Orissa, Raipur to reply
The Supreme Court asked the Orissa and Chhattisgarh governments to submit their responses, within two weeks, to the report of the Central Empowered Committee, on Polavaram project and said that the next hearing shall take place four weeks later. The Central Empowered Committee, set up by the Supreme Court, had …
World Bank team visits coastal areas in Nagapattinam
A team of World Bank officials from New Delhi inspected vulnerable coastal areas in Nagapattinam district to probe the feasibility of constructing houses within 1000 metres from the sea. Officer on Special Duty (Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation), Tamil Nadu Government, C.V. Sankar, accompanied the team led by Christoph Pusch, which …
Miscreants bold, officials mute and crusaders lonely
A small section of citizens fighting to protect and preserve water bodies in the southern suburbs of Chennai find themselves alone as miscreants continue to have a free run damaging the precious natural resources with people's representatives and the government machinery maintaining a stoic silence. A hue and cry was …
RGVN funds projects for drought relief
RGVN, the premier development support organization working for the upliftment of the poor in the North East and Eastern India, sanctioned Rs 36 lakh to NGOs/SHG for innovative agriculture and microfinance projects on November 13 last. Together with the sanction of Rs 44 lakh in August '06, the total amount …
Japan lifts tsunami alert after initial panic
Tsunami alerts issued after an 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Japan's northern coast have been lifted, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. However, Japan's Meteorological Agency, on its website, showed watches were still in effect for most of the eastern Pacific coast of Hokkaido. Residents along Japan's Pacific coast had …
Tsunami alert in Japan and Russia after massive quake
A massive earthquake struck the northern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, triggering fears of tsunami waves from Japan to Canada to Indonesia, officials said. The earthquake was magnitude 8.1, some 600 km northeast of Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The area where the quake …
Mizoram villagers face acute famine
The denizens of Mizoram's Champhai district, especially Puilo, Dulte and Chhawrtui villages, are facing acute famine as most of their paddy fields or jhums (shifting cultivation) have been completely destroyed by armies of rats triggered by gregarious bamboo flowering, locally called mautam. About 100 kilometres east of Aizawl, Puilo hamlet, …
Geo-technical survey to be done for SEZ
The apprehension of floods in the Beas would be a deciding factor in the selection of a site for the proposed SEZ in Nurpur subdivision of Kangra district. The infrastructure developer for the project, DC Constructions, would appoint a consultant to get a geo-technical survey done in the area before …
CM for private participation in hydro projects
Efforts are on to ensure equity participation in major hydroelectric projects in order to derive maximum benefits for the Himachal Pradesh. This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while inaugurating the four day-long Lavi international fair at Rampur. "The precedent of equity participation was started with the signing of …
Seismic survey may pose grave threat to species
Even though the State is no stranger to conservation groups and NGOs, the major concerns raised by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the proposed seismic survey of the Brahmaputra riverbed are yet to be scientifically assessed. Materials made available to The Assam Tribune suggest both flora and fauna …
OIL gets green signal for seismic survey project
After a public hearing called by the Pollution Control Board of Assam in Dibrugarh on October 30 failed to break the deadlock that had arisen out of the Oil India Limited's decision to carry out a seismic survey on the Brahmaputra river bed, another similar hearing was called at the …
Mulayam promises law to punish 'those behind starvation deaths'
As if starvation deaths are not natural but solely the cause of erring authorities, and not that of the Statre, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav promised to enact a law to deal with those responsible for starvation deaths in the state. "This law would also have the provision …
Rs 1.57 b for J&K areas hit by earthquake
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approve an ad hoc grant of Rs 1.57 billion to be spent on reconstruction of infrastructure, including power projects, hospitals, schools and roads, hit by last year's earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was taken at a meeting to review the progress of the reconstruction …
Parched in Australia
Australia long hot summer has barely begun but already the dams are running dry, crops are stunted form lack of water and livestock markets are being over whelmed by farmers trying to sell sheep and cattle they cannot feed. Australia drought is now in its fourth year, and out in …
Hi-tech tsunami warning system for coastal areas
A hi-tech tsunami warning system would soon be installed along the coasts in the country, said P S Goel, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences. Inaugurating an international conference on Research Advances in Marine Antifouling Technology at the National Institute of Ocean Technology, he said,
CM denies starvation deaths in Bundelkhand
Denying reports that people are forced to commit suicide due to starvation and debt chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav challenged anyone to prove that people were dying of starvation in Bundelkhand region. No death has occurred due to starvation anywhere in the state,' the Chief Minister said.
Gurgaon wakes up to disaster management
The Gurgaon administration has called up a meeting to sensitise its machinery to avert any major disaster, natural or man-made. All possible hazards to the Cyber City had been discussed with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Keeping terrorist attacks and chemical disaster the focal points, a mock exercise will …
CM wants to modernise delta region
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy assured that the government would modernise the Krishna western delta region at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore to prevent floods, which every year, causes havoc in the eastern parts of Prakasam district. He revealed that the design of the Krishna western delta was planned …
