Think India Foundation

India’s energy consumption growing annually: US

New Delhi (IBNS) : US Ambassador Nancy J. Powell on Tuesday said India’s energy consumption is growing at over 7 percent annually.

She was speaking at the launch of the United States-India Clean Energy Program: Partnership to Advance Clean Energy – Deployment (PACE-D) here on Tuesday. Read more

Source : www.indiablooms.com

‘Restoration’ of heritage sites on in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: In a much belated action,GHMC officials along with officials from the tourism department and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday began cracking the whip on illegal construction activity around heritage monuments in the city. In a little more than a month's time the Unesco team is slated to visit the city to inspect various sites for awarding them the coveted World Heritage tag. 

The crackdown began with the demolition of three floors of an under construction ground plus five (G+5) building in Diamond Hills Colony near the Qutub Shahi Tombs. Officials of the GHMC said that they have identified 13 such structures constructed in violation of the rules around the royal necropolis. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India blackouts leave 700 million without power

Power cuts plunge 20 of India's 28 states into darkness as energy suppliers fail to meet growing demand

India blackouts: A child looks out from a stalled train as passengers are stranded during a power outage in New Delhi. Photograph: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

More than 700 million people in India have been left without power in the world's worst modern blackout, prompting fears that protests and even riots could follow if the country's electricity supply continues to fail to meet growing demand.

Twenty of India's 28 states were hit by power cuts, along with the capital, New Delhi, when three of the five electricity grids failed at lunchtime. Read more

Source : www.guardian.co.uk

Teachers double as ayahs, peons in Bangalore

BANGALORE: The state government's annual budgetary allocation for education may touch Rs 4,000 crore. But it means little to several primary school teachers in Karnataka which has done away with appointing ayahs or helpers.

Result: The headmistress of a 100-year-old government primary school in Cox Town, Central Bangalore, first sweeps her room and then get down to administrative work. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Kochuveli terminus cries for infrastructural push

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kochuveli terminus in the city continues to be a not so passenger friendly railway station due to lack of basic amenities.

The station, which has 11 express and superfast trains, and nine passenger trains originate or pass through, is yet to have a foot over bridge connecting the two platforms. As a result passengers have no other choice but to drag their heavy luggage across the tracks if they have to go from one platform to the other. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

WB: HC stays notification of Right to Free Education rules

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday stayed a notification on application of Right to Free and Compulsory Education Rules 2012, put forward by the West Bengal government. 

Hearing a petition by 10 private schools from Howrah challenging the rules, Justice Nadira Patherya stayed the application of the rules and directed that the matter would come up for hearing four weeks later. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

A filthy affair of Ooty Lake

UDHAGAMANDALAM: A study conducted by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has rated Ooty Lake as one of the most polluted water bodies in the state. The study states that the quality of water in the lake is unsuitable for potable purposes.

An analysis of water samples from the lake conducted by the TNPCB revealed that the presence of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the Ooty Lake stands at 11 milligram per litre (mg/l) as against the tolerance limit of 3 mg/l. The level of BOD is used as an indication of the organic quality of water, and defines the degree of organic pollution. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Nitrate found in water of 9 Fatehgarh Sahib villages

Chandigarh : Water samples in some of the nine villages of Fatehgarh Sahib have traces of nitrate. This was revealed during field exercises that are being conducted jointly by the University of Utah, USA in partnership with the the Mehar Baba Charitable Trust, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, School of Public Health, PGI.

The field exercises are being conducted around the issues of water sanitation and hygiene, village-level nutritional services and education for girls. A group of students from the University of Utah have conducted the exercises for the past few weeks along with interns from the School of Public Health, PGI. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Water booms to remove floating debris from Mithi river

After successfully purifying a three-km-stretch of the Mithi river using a microbial technology as a pilot project, the city’s development authority plans to initiate another project along the stretch to clear floating debris.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is considering a proposal to instal ‘water booms’, widely used to contain oil spills, to obstruct floating debris and make it easier to collect these and clean the river. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Odisha rejects Polavaram water

Bhubaneswar : Maintaining that the Polavaram multi-purpose project is of no good for Odisha, the state government today said it did not require water from the dam over river Godavari as offered by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

"Odisha does not need Polavaram project. The state also does not require water from the AP project. Our water requirement has already been met by the Kolab project. If at all we require water, those can be directly drawn from river Saberi through Mega Lift Irrigation project," Water Resource Secretary S C Mohapatra told reporters here. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

4 Ways to Play Good ol’ Water

The long-term trends looks very promising

Civilization wouldn’t last long without a constant supply of water and wastewater services. But despite its vital role in everyday life, the water industry gets little attention from investors.

