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INDIA

India's foodgrain production is likely to cross the 200 million tonne mark this year. Barring certain areas in Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, which were hit by cloudburst, the country on the whole had a good rainfall. The Union agricultural minister, Chaturanan Mishra said that in order to increase production, more funds are needed for irrigation, fertilisers and seeds.

A 140 MW integrated solar combine cycle power project, with a solar component of 35 MW, will set up at Methane, near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The project will be executed by the Rajasthan state government with grants and soft loans from the World Bank and Germany.

Despite protests from environmentalists, the Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO) will invest in the Gopalpur integrated steel plant in Orissa. With this, TISCO has put to rest speculation that it may pull out of Gopalpur and relocate it in Jamshedpur.

Haryana will get a financial assis-tance worth Rs 2,100 crore from the World Bank to improve the power situation in the state. Chief minister Bansi Lal said that the state would be self-sufficient in power within two years and that there would be no scarcity even in the rural areas.

Justice M F Saldanha of the Karnataka High Court, who was chosen one of the ten best judges in the world by the International Jurists Association, passed two orders last fortnight making emission tests a must for all vehicles from October 2 and helmets mandatory for two-wheeler riders. The order comes at a time when Bangalore has become one of the most polluted cities in the country.

According to the WHO, the arsenic contamination of drinking water in West Bengal is becoming worse. According to an estimate, about 38 million are running the risk of arsenic poisoning in the state where at least two million drink unsafe water everyday.

The Kaziranga National Park in Guwahati will get Rs 50.75 lakh from the Centre for the conservation of the rhino and for the development of the flood ravaged areas of the Park.

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