the hard way that the wait has to be much longer. And hours after a ‘harsh’ statement from the company spokesperson in New Delhi, the State Government said it would review the project’s progress.

India-shy L N Mittal, the company CEO, had told his shareholders at a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday that Indian projects may not see the light for the next five to 10 years.

Washington, 8 May: India’s population aged 50 and above is expected to double by 2050 when nearly one-third of its total population would fall in this age group, according to a US census. As per 2010 census, 19,18,53,000 people in India were of 50 years and above, which made about 16.4 per cent of the total population.