Think India Foundation

Girders put up as part of freeway project in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Engineers of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) installed ten 40-m long girders, each weighing 145 tonnes, at the site of the Trombay rail overbridge, a critical part of the Rs 847-crore Eastern Freeway Project.

"The idea is to finish the project and push forward work on the freeway, which is to be completed by the end of the year," said an MMRDA official. The Eastern Freeway Project will link P D'Mello Road to Ghatkopar. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

States to get half of Central scheme funds

Patna : States will now have greater flexibility with Centrally-sponsored schemes. The Union government has given its nod to a new plan that will facilitate transfer of 50 per cent of the scheme amount to the states.

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh says the Centre plans to spend more than Rs 88,000 crore this financial year on rural development. “This ought to boost development, but the inflexibility of Central government sponsored schemes are a major hurdle. We want to remove this,” he told reporters here. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

'Pune municipality's river navigation project not feasible'

PUNE: Noted water expert Madhav Chitale on Friday said that river navigation project planned by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Mula-Mutha is not feasible. "The rivers are in a pathetic condition and do not have the required water level for such a project. Even in the next 20 years, the project will not be possible," he said.

Addressing a news conference on problems of rivers in the state, as part of the Vasundhara International Film Festival, Chitale said looking at the state of the rivers the PMC should take the responsibility of restoring the water bodies and see that sewage is not released on the rivers. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

New Traffic rule, JnNURM buses and present roads

It was with the motive of easing traffic congestion in Imphal city that the state government came up with a new traffic rule on February 13th, thereby prohibiting entry of all vehicles in Paona and Thangal Bazaar. The state government also allotted 17 authorised parking lots in different parts of the city. 

Semi-low floor bus for ferrying passengers within the market areas in Imphal on February 23 2012 - Pix :: David M Mayum

The new traffic regulation, though, was put on a trial basis, did not go well with the public. Shopkeepers of Thangal and Paona Bazaar even went to the extent of shutting down their shops for a couple of days protesting against the new traffic regulation, on the ground that customers are reluctant to visit their shops and as a result their sale proceed decline considerably. Read more

Source : e-pao.net

Tamil Nadu loses battle in green court

Chennai : The green court for south India was opened in Chennai on Friday. On the first day, this National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai circuit court, heard six major cases and disposed two of them including the three-year-old Pallikaranai case.

Setting aside the environment clearance given by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to the Chennai Corporation to set up an integrated waste management plant in Pallikaranai marshland, the court said, “The state of Tamil Nadu has no jurisdiction to grant environment clearance of this nature. Guindy national Park is located within 10 kms from the Pallikaranai project site.” Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Over 2,000 weather stations to come up in Maharashtra

The 100-cr project expected to benefit farmers

MUMBAI : With the Maharashtra Government planning to set up 2,025 automatic weather stations (AWSs) across the State, farmers could benefit from the information obtained to decide on the cropping pattern and take preventive steps to protect the standing crop in case of weather changes.

The Rs 100-crore project will get a viability-gap funding from the Centre. The farmers could realise the advantage of the AWS from the kharif season of 2013. AWSs would be located in every revenue circle, comprising a cluster of 20-30 villages. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

US firm plans to light up rural homes through solar energy

Mangalore : Duron Solar has announced its plans to expand into rural markets by serving families which have no access or have partial access to electricity.

After having conducted pilot tests for over one and half year in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, the Company has decided to set up service network in rural areas of Mangalore, Udupi, Shimoga, Dakshina Kannada, Uttar Kannada and Kodagu. The Company is now all set to spread its operations in five new States- Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

IT sector urged to participate in development activities

BANGALORE : ‘Reorient your CSR to create social infrastructure for the city'

Information technology companies and professionals were on Thursday urged to reorient their corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards creating social infrastructure for Bangalore.

Ravi Chandran, Ashwin Mahesh, V Naresh Narasimhan and Rd Ashwin Verma at the "GIREM :Destination Bangalore" conference to bring together committed minds to discuss and share views on future of Bangalore City , in Bangalore on Thursday. Photo: G.P.Sampath Kumar.

