Think India Foundation

Shop with a click

BANGALORE: An online shopping portal, Mouse-e.com, has set up a pilot project in Karnataka for dealers. It aims to promote online surfing and clearing out customer queries and other problems regarding products.

Started by Suvendu Tripathy — a former Infosys employee, Tapan Das — the former CFO of flipkart and Chitta Rajan — a former Reliance Infocom employee, this online retail company deals in books, personal communication gadgets, home entertainment systems, computers and even baby products. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Inflation takes away 'feel good' factor, one-third of Indians 'suffering': Survey

NEW DELHI: High inflation and moderate economic growth seem to have taken away the "feel good" factor for many Indians.

Gallup's Financial Wellbeing Index, released on Monday, showed that 31% of Indians rated their present and future lives as "suffering" compared to 24% in 2011. Similarly, only around 13% said that they are "thriving" compared to 21% a year ago. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Urban sanitation hopelessly inadequate: Parliament panel

New Delhi : A parliamentary panel has expressed "distress" over an overwhelming number of sanitation and drainage projects remaining incomplete, noting that 4,861 cities in the country do not have even a partial sewerage network.

The existing set-up cannot handle the problems of cities, including even mega cities like Delhi, Kolkata,Chennai and Mumbai, noted the Standing Committee on Urban Development. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Right to pass real estate Act rests with State: Gaur

BHOPAL : Urban Administration and Development Minister Babulal Gaur has said that the right to enact the proposed Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2012 rests with the State Governments.

He was addressing a conference of Urban Administration Ministers on the Act proposed to be enacted by the Union Government in New Delhi on Saturday. Read more

Source : www.dailypioneer.com

10 months on, Maharashtra govt zeroes in on two projects

Almost 10 months after the Central government’s flagship scheme Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) was launched in Maharashtra, the state government has been able to zero in on merely two projects to be sent to the Centre for approval under the scheme.

While the state government was to address the issue of informal settlements in 16 cities in Maharashtra through RAY, the two projects that have come forward are proposals for construction of very insignificant number of houses. One of the projects is in Mira Road area and involves construction of 1,008 transit tenements, while the other is for construction of only 62 houses in Chandrapur district. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Indore Municipal Corporation to supply Narmada water only to quench thirst from May

INDORE: In a move to deal with the water crisis in the city, Indore Municipal Corporation on Saturday has decided to supply Narmada water only for drinking purpose in the areas, which have other sources of water supply like tubewell, from next month.

A decision in this regard was taken at the review meet of development works of IMC chaired by Mayor Krishnamurari Moghe. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Poor planning led to failure of JNNURM-I: govt panel

New Delhi : A "near absence" of any long term city level plan, inadequate capacity of municipalities, haphazard approach to taking up projects and failure to undertake crucial reforms led to the failure of one of UPA's flagship programme , to improve the urban infrastructure, a high-level government panel has said. 

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a reform linked urban renewal programme launched in 2005. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Infertility on the rise in urban areas, late marriage big factor

New Delhi : Once considered to be a problem plaguing the West, infertility is rising alarmingly among urban Indian couples. 

Health experts say that the gravity of the problem can be gauged by the fact that almost one in five couples in the metros have trouble conceiving on their own and need treatment. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

WB leads in snakebite, rabies deaths

New Delhi (PTI) : West Bengal accounted for the maximum snakebite and rabies deaths in India last year. A total of 1,440 persons died of snakebite and another 223 of rabies during 2011 in the country, out which as many as 380 and 73 deaths were reported on the two counts respectively in West Bengal. Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Lok Sabha that following West Bengal, Orissa reported 296 snakebite deaths, while 258 were in Andhra Pradesh and 119 in Madhya Pradesh.

He said 58 deaths due to snakebite had also taken place in Maharashtra and 50 in Uttar Pradesh, while Karnataka reported 49 and Gujarat 48 such deaths and Himachal Pradesh 40 and another 39 in Tamil Nadu. In rabies deaths, Andhra Pradesh followed West Bengal with 45 deaths. There were also 24 rabies related deaths taking place in 2011 in Orissa and 21 in Tamil Nadu, besides 18 in Karnataka, 17 in Delhi and 16 in Gujarat. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

1.4 lakh jobs in railways next year: Mukul Roy

Suri (West Bengal) : Railway minister Mukul Roy on Sunday said that 1.4 lakh people would be recruited in the railways next year.

