SEZ lessons from China
Anurag Viswanath & Manoranjan Mohanty / New Delhi India seeks to emulate China's SEZ policy though it is increasingly under attack there.
News
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RIL makes new gas find in first KG block well
Reliance Industries on Wednesday announced that it has discovered natural gas reserves in an exploration block in the Krishna Godavari basin off the country's east coast. The discovery, named Dhirubhai-39, was made in block KG-DWN-2003/1, lying about 50 km from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. "The gas discovery has been made in the very first exploratory well in this block,' stated a release from the company. Reliance Industries holds 90 per cent interest in the block, while Hardy Exploration and Production India Inc has the balance 10 per cent.
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Coca-Cola bottles better growth in Dec quarter
Beverages company Coca-Cola today reported an 18 per cent growth in volumes in India for the December quarter. Coming on the back of a 21 per cent growth in the September quarter this consistent performance puts the company on track for strong growth in the country. In the first quarter of 2007 growth was just four per cent. That improved to 12 per cent in the second quarter. The company could manage only single-digit growth through 2006.
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SC gives nod to GM food trials
The Supreme Court today asked the central government to co-opt two eminent scientists in the 29-member Genetic Engineering Approval Committee while granting permission for open field trials for genetically modified food items. The Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan named Nobel prize winner and agriculturist MS Swaminathan and former vice-chairman of the Knowledge Commission, PM Bhargav. They shall be present at the meetings of the committee to add transparency to the proceedings.
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Youngest ever galaxy discovered
It Formed 700 Million Years After Our Universe Began, Claim Astronomers New York: Astronomers have discovered a galaxy which they claim is one of the youngest and brightest ever seen right after the cosmic "dark ages', just 700 million years after the beginning of our Universe. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of the infant galaxy with a redshift significantly above 7, using a natural zoom lens, the Nasa said.
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FAO team pleased with Nadia Flu control
KRISHNAGAR, Feb 13: A team of invigilators consisting of two members from Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) visited the Krishnagar-I block today, to review the preventive measures taken by the district administration in view of the resent outbreak of Avian Influenza. Dr Mahendra Singh Oberoy, from Kathmandu, Nepal and Dr Subhash Morzaria from Bangkok, Thailand are the two members of FAO, the UN body that concentrates on trans-boundary animal diseases. The current focus of the organisation is on Avian Influenza.
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Study on kinnow for anti-cancer properties
The Horticulture Department is initiating a study to check if a natural compound found in kinnow can be used for treating cancer patients and help in lowering cholesterol in the blood. The department has approached the Punjab Farmers Commission to either have a collaboration with the PGI or some other national-level institute to examine and study if limonene available in kinnow is useful for treating patients. The volume of limonene is of the same amount as vitamin C in the fruit.
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Tiger truth
Let the numbers spur action
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Drive to wean schoolkids away from tobacco
KOLKATA, Feb. 13: School-going children in West Bengal are more prone to get addicted to tobacco products. Thanks to the lack of awareness among people in these parts about the dangers of tobacco use. This was revealed by a voluntary organisation, West Bengal Voluntary Health Association (WBVHA) this afternoon who have been engaged by the Union health ministry to spread awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco.
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Reactors from Russia
Support for India's search for N-energy
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Annual Plan pegged at Rs 2,400 cr
The size of the 2008-2009 Annual Plan for Himachal has been fixed at Rs 2400 crore, an increase of 14 per cent over the current financial year. The plan was finalised at a meeting between Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in Delhi today.
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3 rhino poachers held, ivory seized
The Assam Police today arrested three suspected wildlife poachers involved in illegal trade in wildlife organs from a hotel in Diphu, the district headquarters town of Karbi Anglong hill district, and recovered five pieces of ivory from their possession. Karbi Anglong additional superintendent of police (ASP) N.N. Goswami, who led the operation, informed that acting on a tip-off that traders in wildlife organs were camping in Diphu looking for buyers, the police set up decoys as buyers to track them.
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Eagle's Eye: Worst is yet to come
The problem this year is more acute and many are migrating to towns owing to financial problems occasioned by the drought- Anil Gulati Chhatarpur is one of the 37 districts of Madhya Pradesh, which are reeling under a water crisis and facing drought. This is winter and the worst is yet to come - the summer is yet to set in.
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Venture to Use Sea to Fight Warming Runs Out of Cash
Planktos, a California company that is trying to turn a profit by fertilizing the ocean with iron dust, canceled planned field tests on Wednesday, citing a lack of funds. At the company's Web site, planktos.com, a notice blamed a "highly effective disinformation campaign' for the cancellation.
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Panel for buffer habitat in Karbi Anglong
NEW DELHI, Feb 13
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RIL's new gas find in KG basin
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) on Wednesday announced discovery of gas reserves for the first time in the deep sea block in the Krishna Godavari basin off East Coast. According to an official spokesman here, the discovery was made in block KG-DWN-2003/1, lying about 50 km from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The block was awarded to RIL in the fifth round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Dhirubhai-39
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TVS Motor launches electric scooter
TVS Motor Company on Wednesday launched its first electric scooter
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India in the grip of a smoking epidemic: study
Likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010; more than half of these among poor and illiterate people India is in the grip of a smoking epidemic likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010, according to a study released on Thursday. One in five of all male deaths and one in 20 of all female deaths between the ages of 30 and 69 will be caused by smoking, said the study. It was conducted by a team of doctors and scientists from India, Canada and Britain and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Pakistan tests nuclear missile
Pakistan on Wednesday test-fired the short-range, nuclear-capable Ghaznavi ballistic missile which can target northern and western Indian cities as the government vowed to "retain a strong conventional and unconventional deterrence'. A strategic missile group of the Pakistan Army conducted a successful training launch of the Ghaznavi or Hatf-III missile with a range of 290 km at the end of an annual field training exercise. The location of the firing was not disclosed by the military. This was the third test of nuclear-capable missiles by Pakistan since late January.
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Zubkov positive to India's plea on Sakhalin III
The visiting Russian Prime Minister, Victor Zubkov, is learnt to have given a "sympathetic and positive' response to India's plea for a major stake in the Sakhalin III and other major oil and gas projects in far-east Russia. India is a partner in Sakhalin I and gets oil supplies from there. At a 20-minute meeting between Mr. Zubkov and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday, the latter also took up the Indian oil companies' interest in investing in the Russian oil and gas fields. Opportunities