The world’s population is expected to go from 7 billion to 10 billion by 2050, so water clearly is going to be a growing concern. But it’s already a big issue today — consider that corn and soybean prices have skyrocketed because of a horrible drought in the U.S., with conditions the worst since the mid-1950s. Read more

Source : www.investorplace.com

Surging pollution takes toll on Pune city’s health: Environment report

‘2,240 deaths due to air-borne diseases in 2011 as compared to 2,001 in 2010’

The downside of rapid urbanisation over the last few years seems to have manifested itself in rising pollution levels, which in turn has led to an increase in the number of deaths due to various diseases. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

India's shopping malls lose bustle as economy slows down

MUMBAI: The biggest shopping mall in Mumbai, one of the world's most crowded cities, can feel like a pretty lonely place. Eight months ago, multi-storied Phoenix Market City opened for business in the eastern suburb of Kurla with a total floor area of 1.13 million square feet, the size of about 15 soccer fields. To date, just two-thirds of its 320 stores have been taken up and foot traffic can be thin.

Shoppers at a Mumbai shopping mall. Consumer spending is on track to grow just 5.7 per cent this year, compared with 24 per cent in 2010, a feeble pace for a domestic demand-led economy.

Asia's third-largest economy is growing at its slowest pace in nine years and sluggish consumer spending is forcing mall developers to scale back plans. It will take years for the glut of retail space conceived during headier times to be absorbed by tenants, even as India fine-tunes rules to make it easier for foreign shops to enter the country on their own, analysts say. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MC fear blocks Town Hall restoration in Shimla

SHIMLA: The local municipal corporation's fear that it may lose the historic Town Hall building, constructed in 1908, is delaying the crucial restoration work the structure requires. While the tourism department has asked the civic body to vacate the building by September or October to start the restoration work, the latter is awaiting an undertaking from the state government that the building would be handed back to it on completion of repair work.

While the Asian Development Bank (ADB) after approving Rs 18.5 crore for restoration of the Town Hall building and beautification of core Mall Road area will be making a presentation before the newly-elected councillors and the mayor on August 1, the state government on its part is yet to respond to the request from the MC to provide suitable space for the time being and to give an undertaking stating that the Town Hall would be handed back to MC once restoration work is completed. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Northern & Eastern grids fail: Power to be restored in an hour, says Shinde

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: In what is being called as the biggest ever power failure in India, half of of the country was without electricity supply on Tuesday afternoon. This affected hundreds of trains and lakhs of households and establishments as the grid that connects generating stations with customers collapsed for the second time in two days, highlighting the precarious state of the power sector in the country. 

The grid management authorities are yet to assess the problem and its magnitude. Following the blackout, services of Delhi Metro rail were brought to a halt.

However, confirming the collapse of the northern and eastern grids, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told television channels that power will be restored in an hour. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

RInfra completes Tamil Nadu road stretch

Mumbai (PTI) : Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) today said it commenced its seventh road project from Salem to Ulundurpet in Tamil Nadu and that toll collection has started in the stretch. The project has been executed on build operate transfer (BOT) model by a special purpose vehicle called SU (Salem-Ulundurpet) Toll Road, under the aegis of National Highways Authority of India.

RInfra has been awarded the contract to operate and maintain the road for a concession period of 25 years. Built at a cost of Rs 1,061 crore, the SU corridor connects major tourist destinations, industrial zones and the Chennai airport. RInfra currently have 11 road projects of 1,000 km worth Rs 12,000 crore. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Smooth ride ahead as Huda to dismantle illegal speed breakers

Gurgaon : To keep a check on unauthorised speed breakers in the Millennium City, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) administrator Praveen Kumar has directed superintending engineers (SEs) RK Kakkar and AK Gupta of Circle 1 and 2 respectively to identify such speed breakers. Residents construct most of the speed breakers without the consent of the competent authority and in contravention of Indian Road Congress (IRC) Codes. 

