Reactors renewal
A plan to extend the life of Hungary's only nuclear power plant has sparked protests from environmentalists. The four reactors in the southern town of Paks supply around 40 per cent of Hungary's
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Goa regional plan has public up in arms
After a delay of over six years, Goa has a 400-page blueprint for development. But the Goa Final Regional Plan 2011 has environmental groups, urban planners and the public up in arms. They want it to
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Subsidised by mining
Over the past few years, Indian plants pay Rs 40 per tonne of limestone as royalty to state governments. According to information provided to the Green Rating Project, on an average, industry spent Rs 74 per tonne of limestone used for all mining and related activities (including royalties, dead rent, operating expenses and reclamation).
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Heavy metal
Russia recently imposed a ban on salmon imports from Norway from January 1, 2006. Moscow cited dangerously high levels of lead and cadmium in the fish and inadequate Norwegian monitoring system, as
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Creating another deluge?
The Concerned Citizen's Commission, a coalition of citizens groups, has submitted its enquiry report on the Mumbai deluge of July 26, 2005. The report holds poor drainage, sanitation and waste management system to be primarily responsible for the floods. But the Maharashtra government is yet to pay heed to the report. Rather, it is busy de-silting river Mithi, a task inaugurated a few weeks ago.
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DISASTER AVERTED?
Katrina leaves chemical plants intact, says EPA; environmentalists not convinced
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Cleaning up its act
The uk has adopted the decentralisation mantra for tackling environmental crime. Its Clean Neighbour hoods and Environment Act, which recently received the Royal nod, increases local authorities'
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Mandatory reforms
<font face=arial size=3 color=#CE181E><b>•</b></font> Adopting modern accrual-based double entry accounting system with e-governance features such as GIS and MIS<br> <br> <font face=arial size=3 color=#CE181E><b>•</b></font> Reform of property tax with GIS<br>
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Largest suppliers of uranium charged with inadequate safety measures in Niger
Auranium mining company operating in Arlit city in Niger has been accused of adopting inadequate safety measures, following findings that the radioactive metal was harming the local population.
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Delhi wants to supply Bangladesh village with solar power
New Delhi has proposed that India will provide a village in Bangladesh with solar electric supply as part of the energy cooperation initiative in the SAARC region. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Sunday sent a letter to the foreign ministry proposing that Delhi wanted to install solar power systems in one of the villages in Bangladesh for electric supply to 300 home-lights and 50 streetlights. The foreign ministry forwarded the letter to the Power Division on Monday, sources in the division said. In the letter, Delhi suggested that Dhaka should send in the names of 2 or 3 villages to choose one from among. A team of experts of India will select the village after visiting the proposed sites. The letter said Delhi had made the proposal to provide one village with solar power in keeping with the decision on energy cooperation made at the 14th SAARC Summit in April 2007. Sources in the Power Division said the Rural Electrification Board was no Monday advised to send in the names of three remote villages, especially in coastal areas, where it would not be possible for the government to supply power from the national grid.
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Sonia, PM all ears to farmers ahead of kisan budget
AHEAD of the Union budget, which is expected to make major announcements for the farm sector, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met farmers' representatives from Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan here on Thursday. A large number of farmers from these states were given audience with Ms Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence in a bid to give her an opportunity to directly understand their problems, the party said. Congress leaders who attended the meeting said Ms Gandhi had assured them that "she would talk to PM and the FM' about their concerns. However, the Congress chief has already conveyed her message to the government that the budget should be aimed at the
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Protect forests, save wildlife in CHT
Speakers at a discussion meeting here yesterday urged the government to protect forests and the ecology to save the wildlife in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). They called for creating awareness and strict enforcement of environment laws. The meeting, held at the Zilla Shilpakala Academy hall room in the hill town, was organised by scouts. Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Mohammad Khalilur Rahman was present as chief guest while Pankhaiya Para High School Headmaster and District Scouts Coordinator Omar Faruk presided over the function. They also urged local environmental activists and NGO officials to work united to save the environment and the ecology for the sake of humans. Once the ecology is destroyed, it creates a chain affect, which will bing disaster for all, the speakers said. Officials, teachers, journalists, NGO representatives and civil society members and enrironmentalists attended the meeting. After the meeting, a colorful rally, joined by hundreds of people, was brought out in the town to create awareness about the need for protecting the environment.
