SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Wednesday inaugurated the Lake View Cottages and Orchid Lake Cottages near the scenic Umiam Lake constructed under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Ministry of
Agartala: Sipahijala zoo authorities will soon launch a project of captive breeding of four endangered animals -- spectacles monkey, clouded leopard, binturong and pigtailed macaque, official sources said here on Tuesday. All the four species of animals are found in Tripura but they are virtually on the verge of extinction elsewhere in the country.
Shillong: With climate changes being felt in the 'Scotland of the East' and the world in general, the urgency to sensitise people, particularly the students, about global warming and adopt measures to address climate change was emphasised by many conscientious citizens. A step towards this goal was the screening of a documentary -- An Inconvenient Truth -- which was initiated by former US Vice-President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, which speaks about the threats of global warming to mankind and the earth, at the Soso Tham Auditorium here.
From Our Spl Correspondent Implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a vital rural development programme in the country, in Meghalaya has been tardy, according to an official assessment here on Wednesday. Besides Meghalaya, 12 other states - Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland in North East, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh - are not doing well in this programme. "In all these states, the ministry feels that the performance so far is a cause of concern," the assessment said.
SHILLONG: It takes a big jolt to shake citizens out of their complacency. But repeated tremors in the past two days have put people on notice. The tremor that shook Shillong at dawn on Monday was serious enough to make the authorities of a local school do an earthquake drill. Children were asked to take shelter under the table and told that was what they should do in case an earthquake strikes. As per data received from Upper Shillong Central Seismological Observatory (CSO), in the last nine years, from 2000 to 2008, as many as 187 tremors have shaken Shillong city.
SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister Hoping Stone Lyngdoh has stuck to his guns on the uranium issue, saying he was even opposed to the idea of setting up the All-Party Committee on Uranium Mining by the MPA Government. Mr Lyngdoh on Monday said he still held the view that "no expert in the world is able to help protect people from radiation of uranium."
Cabinet decides to seek fresh MoAs on 4 hydel projects SHILLONG: Bowing to prolonged public outcry, the MPA Cabinet on Thursday abrogated two major deals on three power projects that, it said, were inked by the former Congress-led Government with different private firms in violation of the State Power Policy. The government also decided to go for fresh MoAs with the other parties on four hydel power projects. The deals scrapped by the government include those entered into with Athena Project Private Limited on Kynshi Stage I and Jay Pee Group on Umngot and Kynshi Stage II.
JOWAI: Concerned over the devastating effect of mining on environment and its components, the Jaintia Forum for Biodiversity and Cultural Heritage (JFBCH) has urged the Central and the State Government and all the concerned authorities to stop issuing the clearance certificates for expansion of all the existing cements plants in Jaintia Hills District.
Shillong: The Langrin Youth Welfare Association (LYWA) has reiterated its opposition to the proposed mining of uranium by the UCIL in the State. In a letter to Chief Minister Dr Donkupar Roy here on Friday, LYWA president BS Lyngdoh stated that nearly 90 per cent of the people in the area in West Khasi Hills are totally against the proposed uranium mining project at Phodkylleng-Pyndensohiong in West Khasi Hills district.
SHILLONG: The All-Party Committee on Uranium Mining has recommended formation of three expert groups to study health hazards and radiation effects before making a final recommendation to the State Government on the sensitive issue. The all-party panel, which met here for the first time on Friday, asked the government to constitute two groups of experts to study the health and environmental impacts of uranium mining in and around Mawthabah, West Khasi Hills.
SHILLONG: In a bid to deal with indiscriminate slashing of forests for charcoal manufacturing, the Forest and Environment Department has notified the Meghalaya Charcoal (Control of Production, Storage, Trade and Transit) Rules 2008.