According to IRC norms, the height of a speed breaker should be four inches, width 1 meter, and 1.25 metres of slope on both sides. Besides, necessary road signs and markings should be put to avoid accidents. Speed breakers are allowed in front of educational institutions, hospitals and temples or areas with huge traffic flow. Around 95% of speed breakers constructed on internal roads of the city are unauthorised, said an official on condition of anonymity. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Soon, cars to feature gesture-based technology

BANGALORE: On the latest car panel consoles that Harman (a global provider of infotainment solutions ) is working on, you just need to wave your hand in front of the panel to get information on the weather. Another movement of the hand - this time a circling gesture - can pull up your telephone directory.  

Drivers of the 2013 Escape just need to show a kicking gesture at the bottom of the boot of their vehicles (without actually kicking it) to open in.

And if you gesture the letter A, the console will read out all the names beginning with A. You can show a stop sign when the name you wish to pull out is read. Harman, like many other car infotainment providers, are ready with gesture-based features like this, marking the next step in the technological evolution of car infotainment systems. Read more

 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Court says no to 13-storey building on Marine Drive

Mumbai : Vasant Sagar on Marine Drive’s A Road will no longer be the first residential building in the heritage precinct to raise its height above the maximum stipulated 28 metres (m). 

The Bombay high court on Monday restricted developer Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd from carrying out any construction beyond five floors while redeveloping the building. The court found that the proposed 13-storey structure would violate height limit prescribed for buildings in the proposed Marine Drive heritage precinct. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Ever heard of a leg attack?

While everyone speaks of blocked arteries leading to heart attacks, equally risky clots lodged in the limbs are going unnoticed 

Ever heard of a leg attack?

In a clear case of a star disease stealing the limelight from other equally dangerous ailments, Mumbai's vascular surgeons are speaking of the heart overshadowing the limbs. Read more 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Childhood education: Maharashtra leads from front

Mumbai : When it comes to providing education to the little ones, Maharashtra is far ahead of other states, a recent survey has revealed.

A nationwide survey conducted by Zee Learn has found that Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are the top states in the country for providing early childhood education. The average age for enrolling children in preschools has come down to 2.6 years from 3.2 years. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Vidarbha NGO wants an IIM established at Nagpur

Nagpur (PTI) : The Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED), an NGO advocating the area's development has urged setting up of an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Nagpur. VED has also called for the setting up of a National Institute of Technical Teachers' Training & Research (NITTTR) as well as a National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER). It had earlier demanded the establishment of an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and a National Law School (NLS) in Nagpur.

However, IIIT and the Indian Institute of Science, Engineering & Research (IISER) went to Pune, while the NLS went to Aurangabad, VED president Davendra Parekh said here today. The Vidarbha region has been deprived of important national-level institutes in the past, and VED now wants the establishment of an IIM, NIPER and NITTTR, VED's secretary general Rahul Upganlawar said. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Maharashtra grants 150 hectares for new airport

Things now seem bright for the ambitious Navi Mumbai airport project, as the Maharashtra government transferred 150 hectares of the land owned by it to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco). Top Cidco and state government officials have confirmed that the transfer of land took place last week. However, negotiations with the seven villages for the 485 hectares still remain.

Cidco managing director Tanaji Satre confirmed the development and said that all the land from the state government has been formally handed over to the authority. “The development took place a few days ago. Our land department had been coordinating with the revenue department of the state for the last one year. We are now in the process of arriving at a solution with the villagers to acquire their land,” he said. Officials are, however, pointing towards the village land being the greatest hurdle since, according to their latest demand, they have demanded `20 crore per hectare. Read more

Source : www.asianage.com

Rs. 30 cr for 765 families affected by Barvi dam

Badlapur : The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), on Monday, declared a rehabilitation package of Rs. 30 crore for the 765 families whose land was acquired by the state government to raise the height of the Barvi dam on the Kalyanthane river near Thane. “For the past 13 years,these people have been fighting for justice. I am very happy that the MIDC has sanctioned the rehabilitation package of Rs. 30 crore. Our basic demand for the government to give a special rehabilitation package has been accepted,” said MLA Kishan Kathore. 

According to the sanctioned package, each affected family will get at least Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh more as compensation to the value of their land and houses. Read more

Source: www.hindustantimes.com

Mumbai sea link won’t deplete mangrove cover

Mumbai : The much-delayed Mumbai trans-harbour link has finally got a push, with the MMRDA taking steps to ensure the project will not deplete the state’s mangrove cover. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will give the forest department 43 hectares of land in Raigad,in which the department can plant mangroves. The MMRDA will also give the department money to undertake this project. 