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Call for prompt steps to protect rhinos
Following the repeated killing of rhinos at the world heritage site Kaziranga, the AASU organised a citizens' meet on the premises of Kaziranga Convention Centre on Sunday. The meet was chaired by Jatin Bora, the vice-president of AASU and was attended by over a thousand people. In the meeting AASU adviser Dr Sammujjal Bhattacharyya opined that the State government must save Kaziranga by any means. Taking part in the meet, Saumayadeep Dutta of Natures Beckon said that the Forest department authorities were not up to their task in regard to protection of the fauna. On the other hand, several speakers urged for quick action to save Kaziranga. The other speakers were Arup Kr Dutta, Dr Umesh Deka, Dr Biren Barthakur, Arun Goswami, Nava Thakuria, AASU general secretary Tapan Kr Gohain etc. The speakers urged the Forest department to take immediate action to save the rhinos.
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Rs 2-cr aid for snow-hit areas
In the wake of widespread damage due to the recent snowfall, the state government today released Rs 2 crore under the Natural Calamity Relief Fund (NCRF) scheme. Chief secretary B.R. Kundal after taking a comprehensive review of the damage caused to the property and infrastructure due to unprecedented snowfall in Jammu released the money. At least eight districts in Jammu region have been badly affected by the recent calamity. In Doda and Kishtwar, a couple of high transmission towers, too, had been damaged. Kundal released the money after taking into consideration reports furnished by different deputy commissioners. Out of this fund, Rs 1.50 crore will be placed at the disposal of the PDD for installing new electricity poles in far-flung areas of affected districts.
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60,000 ton waste drained away
Over 60,000 ton waste has been removed from the open drains and sewerage pipes in 10 localities of Lahore during the past six months by the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa). As a result of desiltation, sewage water flow in the Mian Mir, Sattu Katla, Samanabad, Gulshan-i-Ravi, Sabzazar, Babu Sabu, Awan Town, Shadbagh, Gulberg and Shadman had improved significantly, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. "The city's main drains are now capable of surviving water flow, especially during the upcoming monsoon season, from localities like Jail Road, Upper Mall, Gulberg, Shah Jamal, Iqbal Town, Muslim Town, Wahdat Colony, Garden Town and Samanabad,' the spokesperson added. The desiltation of open drains and sewerage system in Lahore was launched in January last year with the Rs789 million Japanese government's assistance.
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U.S. assumes satellite's fuel tank destroyed
The Defence Department said on Monday it had a "high degree of confidence' that the missile fired at a dead U.S. spy satellite in space destroyed the satellite's fuel tank as planned. In its most definitive statement yet on the outcome of last Wednesday's shootdown over the Pacific, the Pentagon said based on debris analysis it is clear the Navy missile destroyed the fuel tank, "reducing, if not eliminating, the risk to people on Earth from the hazardous chemical.' The tank had 454 kg of hydrazine, a toxic substance that U.S. government officials believed posed a potential health hazard to humans if the satellite had descended to Earth on its own. The presence of the hydrazine was cited by U.S. officials as the main reason to shoot down the satellite
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Forex inflows still a 'challenge': Survey
Govt's annual report doubts ability to eliminate revenue deficit. Calling double-digit growth a tough task, the government today cited foreign capital inflow and inflation as the macroeconomic challenge to high sustained growth in its Economic Survey for 2007-08. "If you wish me to sum up in one phrase the outlook for 2008-09, I would say optimism but with caution is the watchword,' Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after presenting the Survey in Parliament. The annual report card on the economy also said the target of bringing the revenue deficit down to zero by 2008-09 would "remain a challenge,' pointing to a step-up in expenditure as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance prepares for general elections next year. Though bullish on growth, the Survey has sounded an unmistakable note of caution on the capital inflows that the country has seen in the last several months. As these inflows are substantially higher than what the country needs to cover its trade deficit, these funds threaten to raise prices, leading to a tighter monetary policy. This, in turn, is threatening to capital investments in the country. As the sub-prime crisis unfolds in the US and Europe, global investors are likely to be more risk-averse and are, therefore, likely to cut investments in emerging markets like India, the Survey says. However, this could be balanced out by the increased liquidity created by Western Central Banks to deal with the crisis. "On balance, the decline