Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta Group company, has joined hands with Rajasthan Government to build a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Udaipur with an investment of Rs 170 crore.

A tripartite agreement was signed recently between Hindustan Zinc, Udaipur Municipal Corporation (UMC) and state-government owned Urban Improvement Trust. The 20 million litre per day STP will be on ‘Design Build Own Operate and Transfer’ basis. The treatment plant will treat domestic sewage and not industrial sewage.

AHMEDABAD: As many as 41% of the children in the state are underweight and 55% of the women between 15 to 45 years of age in the state are anemic. This was revealed in a Rajya Sabha session on Thursday.

Union minister of state (independent charge) for women and child development, Krishna Tirath in Rajya Sabha gave the details of the number of women and children suffering from malnutrition. Tirath was replying to a question posed by Member of Parliament from Jharkhand, Parimal Nathwani.

Outside the shiny MCD building near Moolchand flyover sits security guard Aslam. He has been guarding the seven-star toilet-cum-coffee shop against vandals for more than a year and half now. The toilet complex, constructed ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, has never been used. It is among the nine prototypes that were built two years ago. The plan was to replicate them across the city.

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.

Non-government organisation Sulabh International on Thursday said it would give a Rs.2-lakh cash reward to newly-married Priyanka of Kanchanpur Kuiya village in Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh who refused to go to her in-laws' house because it lacked a proper toilet. The NGO, working in the field of sanitation, has also decided to build a toilet at her in-laws' home.

UN report rates Mumbai, Kolkata as below average

Three big cities — Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore — have been rated below average compared to other mega cities in Asia-Pacific in terms of keeping pollution levels in check, said a report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Delhi is the only Indian city featured in the average category. The Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012 titled One Planet to Share: Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate today came out with a green ranking of 22 cities in the Asia-Pacific

This is the pitiful state of the residents of the locality on the HMT Watch Factory-Jalahalli Road. What may seem like sheer incivility of the people is a situation they have been pushed into. Rajesh, a resident, said: “Most of us earn a living by working as construction labourers and hardly earn money for two meals a day. With great difficulty, we have been able to build these concrete houses, but, due to the lack of drainage facilities, no toilets were built.”

The Railways have found a way around a lingering problem: passengers with reservations on long-distance trains on South Eastern Railway will now get bottles of phenyl-like substances to ensure hygiene in toilets on board. The experiment will start in the air-conditioned coaches on Duronto and other long-distance trains that take more than 30 hours to reach their destinations. If the experiment is successful, it will be introduced in more trains.

even years after unveiling the rural job guarantee scheme, the Centre on Tuesday announced a major extension of scope of works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in a bid to revive demand for jobs, which witnessed over 20 per cent dip in the last financial year.

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday tabled the “MNREGA 2.0 — the second generation reforms” for the flag scheme in both Houses of Parliament