The MMRDA currently needs 125 hectares of land for the construction of the MTHL. CIDCO has committed to giving 60 hectares of land for the project, while the remainder needs to be provided by the forest department and private players. In order to get land from the forest department, the MMRDA has to provide the department alternate land in the state. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Maharashtra govt cancels 4 SEZs over land acquisition

Mumbai : The Maharashtra government on Monday cancelled four major Special Economic Zones (SEZs) proposed by large business houses — Mahindra, Videocon and India Bulls — after having failed to acquire land for the multi-purpose projects. Earlier, stiff opposition to land acquisition by locals in Raigad had forced the scrapping of SEZ by Reliance.

The decision was taken in the board meeting of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) on Monday as land acquisition hurdles proved to be the major hindrance in starting the projects. These projects were proposed between 2007 and 2008 and were to be completed as joint ventures with MIDC. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Students want exam reforms

NAGPUR: A students delegation met Nagpur University vice chancellor Vilas Sapkal and requested him to reform the exam system. Led by a member of India Against Corruption (IAC) Nagpur chapter, Dhiraj Agashe, the delegation said the system causes inconvenience and academic as well as financial loss to students.

They demanded overhaul of revaluation mechanism, provision for photocopies of answer sheets within a week for Rs 2, and then one week to apply for revaluation. They also insisted on declaration of revaluation result within seven days, so people who have to apply for supplementary exam can do so within the time limit. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Grid breakdown puts the focus back on power reforms

NEW DELHI : With the massive power breakdown in the Northern Grid impacting supply in eight States of Northern India, industry chambers, on Monday, called for major reforms in the power sector to bridge the increasing gap between demand and supply.

Huge crowd of commuters stranded at the Delhi Metro Rail Station as services were affected due to the Northern Grid power failure in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: R. V. Moorthy

“One of the major reasons for the collapse of the power grid is the major gap between demand and supply. There is an urgent need to reform the power sector, and bring about infrastructural improvements to meet the new challenges of the growing economy,” Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Secretary-General, Rajiv Kumar, said. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Radiation: DoT’s monitoring wing to inspect tower sites

Uniform guidelines being issued to State Governments

NEW DELHI : In a move to address growing concerns over radiation emanating from cellular towers, the Department of Telecom will make it mandatory for telecom companies to get technical clearance from the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cell. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

Govt’s okay for Rs 3000 cr NH17 bill raises eyebrows

PANJIM: The State PWD ministry’s willingness to bear 60% of the cost for the up-gradation/expansion of NH 17 – has raised serious questions in some quarters, since it would burden the State exchequer with an approximately Rs 3000 crore bill.

“Four/six laning of the NH17 is a Central government project, and funds are sanctioned by the Centre for the same. The Goa government should not have to spend for this; if it has funds, it should utilise the same for village and State roads,” says Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik. Read more

Source : oheraldo.in

Where to sell next-gen energy tech : India

The worst blackout in a decade hit Northern India on Monday forcing 370 million people to go without power. While blackouts are a huge problem for the country, they’re a massive opportunity for next-generation energy technologies like clean power, and the smart grid.

The worst blackout in a decade hit Northern India on Monday forcing 370 million people to go without power, and disabling crucial infrastructure like the train system. The reality is that the country’s growing desire for power — to support its booming economy — is outpacing the country’s ability to build and manage more power. Read more

Source : gigaom.com

Traffic curbs in Shivajinagar subway in Pune

PUNE: The traffic police have put a temporary ban on movement of cars and light commercial vehicles on the subway near Narveer Tanajiwadi in Shivajinagar. The traffic branch has invited suggestions and objections regarding the traffic restrictions.

The restrictions will be implemented till August 11. Only two-wheelers and bicycles will be allowed to use the subway. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

East, North-East lag in use of funds meant for tourism

KOLKATA : The Minister of State for Tourism, Mr Sultan Ahmed, on Sunday said tourism funds were not spent fully by States in the East and North-East.

“Tourism funds allocated to the States in East and North-East remained mostly unutilised since 2008-09,” Mr Ahmed said while addressing the third edition of Travel India 2012, organised by the city-based Indian Chamber of Commerce. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

Mizoram, Nagaland top tobacco abuse chart in northeast

KOHIMA: Mizoram and Nagaland have earned the dubious distinction of becoming the highest tobacco consuming states in the northeast. The overall data on prevalence of tobacco use in northeastern states show that next to Mizoram, which has tobacco consumption of 67% - including 40% in the smoking category and 41% in the smokeless category -Nagaland has a prevalence rate of 57 percent with 32% in the smoking category and 45% in the smokeless category.

