119 lakhs of people below poverty line in AP
The population of those below the poverty line in Andhra Pradesh has been estimated at 119.01 lakhs in 1999-2000 by the Planning commission. According to the data released by the commission on Thursday, 58.13 lakhs people in rural areas and 60.88 lakhs people in urban areas live below the poverty …
Govt to come up with plan for water conservation
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday announced that the government would prepare an effective action plan to make water conservation a people's movement. He also said that the government would constitute a separate state-level body to monitor implementation of the mission.
Foot-and-Mouth disease may have spread
Parts of the British countryside were effectively declared out of bounds as the first outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 20 years spread to a third farm in Essex, south-east England.
Government trims red tape for offshore wind
Companies setting up new offshore windfarms could have a one-stop-shop at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to assist in getting the consents they need. The announcement was made by UK Energy Minister Peter Hain on 20 February, which will bypass the current fragmented approach, whereby developers have to …
EU won't meet renewable targets without cutting energy demand
A European Commission report says that with current trends the EU will not double the share of electricity from renewables, as it had previously pledged. The Communication on the Community Strategy and Action Plan on Renewable Energy Sources, the first review of the EU's 1997 renewables strategy, published on 16 …
Sewage could be killing southern sea otter
A sudden rise in the death-rate of southern sea otters along the Californian coast, which means that they will soon become endangered, could be due to parasitic diseases from sewage outfalls, say scientists.
U.N. report says Africa will be most affected by global warming
A new U.N report forecasts rising levels of disease, famine and poverty for Africa, identifying it as one of the continents to be most affected by an increase in global temperatures. According to a February 22 press release, the report--entitled "Climate Change 2001:Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability"--says heavy rains and higher …
Crackdown call on coal-fired units
It's like a shroud of smoke and dust, covering parts of the Calcutta skyline for most of the day. To be precise, it's seven tonnes of particulate material, belched out by chimney's of small factories. A recent West Bengal Pollution Control Board survey has revealed that Calcutta is the "only …
Protecting the Sundarbans-The nation's duty
The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world has been under siege since the fifties. This forest, lying as it does in the south-western corner of Bangladesh is very important for the country's survival as it acts as the first line of defence against the many cyclones and tidal …
Mizo seismologist warns of quake disaster in Aizawl
US-based seismologist Lalliana Mualchin warned of a Gujarat-like disaster in Aizawl in the event of a high intensity quake in Mizoram, which falls in the highest seismic-risk zone in north-eastern region, reports PTI.