in capital inflows as a proportion of GDP in 2008 is likely to be modest,' the Survey notes. There could be a softening in global commodity prices because of the moderate slowdown in the world economy led by the sub-prime crisis in the US, the Survey says. However, the slowdown could hurt Indian exports, resulting in a modest increase in the country's deficit in trade of goods and services, unless the US slowdown turns into a severe recession, it adds. The Survey also lists radical policy reform options. These include allowing regulated private entry into coal mining, phasing out controls on sugar, fertiliser and drug industries, opening up all retail trade to foreign investment, raising foreign ownership of insurance companies from 26 per cent to 49 per cent (51 per cent for companies operating in the rural sector) and allowing foreign companies to set up fully-owned rural banks. Some of these options like opening retail and insurance sectors have been debated internally by the government in the past. However, opposition from its Communist allies has made it put these proposals on the backburner. The Survey does not mention how actively these options are being considered by the government. However, a finance ministry official told Business Standard that these are the policy reforms that need to be undertaken if the country wants to move to the high growth trajectory. "Hopefully, the inputs will be picked and debated for implementation. These are suggestions and not recommendations,' the official said. In addition, the Survey calls for amending the Factories Act that would allow companies to meet seasonal ups and downs in demand and new bankruptcy laws to facilitate the exit of old management as expeditiously as possible. It also lists an ambitious disinvestment programme of listing all closely-held public sector companies and auctioning all loss-making units that cannot be revived. For the first three years of its rule (2004-07), the government kept its word to the Left parties and did no disinvestment at all. It was only earlier this year that it decided to list all its power utilities.
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India bails out small farmers in pre-election budget
India's Congress-led government announced on Friday a 15 billion dollars loan bailout for small farmers in a populist pre-election budget targeting the party's traditional poor rural supporters. Finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, releasing the budget for the year starting April 1 as India's blistering economic growth has begun to slow, announced a 600 billion rupees ($15.05b) relief plan. Some 30 million indebted farmers' loans would be fully waived and another 10 million would receive aid, said Chidambaram, who presented the budget ahead of nine state elections slated this year followed by national polls in early 2009. He pledged to wrestle down the fiscal deficit and tame inflation. But the lack of any big corporate incentives along with the debt giveaway dismayed the stock market which tumbled nearly 1.4 per cent.
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Conservator of forest suspended
The Punjab government has suspended from service Tariq Mahmood, forests conservator and Lal Sohanra National Park administrator. According to a notification issued by Punjab Forest Secretary Naveed Akram Cheema, Mahmood was suspended due to his alleged connivance in a large-scale damage to forests in Rahim Yar Khan Forest division amounting to Rs500 million. The chief conservator of forests, southern zone, reported against the Bahawalpur conservator. The notification said the retention of Mr Mehmood as conservator of forests was not in public interests and as such he was suspended for 90 days. Sheikh Muhammad Irshad, conservator of forests, DG Khan, has been given the additional charge of Bahawalpur zone. Dawn learnt the former conservator had reportedly damaged forests in Rahim Yar Khan. On these complaints, the high-ups of the Forest Department sought his reports. In his replies, as the action speaks, the authorities expressed their dissatisfaction and eventually placed him under suspension. As the copy of the suspension notification has been issued to the chief minister's inspection team and an inquiry against Mahmood may be conducted by the team.
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Loan waiver not fair to Punjab farmers: Badal
Bathinda: Dubbing the loan waiver announced by the Union government for Punjab farmers as a classic example of "administering medicine for cold to a person suffering from cancer', Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said Punjab farmers were not meted out fair treatment by the Centre while announcing the relief. The CM said focus should have been on reducing input costs like diesel prices and fertiliser costs for ushering in sustainability in the agricultural sector. Badal was in Malooka village near here today to participate in the bhog ceremony of Chatin Kaur, mother of Akali leader Sikander Singh Malooka. He dwelt upon the need for setting up an all-party expert committee comprising agri-experts to bail out state farmers from the crisis. Badal said only 29 per cent farmers of Punjab