The govt intends to construct about 20,000 units annually under the scheme

To meet the growing demand for affordable housing in the state, the government is planning to build 5000 housing units immediately under a new scheme.
"Immediately we plan to take up a project at Gothapatana, on the outskirt of the city. The housing units will be built on 15-20 acres of land out of 100 acres identified there ", Injeti Srinivas, Secretary , Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department, said on the sideline of a state level workshop on Affordable Urban Housing of Odisha-2012.

State Authority, Affected People Not Consulted

Mumbai: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar might have apologized for his callous “urinating-in-the-dam” statement that belittled the tragedy of Maharashtra’s farmers facing the worst drought in decades. But his apathy for them predates the blunder by years.
Between 2003 and 2011, as the water resources minister and then finance minister, Pawar chaired or partook in a high-powered committee that diverted almost 2,000 million cubic metre (mcm) of water meant for irrigation to industries.

Pune: The regional office of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has disbursed Rs 7,348.39 crore for agriculture and rural development across the state.

The amount — which is 22% higher than the previous year — has been allotted for the financial year 2012-13. M V Ashok, chief general manager of Nabard regional office, said, “Nabard has also decided to converge the watershed development projects with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS).

Focus On Health Of Kids, Pregnant Women

Lucknow: The state nutrition mission, approved by the state cabinet here on Monday, will begin with 41 high-focus districts. These districts, say officials in the state Health department, account for high rate of malnutrition. The list includes Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Ballia, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich, Barabanki, Shravasti, Gonda and Balrampur besides the Bundelkhand region.

New Delhi: The state environment department is in quite a fix over its plastic bag ban. The first time it banned the bag in 2009 it was on directions of the Delhi high court. The second ban, imposed in 2012 on its own initiative, has been stayed by the same court based on a petition by the plastic bags manufacturers. Now with the Supreme Court asking state governments for the status of plastic waste management in their respective areas, Delhi government is hoping for some respite.

800 Tonnes Created Daily, It Comprises 80% Of Trash Reaching Landfills

New Delhi: Delhi is among the largest producers of plastic waste in the country generating over 800 metric tonnes per day. Around 750 metric tonnes reach landfill sites daily of which roughly 80% are plastic bags and packaging materials. In fact, the capital is among nine cities across India where plastic forms more than 10% of the total waste generated. What makes it more embarrassing for the local government is that plastic bags have been banned in the city since 2009, and not just once but twice.

Solid waste collected by the Dharamsala Municipal Council is being disposed of in an unscientific manner despite the fact that the civic body is spending lakhs of rupees for the purpose.

The green revalidation for the Korean major is stuck with the expert panel

Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan has said the government has not firmed up its views on green clearance for the Rs 52,000-crore Posco project in Odisha. The expert appraisal committee (EAC) was yet to submit its report to her ministry. “It is only after they submit the report that we can think about the final clearances,” Natarajan told Business Standard.

Says river’s catchment area is fragile and falls under Zone V seismic belt

Citing the fragility and seismic nature of the Yamuna catchment as one of the reasons for not going ahead with the construction of dams, a Delhi-based non-government organisation, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, has written to the Planning Commission to refrain from funding construction of the proposed Lakhwar Byasi hydroelectric dam project over the river.

Global Forest Watch 2.0 (GFW 2.0) is a powerful near real-time forest monitoring system launching this spring that combines satellite technology, new algorithms, cloud computing, mobile phone techn