It has been observed that every second man and every third woman in the state is addicted to tobacco, and as per the Global Tobacco Survey (GTS), MOHFW, 69% men and 43% women are using tobacco. The figures were revealed during a press briefing on Saturday by a high power delegation of ministry of health and family welfare (MHFW), who were in Kohima on a one-day visit. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Exotic species threaten Kerala's fish bio-diversity

Thrissur: Another exotic fish species from North-East India, Bangladesh and Myanmar - Parambassis lala - which is found in the kole wetlands of Thrissur is posing serious threat to the state’s fish bio-diversity. Earlier, there were reports that exotic fish species from South America and Africa like the red piranha, pacu and catfish are posing a severe threat to the state’s rich fish biodiversity.

Parambassis lala, found in the kole wetlands, is posing a serious threat to the state's fish bio-diversity.

While piranhas were netted by fishermen from the Chalakkudy river in Kanakkankadavu, Muzhikulam, Annamanada and Pothassery areas, Parambassis lala (Highfin Glassy Perchlet), which is a rare ornamental carnivorous fresh water species, was spotted by local fishermen in the kole wetlands of Muriyad in the district. The carnivorous fish, yellow in colour, with black vertical stripes on its body and measuring around 3.8 cm, was collected from the pools and ditches of the wetlands here by local fishermen. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Problems greet minister at Chamarajanagar

Chamarajanagar : Garbage heaps, substandard works welcome V Somanna during inspection tour

Housing and district in-charge minister V Somanna was greeted with problems like contaminated water and waste across the city during his visit on Sunday. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Streetlights, stray cattle, garbage woes trouble Guirim residents

PANAJI: The Guirim gram sabha on Sunday passed a resolution to press the electricity department to place linesmen and helpers in the village panchayat so that non-working streetlights are speedily replaced.

The Guirim gram sabha also passed a resolution to acquire land in survey number 145 off the NH17 for garbage disposal and management. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Seize unauthorised parked trucks in Mangalore

Mangalore : Deputy Commissioner Dr N S Channappa Gowda directed RTO to seize the trucks, bullet tankers which are parked at unauthorised parking sites on the National Highway. The parking of these trucks have been hampering the free movement of vehicles. 

Speaking at a road safety committee meeting here on Saturday, he said drivers should follow the traffic rules and regulations. Those who fail to adhere to the rules, stringent action will be initiated against them. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Autos ruling the roost at Rani Jhansi square in Nagpur

NAGPUR: With traffic cops turning a blind eye, auto-rickshaws mill around Rani Jhansi square and near the MSRTC bus stand at Mor Bhavan causing hardship to motorists. The menace has advanced to the extent that now autorickshaws halt their vehicles at the bus stop. 

"Three-wheelers are parked in the middle of the junction right under the nose of traffic police," motorists alleged. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

'Negligible awareness about cancer in Punjab'

MOGA : London-based Roko Cancer Charitable Trust organised a cancer check-up camp at Sukhanand village in Moga district on Saturday in which 673 persons were examined. After the mammography, the experts found that 35 women had some symptoms of breast cancer. A seminar on cancer was also organised by Sant Baba Bhag Singh Memorial Girls College on the occasion.

Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, global ambassador of the London-based Roko Cancer Charitable Trust, at Sukhanand village in Moga district on Saturday.(HT photo)

Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, global ambassador of the trust, said trust would focus on detecting cancer at an early stage. "The awareness about the cancer is almost negligible in the state, especially in the Malwa region. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Mega project planned to meet Shimla's water needs: Minister

Shimla : The Himachal Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) department has prepared a detailed project report for augmentation of Shimla water schemes to meet drinking water needs of the capital town in 2047.

"The Rs 515-crore project to cater to needs of projected 7.5 lakh population of the town envisaged lifting of water from Sutlej. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Jostling for a bigger slice

The premium food and beverage market in India is expected to grow rapidly. Going by the traditional business rule book may not be enough

Premiumisation continues to be one of the most significant trends in the FMCG sector with consumers shifting across categories and also upgrading within categories. In fact we can see this shift most apparent in what we eat and drink on a day-to-day basis. For example, the shift from squashes to carbonated soft drinks to juices, from glucose biscuits to cookies, from polypack to tetrapak milk, from palm oil to refined vegetable oil to heart healthy oil.