"In the coming year, 1,44,000 people will be employed in the railways," Roy said after laying the foundation stone of a road over bridge and foot over bridge at Nalhati in Birbhum district. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Panel critical of GMC project report

GUWAHATI -- The three-member Independent Public Committee, which went into the problem of treatment of city's Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is critical of the detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) for solid waste management under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM).

The Committee was formed by the Guwahati Development Department (GDD) of the State Government by an order on September 20, 2010 (No GDD 57/06/257). The Committee comprised former Dean of Cotton College Prof Dilip Barua, former Army officer and social activist Col P C Choudhury and former Executive Director of the HUDCO NE Regional Office P K Rajkhowa. Read more

Source : www.waste-management-world.com

RBI ups housing loan limit to Rs 10 lakh for weaker section

Mumbai: In bid to promote housing for low income groups in major cities, Reserve Bank on Wednesday doubled the limit for home loans to Rs 10 lakh for consideration under priority sector lending.

"It has been decided to increase the limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for the bank loans extended to non-governmental agencies, approved by NHB for their refinance, for on-lending for the purpose of construction or reconstruction of individual dwelling units or for slum clearance and rehabilitation of slum dwellers." the RBI said in a notification. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Indians taking more holidays abroad

As the country's middle class expands, more people are travelling overseas for their vacations and spending more. But at home the problems of poor infrastructure, a lack of suitable mid-range hotels and government lethargy are all hampering market development

"Holiday only comes once a year," says Madhulika Verma, a busy media executive from Mumbai.

Ms Verma is in high spirits because she is heading for a two-week holiday overseas: one week in Dubai, followed by a week in London. Read more

Source : www.thenational.ae

Poor infrastructure hits Barak valley tea units

Guwahati (PTI) : Barak valley tea industry is facing problems ranging from erratic power supply to bad roads to labour shortage, a Tea Association of India official said. "Uncertain power supply, inadequate road connectivity, increase in cost of outputs and high cost of employment have plagued the industry here for ages," Tea Association of India (TAI), Barak valley branch chairman, P K Mishra told PTI. Tea gardens need steady power, but in reality there is a huge problem of erratic and irregular supply forcing growers to rely on diesel which increases the cost of production due frequent increase of price, Mishra said.

Lamenting that no serious efforts have been taken to provide required power to gardens, the chairman said this would determine the very survival of the industry in the valley. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Encroachment of public land draws PAC's ire

New Delhi: Large-scale encroachment of public land, especially by religious structures, has drawn the ire of the Public Accounts Committee which wants government to not only recover the land but also punish officers who turned a blind eye to unauthorised constructions. 

In its latest report on the functioning of the Land and Development Office (L&DO) which falls under the Urban Development (UD) Ministry, the PAC led by Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi has noted that unauthorised religious structures existed on prime land across the capital. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Not men; Gujarati women more responsible for family planning

Ahmedabad: Despite the government’s efforts to encourage men to go in for sterilization if they want to keep their families small, the Indian male population continues to view vasectomy with suspicion. As a result, women still far outnumber men when it comes to undergoing sterilization surgery for family planning. 

This is as true of Ahmedabad men as of men in other districts of the state, a fact that is borne out by figures available with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) urban family welfare department. Read more

Source : daily.bhaskar.com

Impact fee as high as building cost!

AHMEDABAD: Just two of the 15 lakh illegal buildings across cities of Gujarat have been legalized under the new impact fee norms in the past two months. There was much hype around the Gujarat Regularization of Unauthorized Development Act (GRUDA) when it was notified by the state government on February 20, but not much has happened since. This says a lot about the scheme in an election year.

"Of the two buildings that have been legalized in Ahmedabad, one is in Sabarmati area and the other on Iskon-Ambli road," says a senior Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) town planning official. "A high impact fee, calculated on March 2011 jantri rates, no clarity on issues related to parking space and the rather long list of no-objection certificates (NOC) that is to be attached with the application are proving to be major deterrents." Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Drastic steps to put an end to foeticide

A 36-year-old woman in Ahmedabad recently turned a whistleblower after she was forced to go for abortion as many as six times by her in-laws after sex determination tests would show that she would deliver a girl. Amisha Bhatt, who has filed a case against her husband and in-laws for harassment, came to know through the RTI that greedy doctors maintained a secret list of patients sent by in-laws for abortions, and this list was never revealed to the state government. 