‘LARGE PRESENCE'

Participating in the ‘Destination Bangalore' summit organised by the Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM), V. Naresh Narasimhan, managing partner of Venkataramanan Associates, said IT professionals now account for nearly one million of city's population. Another three million people are directly or indirectly depending on them. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Wind to energise investments in Gadag

HUBLI: Money is blowing in the winds of Gadag. Read on to know how to catch it. The region - prone to natural calamities like drought and floods - is a suitable location for setting up wind mills.

In fact, according to the data available with Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL), roughly 19,347 mw power could be generated through renewable energy sources - and wind energy can contribute around 60 per cent of it. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Odisha: NRO urges Centre to establish Central Agriculture University at Kalahandi

Bhubaneswar: Non-resident Odia Digambara Patra urges Union Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar to set up Central Agriculture University at Kalahandi in Odisha. In a letter to Pawar, Patra said that, "the steps you have taken for the growth of agriculture in the nation are highly appreciated. Recent declaration of central Government to give special importance to agricultural growth of eastern part of the nation including Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand etc is also adorable."

"Agriculture contributes substantial portion to our economy and human resources. It is the prime source to the rural economy and is backbone of the nation. As the agriculture land area is decreasing due to urbanization and industries, to meet the food demand at the national and international level the stress on agricultural out put per hectare of agricultural land will increase with population." Read more

Source : orissadiary.com

KCCI supports beautiful Kochi

KOCHI: The Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) authorities said that they are ready to take over the renovation and maintenance works of the E M S Memorial Town Hall. Announcing KCCI’s support for the city’s development, KCCI chairman K N Marsook said that a master plan catering to the needs of the coming years, is essential for the development.

“KCCI has always taken initiatives for the development of infrastructure and beautification of the city. KCCI is committed to facilitate the development of Kochi into a modern urban agglomeration at par with any other major city in the world,” he said. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Delhi govt to use DUSIB land for schools, hospitals

New Delhi : Construction of 9,780 low cost houses under JNNURM has also been approved: Dikshit

Grappling with the problem of paucity of land, Delhi government on Thursday decided to make use of land available with Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for its various projects. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

IBM to implement waste mgmt system in Kochi

Announced four projects that include formulation of new strategies for the handloom sector, innovative youth empowerment programs and promotion of the budding micro-enterprise sector

KOCHI, INDIA: As a part of the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program, IBM on Thursday announced four projects for Kochi. The projects will be implemented in partnership with India@75, Local Economic Development Society (LEDS), Kara Ventures and Navabharath Foundation.

A team comprising of 12 IBM employees from nine different countries (France, Canada, Sweden, Brazil, USA, Australia, Slovakia, Germany and Spain) will work on these projects over a six month period with one month being spent on location, said a press release. Read more

Source : ciol.com

Share of N-power in India is set to rise

MANGALORE: The current share of nuclear power in India is about 3%. But it has received major fillip in recent years and is poised to grow steadily. The key to capacity building in nuclear power sector critically depends on development of reliable nuclear power stations and an integrated system encompassing the complete fuel cycle, waste management and fissile fuel breeding, according to Srikumar Banerjee, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission ( AEC).

Delivering the convocation address at the 30th convocation of Mangalore University here on Thursday, he said India has already developed adequate core competence in all aspects of nuclear energy, and its roadmap for three-stage nuclear programme provides a blueprint for achieving sustainable energy security. The first stage utilises natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator in indigenously-developed pressurized heavy-water reactors.The second stage of the programme is based on fast breeder reactors (FBRs) which are fuelled by plutonium obtained by reprocessing of spent fuel of thermal reactors. The prototype FBR of 500MWe is currently under construction at Kalpakkam. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Plan for Biogas Plants at State Institutions in Chandigarh, India

Chandigarh is a city and union territory in India that serves as the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana is to implement a Master Plan that will see the construction of a large number of food waste to biogas facilities.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Rufous

According to a report in The Times of India, the plan calls for most of the city's hotels and a number of government buildings including college campuses, medical research centres and a hospital will generate their own energy through biogas plants. Read more

Source : waste-management-world.com

Huda fines 50 for misusing water, collects Rs 10,000 fine

Gurgaon : Continuing with its practice to stop wastage of water, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) challaned offenders in various sectors on Thursday. People were also fined for causing damage to roads. The team of Huda officials issued challans to over 50 people in Sectors 4,7, 15, 40, 9, 10 and other places.  The department collected  Rs 10,000 as fine amount on Thursday. 

