Pranbihanga Borpuzari For a government grappling with high inflation and continuing the growth story, coal sector reforms may prove to be the magic wand it needed to carry on with the splendid economic performance. Many believe that reforms in the coal sector, particularly private sector participation, could be the panacea. But, many attempts by the government to usher in changes in the sector had faces with stiff opposition.
Minor tremor measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale was recorded in the Surat city on Tuesday, an official said. However, no damage of properties were reported from any part of the city, district officals added. "The tremor was of 3.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale with epicentre located north-east of Surat city," said B K Rastogi, Director of Institute of Sesmological Research, Gandhinagar. According to sources, the tremor was felt in the Chowk Bazar, Katargam, Wade Road, Rander and other areas of Surat at 1427 hours where people were seen rushing out of the buildings.
A day-long awareness program on biodiversity and its conservation was held at Swahid Akshyendra High School premises recently. The program was sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, as a part of National Enviroment Awareness campaign and organized by Survival, an NGO in association with Assam Science Society. The program began with art and slogan writing competition among the students.
Despite fish being a favourite dish among the people of Asom the annual production is around 1.75 lakh tonnes only against the total requirement of 2.95 lakh tonnes. Moreover, a lion share of the local fish have dried up, thereby creating a lacuna in supply and demand and compelling the State to get imported fish supply from Andhra Pradesh and other States.
Indian States bordering Bangladesh have become vulnerable to bird flu with the country continuing to be a breeding ground for the disease, officials here said on Monday. "Forty-seven of the 64 districts in Bangladesh are hit by bird flu. With the authorities failing to control the disease and no efforts at checking smuggling of poultry and poultry products, bordering Indian States are becoming vulnerable to avian influenza,' said Ashish Roy Burman, Director of Tripura's Animal Resource Development (ARD) Department.
The Centre has approved 86 tourism projects for north-eastern States, including 11 for Tripura, during 2007-08 and released Rs 13,970.58 lakh out of the total sanctioned amount of Rs 17,468.72 lakh for the region. Official sources said here today that the Union Tourism Ministry had accorded top priority to development of tourism in the region as it had great potential for employment generation and economic growth.
Activists agitating for the relocation of the Tata Group's Dhamra project to save the Olive Ridley turtles It was a sight to behold at the seafront near Mumbai Port Trust garden, opposite Bakhtawar building at Colaba. Volunteers from Greenpeace lit thousands of candles there, in a bid to attract the attention of the occupant of the sea-facing flat number 163 of the Bakhtawar building, the Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata.
Khed MP to take up issue of 474 acres acquired for Dehu Road missile project in 2002 with Antony The June 3 meeting that Khed MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil has sought with Union Defence Minister A K Antony is a big-ticket day for about 100 farmers of Pune district whose 474 acres were acquired by the Ministry of Defence Ministry in 2002 for the ambitious missile project in Shelarwadi, Dehu Road. At stake is Rs 220 crore
A non-government organisation has urged the Delhi Government to continue expansion of the Bus Rapid Transit corridor in the Capital. Reacting to reports that the BRT corridor would not be implemented beyond Moolchand, Hazards Centre has written to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to review the decision to curtail the corridor. Disturbing signal
A public interest litigation was filed in the High Court recently against the state government, seeking directions to the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) to rectify its faulty norms in according permission for setting up industries without studying the impact on bio-diversity and greenery. The PIL disputed the norms of the APPCB for setting up an industrial unit.
The minister for women and child welfare, Mrs N. Rajyalakshmi, said that irrigation officials had not yet taken up the proposals she gave for some minor irrigation schemes in her Venkatagiri constituency in 2006. She brought this to the notice of the district in-charge minister, Mr Pinnamaneni Venkateswar Rao, during the district review committee meeting held on Tuesday.
A fresh petition was filed at the Andhra Pradesh High Court against the land acquisition for the proposed SEZ in Krishnapatnam in Nellore district. Mr T. Gopal Reddy of Nellore town filed the petition seeking a direction to suspend the notice issued by the mining department for termination of mining lease.
Orissa has lifted around 3 million people out of poverty and has made the strongest fiscal turnaround among all states six years between 2000 and 2006. Over 45 per cent of Orissa's population is, however, still living below poverty line. Stating this, a forthcoming World Bank study on Orissa whose main findings were released today, lauded the efforts of the state government to achieve its goal to bring down the poverty level to below 10 per cent by 2020. The study "Orissa in Transition: From Fiscal Turnaround to Rapid and Inclusive Growth" was conducted by the World Bank in 2007.
First tranche of funding for 13 projects disbursed under urban renewal scheme. Five state governments have been granted Rs 4,691 crore for 13 projects under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), all of them for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, the efficacy of which is still being tested in its first trial ground in Delhi. Figures available from the urban development ministry show that these projects have already received the first tranche of funding.
Japan's market for carbon emission reduction systems and services to help prevent global warming may expand 5.6-fold from fiscal 2007 to 6.93 trillion yen by fiscal 2015, a market research firm said Tuesday. The fast expansion is coming as the government and private sectors accelerate efforts to achieve Japan's greenhouse gas emission reduction target in four years from April this year under the Kyoto Protocol, Fuji Keizai Co said.
The number of diabetic patients will increase three times by 2025, according to the Diabetes Endocrine Nutrition Management and Research Centre (DENMARC), which is a group of doctors working on the reduction of the disease for the last two decades. DENMARC director H.B Chandalia, while announcing 'Defeat Diabetes' here today, said the number of diabetic patients was on the increase due to change in lifestyle and diet in the country. DENMARC has organised a three-day event, 'Defeat Diabetes 2008', at the Nehru centre starting from May 23 to 25, which will be inaugurated by Nita Ambani.
To promote the production of bamboo and generate awareness about its manifold uses, the
UN chief Ban Ki-moon will travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to try to persuade the leaders of military regime to allow large-scale foreign aid and humanitarian workers to provide assistance to millions of victims of Cyclone Nargis, which has killed over 100,000. Ban's three-day visit comes as the world body estimated that hundred of thousands of victims are at the high risk of starvation and disease with the government refusing to allow large-scale foreign aid and rescue workers in the country.
The state government will seek funds from the World Bank for implementing major tunnel projects planned to improve road connectivity in the state.
The ministry of rural development has sanctioned Rs 696.39 crore to the National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA) and the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana (PMGSY) for the period ranging 2004-05 to 2008-09 respectively. The amount will be received by the respective state rural roads and national rural roads development agencies. An amount of Rs 6 crore has been sanctioned as the first installment of grants-in-aid to the NRRDA during 2008-09 for meeting the expenditure on its activities.