Bhatt, who found out that her name also did not figure in the list of patients who had undergone sonography tests, has exposed a nexus between gynaecologists and sonography clinics involved in sex determination tests and illegal abortions. Read more

Source : www.khaleejtimes.com

Opp. states poor spenders

New Delhi : Even though the opposition-ruled states attack Centre for poor conditions of the marginal farmers, they have surprisingly not spent even a penny under a scheme which is directly related to farmers and the poor.

Under Integrated Watershed Management (IWMP) programme, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa did not spend even a single rupee from the Central allocation in 2011-12, while West Bengal did not submit even a single project under the programme for the last three years. Read more

Source : www.deccanchronicle.com

Jute mission extended by 2 years to achieve targets

Failure to achieve targets and fully utilise funds set aside for Jute technology mission in last five years has forced the government to extend the deadline to complete the mission by another two years.

As against Rs 355.55 crore sanctioned for the mission, textile ministry has been able to deploy about 65 per cent funds or Rs 231 crore across four mini missions, thereby having a left over of 35 per cent funds as unused besides falling short of the physical targets as well. Read more

Source : www.mydigitalfc.com

Akash tablets for school going children soon to make them free of heavy school bags-Sibal

JALANDHAR: Union Human Development Resources and Communication minister Kapil Sibal said today that the UPA government was committed for bringing revolutionary changes in the education system.

Interacting with media persons on the side lines of a social function organized by Hind Samachar group of newspapers under the aegis of its founder Padam Sri Vijaj Chopra in connection with the distribution of financial help of Rs 25 lakh to the victims of terrorism, Sibal said that the government had come with a positive thinking and new approach to reform the present system of education. Read more

Source : www.punjabnewsline.com

MP Govt moves SC over Union Carbide waste incineration

Bhopal -- A revised petition has been filed on behalf of the Madhya Pradesh Government in the Supreme Court to "pre-empt" the trial run of the incineration of the hazardous Union Carbide waste at Pithampur near Indore.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has directed to solicit services of a senior advocate of the Supreme Court for presenting the stand of the people of Madhya Pradesh, an official release said. Read more

Source : www.waste-management-world.com

Report: Asia facing epidemic of worker deaths

A new report shows occupational health hazards are seriously affecting human lives in India and many other Asian countries, where industrial accidents and related diseases are mostly ignored and do not get compensated.

It is not known how many Asia workers are suffering from occupational diseases, but the report has warned of an epidemic in the region. Read more

Source : presstv.com

A pandemic called plastic

In the last decade, the composition of garbage/solid waste in Indian cities and towns has been gradually dominated by ‘disposable' thin polythene carrybags and varying sizes of satchets, cups, plates and containers made of flimsy plastic. Ironically, the word disposable is a misnomer, because most of these plastic items are not disposed of but just passed on along a typical chain.

They are flying just about everywhere — on roads, at public places and water bodies. Here, plastic waste is seen dumped in Cauvery river at Kumarapalayam in Erode, Tamil Nadu. File Photo: M.K. Ananth

Once they leave the place of manufacture, these low grade plastics (fit only for single use) travel from the storekeeper to the consumer to household garbage bins to tricycles/tempos to municipal solid waste bins and finally to landfill sites. When they are not channelled to reach bins or garbage collection points, they are seen flying just about everywhere — on roads and footpaths, at public places where people gather, along the railway tracks, at inaccessible places including lakes, nullas, open wells and drains and even on treetops. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Guwahati city event to highlight importance of frogs

GUWAHATI: Help Earth, a city-based NGO, led an initiative to commemorate the Save the Frogs Day on Saturday here. The organization, working for the conservation of nature and its resources, held a special programme to observe the day to spread awareness among young students, especially batrachophobics (people with acute fear of frogs and amphibians), to highlight the ecological importance of the species in the environment.