This trend has given rise to a sizeable premium segment in multiple food and beverage (F&B) categories. In fact some categories have evolved riding on this trend. The premium food and beverage market in India had reached a market size of Rs 140 bn in FY 2011, more than 10 per cent of the total market (Fig 1). Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Road connects cut-off villages with world

HALADI (NABARANGPUR): A 4-km-long road has brought smiles on the face of villagers in Haladi panchayat of Nabarangpur district. These 2,000-odd villagers would no longer be cut off from the Raighar block headquarters during the rainy season when the water-level in the nearby mountain stream rises. Sans connectivity, people from 10 villages used to depend on bordering Chhattisgarh to meet their needs. "During the monsoons, rainwater from the hills gushes down and water-level in the stream increases. So we remained cut-off and faced many problems. The road with a bridge is a boon to the area as now we can access hospitals, schools and markets in the block," said Sagaram Gond of Kukurthopa village.

These group of villages, situated amidst thick forests and hills on Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, is a Maoist hotbed and road connectivity to the block headquarters was a long-standing demand of the people. The newly-constructed road connects Santapara, which lies on one side of the stream, with Anchala that is 30 km from Raighar. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Leaks in supply pipelines worsen Mumbai’s water crisis

Mumbai : The poor monsoon has left the stock of water in the lakes that feed our city at a six-year low, but the civic body has still not plugged the leaks in the pipelines even as it talks of cutting supply even more and of spending crores of rupees on cloud-seeding to make it rain. 

Data obtained from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) own department of hydraulic engineering shows that 99 leaks in the pipelines are still to be fixed. Worse, 62 of them have not been attended to since last year, even though the BMC claims to fix leaks within 24 hours. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Use social media to spread awareness about water conservation: Shekhar Kapur

New Delhi: Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who is making a film on water scarcity with Hrithik Roshan in the lead, feels one awareness about the issue can be spread through social networking websites.

 

 

"We all have Twitter handles and Facebook accounts, so why not use it to spread awareness about common issue like water conservation? It is a very powerful medium. If Mahatma Gandhi would have had a Facebook account, then we would have got independence very early," said the director of acclaimed films like ‘Masoom’, ‘Mr.India’ and ‘Bandit Queen’. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Power failure worsens Delhi's water crisis

New Delhi: A massive power breakdown in northern India - it's the worst northern grid failure since 2001 -has affected water supply in seven states. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal had no electricity for seven hours since 2:30 am.

This meant that for many, Monday morning dawned to dry taps too. Delhi's six water treatment plants were shut since 2 am; five of them resumed services only by around 9 am. All Delhi Jal Board water pumping stations have also been affected. So, there has been no water supply to the underground reservoirs in hundreds of Delhi's colonies. Authorities in the power companies say that they are giving priority to the Jal Board and are trying to get pumping stations operational as soon as possible. Read more

Source : www.ndtv.com

North India grid failure: India's worst power crisis in a decade

New Delhi: Massive power failure in North India since late Sunday night affected at least seven states, including the national capital. 

According to media reports, a breakdown in the northern grid led to the crisis. Read more

Source : daily.bhaskar.com

Power-short Punjab changes office timings, bans use of ACs

An acute shortage of power across the state has forced the Punjab government to announce a change in timings of all government offices effective August 1.

The government also ordered a complete ban on the use of air-conditioners in all government offices, boards and corporations in the state with immediate effect. Read more

Source : businesstoday.intoday.in

Bihar government to recruit 1,000 firemen

PATNA: After a gap of 22 years, the state government has decided to recruit 1,000 firemen to at least fill up the vacancies as the fire services in the state was in complete disarray.

Perhaps the fear of getting embroiled in legal wrangles made the senior officers concerned desist from recruiting firemen. As a result, the number of vacancies swelled over the years. However, when the situation took a turn for the worse and it became difficult to attend to emergency fire calls even in the state capital, the former DG, homeguards and fire services, Manoje Nath, before his superannuation in June this year, suggested the state home department to recruit firemen through the Central Selection Board for Constables (CSBC). Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Polling for newly proposed autonomous body begins in W. Bengal

Kurseong (West Bengal) (ANI) : Polling began for the establishment of a Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the proposed new development body in northern hills of West Bengal, began here on Sunday amid tight security.

Scores of voters came forward to cast their vote in the Kurseong region of the state on Sunday. Read more

Source : www.newstrackindia.com