MUMBAI: A major component of a user's electricity bill will soon remain constant for a five-year lock-in period if a proposal put forth by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) gets the go-ahead. The MERC has proposed to all power suppliers in the state that power bills be divided into two components: a variable component and a non-variable component.

LUCKNOW: Anomalies in the sale of certified seeds in Uttar Pradesh are touching new lows. A survey of NREGS implementation in Kanpur Dehat, conducted by member, state quality monitor, Vinod Shankar Chaubey, has brought to light largescale irregularities in the distribution and sale of certified seeds to beneficiaries of NREGS.

LUCKNOW: Evicting tribals and traditional dwellers from tiger reserves is not always the solution. Creating a stake for them in reserves could also be an option. The biggest tiger reserve of the country, Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam has its security manned by its tribal folks `Chenchus'.

Washington: US health officials are set to rule on whether a faster-growing, genetically engineered fish is safe to eat in a decision that could deliver first altered animal food to consumers’ dinner plates. The fish, made by Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc, is manipulated to grow twice as fast as traditional Atlantic salmon, something the company says could boost the nation’s fish sector and

London: Scientists have warned that global warming could reduce rainfall, contrary to the belief that rising temperatures lead to increase in overall precipitation levels. Previous studies have shown that rainfall will increase globally by 2-3% for every degree Celsius that the Earth’s surface heats up. But, scientists at the University of Leeds who looked at a range of climate chang

Ahmedabad: Lion kings of Gir are enjoying the company of two queens at the same time. This highly unusual behaviour of the big cats has been revealed in a study conducted by a lion researcher, Meena Venkatraman. Contrary to behaviour seen in Africa, where a lioness mates with two males if left unattended, here in Gir it is the opposite.

Chennai: Environmentalists in the southern states may well be doing a jig in the woods this year as the tiger population has reached healthy levels. In contrast, the tiger count in the northern states has seen a decline, say experts. According to the state chief conservator of forests, Dr V N Singh, Tamil Nadu is expected to show a 20% increase in tiger population.

Conservation Body To Be Set Up For Elephants On Line Of Big Cats: Ramesh TIMES NEWS NETWORK New Delhi: The government on Tuesday accepted the Elephant Task Force report and decided to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA) along the lines of the one for endangered tigers. The task force, led by Mahesh Rangarajan, submitted its report to the environment and forests mini

Thiruvananthapuram: Delegates from 20 countries would participate in the three-day international conference on global warming, climate change, sustainable development and secular spirituality organized by the Santhigiri Research Foundation (SRF) at Santhigiri Ashram from September 9-11 in collaboration with Unesco, the American Center and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi.

Polluting industries along a 500-km stretch of the Ganga between Kannauj and Varanasi might soon face the axe.