Frogs, with their webbed limbs, protruding eyes, bifid tongue and odd colours, are deemed unpleasant. Because of their weird appearance, they do not fit well within the comfort zone of our usual perception. Except for Kermit, the common anura is deemed ugly, inauspicious and even poisonous. Through Save the Frog's Day, the organization made an attempt to create an environment in which the ecological importance, like the threat faced by the amphibians and frogs being natural pest control, should be highlighted. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

AIIMS misuses funds to renovate bunglows

The true beauty of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is the smiling face of a patient cured of his illness. 

AIIMS director R.C. Deka could not be reached even after repeated attempts

But, of late, the nation's premier medical institute has been besotted with a decadent 'beauty' and splurging a good amount of public money on it. Read more

Source : www.dailymail.co.uk

Towns in Khandwa, Shivpuri to get 24-hour water

BHOPAL: The urban areas of Khandwa and Shivpuri districts, the first two districts in Madhya Pradesh, are expected to get 24x7 water supply from next year, a top official said.

The ground work to supply round-the-clock water in the towns of these two districts is underway, MP urban administration and development department executive engineer Suresh Sejkar told TOI. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MP hamlet gets water supply only once a week

BHOPAL: Imagine living in a place that gets just 30 minutes water supply in a week!

And if you want to experience it, then plan a visit to Bakswaho in Chhatarpur district of Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh.

With the rise in mercury, severe water crisis has gripped 15 urban areas of 11 districts, especially in impoverished Bundelkhand region. Shujalpur township of Shajapur district was getting water for just an hour in five days, according to the latest figures of MP urban administration and development department. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

‘Rearing animals a challenge’

Mangalore, DHNS : DK district celebrates ‘World Veterinary Day’

Managing solid and liquid waste is inter-related with the good health of animals, said Zilla Panchayat CEO Dr K N Vijayprakash after inaugurating ‘World Veterinary Day’ in Mangalore on Saturday. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Guwahati Municipal Corporation unlocks mall doors

GUWAHATI: The doors of the basement meant for parking in Dona Planet was unlocked by Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) officials on Friday for clearing unauthorized structures, occupying the space. The shopping mall was sealed by GMC on Tuesday.

After Gauhati high court on Friday ordered to open the entry to the basement and clear the allotted parking area from unauthorized structures within two days, Dona Planet Society has geared up to clear all unauthorized structures occupying parking space in one of the biggest shopping malls in the city. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Railways, NHAI officials discuss demand for underpass at G.Corner

TIRUCHI : The two-way service lane, which now serves as the access route for the Golden Rock area from the TVS Tollgate Junction, is too narrow and dangerous to negotiate, residents complain.

CAUGHT IN A GRIDLOCK: The two-way service lane that serves as the access route for the Golden Rock area from the TVS Tollgate Junction, is too narrow and dangerous to negotiate. File Photo

The popular demand for an underpass across the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road at G.Corner in the city came up for discussion at a meeting of senior officials of the Railways and the National Highways Authority of India here on Thursday. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Azam Khan reviews development works in Noida, Greater Noida

Ghaziabad: Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Azam Khan on Saturday reviewed progress of development works in Noida and Greater Noida.

He met district and Ghaziabad Development Authority officials and took note of all pending developmental works. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Stay the course on black money

Let us hope that the finance minister sticks to his budget proposals on jewellery and real estate levies

As soon as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed a tax hike on gold in all its forms during the presentation of the Union Budget on March 16, jewellers across the country rose in unison in protest against the hike. After 21 days of striking work in vociferous opposition to the levy of excise duty, particularly on unbranded gold jewellery, they resumed business on the assurance of the finance minister that he will look into their demand of rolling back excise duty.

They also made it clear that the strike has only been “suspended” till May 11, by which time they expect the government to roll back the “harsh” proposals. The big jewellers had turned impatient and were averse to losing business, especially in the ongoing marriage season. Additionally, Akshaya Tritiya, an auspicious day for buying gold, fell this year on April 24; it is always a big day for jewellers’ revenues. As a result, big jewellers have launched new and attractive schemes that promise to cushion the impact of the rise in gold prices. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

DRM inspects construction work at Bhopal Rly station

Bhopal: Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Ghanshyam Singh visited Bhopal Railway station on Saturday for the second consecutive day inspecting the ongoing construction work. He inspected the new parking facility arrangements near platform number one.

After inspecting the parking facilities, Singh examined the extension work of platform number four and five and construction work at platform number six. Read more

Source : www.dailypioneer.com

Hindi movies behind tipsy teens?

