JOWAI: With an aim of spreading the message to the younger generation and to the people residing in the mineral rich, East Jaintia Hills District that water is a finite source, a day long mass awa

SHILLONG: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma on Friday expressed serious concern over the decline in the agricultural work force in the State.

SHILLONG: The Government-run public transport system in the city – the SPTS bus service and the SSPTS maxi taxi service – has been appreciated by the Central Government, Principal Secretary, Urban Affairs, P Naik claimed here.

Naik informed that a meeting was held in New Delhi recently on the JNNURM projects and Meghalaya was largely appreciated for its public transport system in the form of SPTS buses and maxi taxis that is catering to the commuters of the city.

SHILLONG: The Centre is likely to release a total amount of Rs 43 crore by the first week of June for the proposed computerisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the State, official sou

The Centre for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based public interest research and advocacy organisation, has called for a public transport strategy for the Northeast.

SHILLONG: Union Minister for Rural Development, Jairam Ramesh, has cleared a new set of PMGSY works in Meghalaya including 75 roads covering a length of 267 km and three bridges at the cost of Rs 231 crore.

The Union Minister, however, said that the State Government would have to fulfill certain conditions before commencing the tender process.

The Asian Development Bank will maintain its lending rate to India of about $2 billion per annum for the next three years, which will be invested in power, transportation, water and sanitation, the multilateral bank’s president Takehiko Nakao said on Sunday.

Nakao added that the bank had identified some projects where the money may be invested in, but declined to specify in detail. “At this point, it is not a good idea to say what projects we are thinking because it is subject to discussions in the board of directors, but of course we are looking at specific projects. Our investment to India is very broad-based.

SHILLONG: The Wildlife Trust of India and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, New Delhi, have taken strong note of the recent detection of poaching of endangered species of animals in the State and sought a report from the Meghalaya forest officials on the action taken in this regard.

The forest staff had apprehended as many as 25 poachers on April 24 last and seized the body parts of endangered deer among others from Mawkarah village in West Khasi Hills district.

Conservator Aparajita Datta has won the Whitley Award, also called "Green Oscar", for her work to save threatened hornbills in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh.

MAWPUN: The State Fisheries Research and Training Institute, complete with low cost fibre reinforced plastic hatchery was launched at Mawpun, near Umroi on Thursday. Inaugurating the building and hatchery, State PWD Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar lauded the Fisheries Department for what he termed as a “quality initiative” in the State.

The PWD Minister officiated as Chief Guest in place of Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma who was pre-occupied. Stating that the Fisheries Research and Training Institute would enable farmers to be trained closer home instead of being sent outside the State, Dhar said, “I recently sent 20 farmers from my constituency to Mumbai for training.