A recent study by a leading health organization claims that Hindi films are pushing teens to try drinking at an early age. We check it out 

Hindi movies behind tipsy teens? 

They say Bollywood is a magical world, whose reigning stars leave many spellbound. But a recent study presented at World Congress of Cardiology in Dubai by a leading health organization tells a completely different story. The study claims that Bollywood is directly influencing the youth in India to take to alcohol at an early age and those who are exposed to movies are three times, 2.75 to be precise, more likely to try drinking. Even if other factors like demographic variables, characteristics of individuals, parenting and social influences were to be considered, those who watch films on a regular basis are 1.49 times more likely to try drinking. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Don’t waste water of Krishnavaram valley, says MLA

Kolar Gold Fields, DHNS : Efforts should be made to efficiently use the water source at Krishnavaram valley, said legislator Y Sampangi.

Contractor Vishwanath had dug a pit near Phalasu Gangamma temple at Krishnavaram last week, hoping to find water. Next day, the pit was filled with water. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Help desks to take Sakala to people

Bangalore, DHNS : The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department is setting up help desks in all taluk headquarters across the State to help people utilise the Sakala facilities better and create awareness among people about the Karnataka Guarantee of Services Act, 2011.

The help desks will be manned by volunteers from the NGOs, retired government officials, school teachers, college students and housewives. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Off the record, 7m births

The figures are staggering, but an amazing number of births go unregistered in India each year. It's the main reason why benefits of child welfare schemes do not trickle to kids who need them the most. 

The deadline to achieve universal birth registration in India passed two years ago, and the country is still playing catch-up . According to Unicef 's State of the World Report 2012, the births of just 41% of India's children under five years have been registered. A closer look at the rural-urban divide shows more disturbing data - only 59% of urban children and just 35% of rural children have been registered. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

60% of population in most states below poverty line

NEW DELHI: With almost all states showing more than 60% of populations below the monthly expenditure averages, the oft-repeated claim that 70% of India lives on less than $2 a day has a ring of truth in it. As yet there is nothing official about using monthly average expenditure as the poverty line and the government has said its calculations are based on the Tendulkar Committee formula. 

The Tendulkar Committee had concluded that based on 2004 statistics, the number of poor was a high 37.2%, instead of the estimated 27.5% and based its findings by factoring in education, health and other amenities. The proposed committee is expected to account for such variables. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Mobile penetration far from peaking, has miles to go

New Delhi, Mumbai : At the outset, the telecom sector has several ills gnawing away at its vitals — constantly fluctuating average revenue per user (Arpu), cut-throat tariffs, intense competition, falling profits, innumerable scams and faulty regulatory policies, to name some.

But it is nowhere near saturation point yet, experts would have us believe. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Urbanisation challenge on FB

Ahmedabad : The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) has come up with an innovative idea to provide a common platform on social networking site Facebook to discuss urbanisation challenges of India. Initiated by some of the faculties at CEPT, the India Urban Forum aims to share experiences, practices, ideas and innovations for the benefit of the group members.

So far the group has generated 300 members on Facebook within a few weeks of its launch. Faculties associated with the project state that the forum is in response to the emerging need for scaling of urban capacity development in India. The forum has taken up the voluntary initiative of building a database of Indian urban professionals who are interested in capacity building. The page could be used by urban practitioners, policy makers, academia, researchers, private sector etc. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Govt study fixes poverty line at Rs 66 for cities and Rs 35 for villages

NEW DELHI: Here is a new set of official statistics that can escalate the politically contentious debate on what constitutes the poverty line. 

A new set of official statistics can escalate the politically contentious debate on what constitutes the poverty line.

If the average monthly consumption expenditure is taken as the benchmark of what an individual needs to survive, the poverty line would be Rs 66.10 for urban areas and Rs 35.10 for rural regions, while about 65% of the population will be below this cutoff. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

500 voluntary agencies vanish with afforestation funds

NEW DELHI : Of the 647 agencies granted funds, only 20 complied with procedures, says PAC report

More than 500 voluntary agencies have disappeared after receiving part payments for afforestation projects funded by the National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, which works under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Huda to crackdown on erring staff

Law finally seems to be catching up with erring Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) officials. SS Dhillon, financial commissioner-cum-principal secretary (town planning department of urban estate), has sought a detailed report from Huda chief administrator DPS Nagal on action taken against the officials. 

As many as 16 Huda officials have been accused of various discrepancies, but none of them have been suspended or dismissed from service as yet. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com 

Aviation minister to take stock of Kolkata airport upgrade

KOLKATA: Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh is likely to be in Kolkata by Monday and meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Writers' Buildings to discuss the present status of the Rs 2,500-crore airport modernization project and the cause of delay in its execution.

Union minister of state for urban development Saugata Roy, who also heads the airport advisory committee, said he has been requesting the civil aviation minister for some time now to see for himself the extent of progress in the modernization project. "I have been discussing the problems that are delaying the completion of the project for some time now and had also requested him to personally look into these impediments. All civil work was supposed to be completed by December 31. The deadline was extended to March 31 but even the extension did not help. I have no official information about Singh's visit, though," he told TOI on Saturday. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

‘Bangalore’s water woes need creative solutions’

Chennai : Highest losses from leakages amount to 50 per cent: Experts

Among all major Indian cities, Bangalore, surprisingly accounts for one of the highest water losses from leakages (50 per cent), even as Karnataka’s capital needs to find “urgent and creative solutions” to its water woes, technical experts opined here on Saturday.
  
While the extent of water losses (from leakages and seepages) ranging from 20 per cent to 50 per cent for major Indian cities, Bangalore occupied the top end of this scale of available “water not accounted for,” said technocrat B Ramaswamy, adviser-consultant to the Karnataka government on PPP issues. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Centre okays West Bengal debt relief but will have its own deadline

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has in principle accepted West Bengal government's demand of debt relief but expressed the Centre's inability to meet the 15-day deadline set by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

Trinamool Congress' MPs who met the prime minister on Friday said Singh agreed to the party's demand of a moratorium on interest payment on loans to the state. The Centre would do everything within its means to bail out debt-ridden West Bengal, the prime minister assured them. But he made it plain that the announcement relating to restructuring of the state's debt would have to wait until the ongoing session of Parliament gets over, or possibly even longer until the presidential polls in July. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Breaking the sanitation taboo

The Greek philosopher Socrates once said: “It is not living that matters, but living rightly.” As the clock is inching towards the 2015 deadline of Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the philosophy has become more relevant than ever before as the MDG targets to improve socio-economic condition of all the citizens. The MDG of “Environmental Sustainability” also advocates providing adequate sanitation facilities to all citizens thus giving them the right to a healthy life. According to WHO: “Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease worldwide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on health of households and communities.” Despite the seriousness of this topic, our community is still reluctant to openly talk about the subject of sanitation and the good practices around it.

The ill-effect of this taboo can be clearly seen from the continued unhealthy sanitation practices as it is estimated that still 1.1 billion people defecate openly leading to diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and hepatitis A. In India, around 1,000 children below the age of five die from diarrhoea, hepatitis-causing pathogens and other sanitation-related diseases, according to the report of United Nations Children's Fund. Additionally, sanitation in schools has led to an increase in enrolment of children, especially girls, highlighting its manifold benefits. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Land row stalls IIM Ranchi construction

Nagri (Ranchi) : A piece of land is valued either Rs 1.55 lakh or Rs 340.5 crore. Take your pick. If you recover from this shock, you can proceed to figure out who should get in part or full 227.71 acres at Nagri, 15km from Ranchi.

The site for IIM and law university in Nagri on the outskirts of Ranchi  Picture by Hardeep Singh

Construction of IIM-Ranchi and National University for Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) campuses has halted after villagers refused to budge from the acres, saying there are dodgy areas in the government’s land acquisition bid. Read more

Source : www.telegraphindia.com

Packaged food industry to touch $30 bln by 2015: ASSOCHAM

New Delhi: Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 15 to 20% annually, Indian packaged food industry is likely to touch $30 billion by 2015 from the current level of $15 billion including snacks food, ready-to-eat food, healthy and functional food, said ASSOCHAM today.

Factors that have fuelled this industry’s growth are the arrival of food multinationals, rising popularity of quick-service restaurants, modern retail trade, technological advancement, changing urban lifestyles and so on, says an industry specific analysis of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Read more

Source : www.orissadiary.com