While the minimum amount charged from offenders is Rs 200, the fine can increase depending upon the amount of water misused by people and subsequent damage to roads etc. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Faridabad Metro caught in permission tangle

Faridabad : The 13.8-km Metro corridor from Badarpur to YMCA Crossing here seems to have run into rough weather. The construction work on the line, which started a few days ago, has been stopped as the Delhi Metro has reportedly not sought requisite permission from the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI).

NHAI officials said the Delhi Metro had been advised to seek the former’s permission as it had been carrying out boring exercise between Sarai Khwaja and YMCA Crossing on NHAI land for the past few days. “But they ignored this, forcing us to stop work,” said Sanjay Gupta, patrolling officer of NHAI, adding that “there are clear-cut instructions from our bosses that DMRC needed NHAI’s nod before starting construction on the line.” Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Civic woes: Huda to set up 300 mobile toilets

Gurgaon : The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) has struck a deal with a private agency to set up around 300 mobile toilets at various locations across the city. The Huda will provide water supply and maintenance for these toilets. The waste will be disposed off in the master drain. At Iffco Chowk, four such toilets have been set up on trial basis. 

“I was satisfied with the operation of the mobile toilets and the most important that the people in good number were seen using these toilets. So I think the 300 mobile toilets would help the city in eradicating this nuisance,” said the administrator, adding that he may allow the firm to install minimum 1000 such public toilets. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Metro Rail helps property prices shoot up in Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Metro Rail project has become the buzzword for the city’s realty sector, which has pinned all its hopes on this Rs 14,132-crore project to revive a stagnant market. Buyers are finding the project attractive owing to easy accessibility and the development that is expected to take place once the project commences operations within five years. Real estate developers have been prominently highlighting Metro Rail connectivity in their brochures and publicity material to attract buyers. They are luring customers by predicting that property prices will escalate in the areas surrounding Metro Rail stations in the next five years.

The real estate sector has seen poor demand since 2007 due to the global recession and later, from 2009, due to political turmoil in the wake of the statehood agitations. The commencement of the Metro Rail work along three corridors spread over 71 km has thus revived hopes of a real estate boom. Agents say the Metro has become a determining factor in the escalation of property prices in the city. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

Rajasthan Amongst World's Best Locations for Solar Energy

"The conditions in Rajasthan are so favourable, that it will be amongst the most logical places in the world to implement photovoltaic solar power," says Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza.

With India's highest solar radiation in western Rajasthan, half of India's solar power capacity in 2022 could come from this state, says Satya Kumar, managing director of Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd. Read more

Source : evwind.es

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio calls for development of Kohima suburbs

KOHIMA: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday stressed on the need to expand the state capital Kohima and establish satellite townships and sub-urban areas on the outskirts of the city. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 11-km road from Viirie to Kohima constructed under MGNREGS, Rio urged the state's real estate owners to have a positive mindset and handover their lands to government for developmental works as it would ensure better and proper planning in the expansion of the state capital.

The CM also greeted the people on the occasion of Sekrenyi festival and congratulated the Kohima Village Council and Village Development Board (VDB), Kohima, for successfully completing the road, which was constructed at a cost of around Rs 1.5 crore. Lauding the land owners of Kohima Village for donating the land for developmental works, Rio hoped that the establishment of the road will ease the flow of vehicular traffic in Kohima and improve transport and communication in the area. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

JnNURM buses make debut in Imphal city

Imphal : After the blanket ban imposed on entry of all sort of motor-vehicles in Paona and Thangal Bazar areas of Khwairamband market purportedly to ease traffic congestion, transportation service of two semi-low floor buses provided under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) through the restricted market areas has begun from today on a trial basis for one month.

Despite the reported 'public euphoria' over the new bus service, posers have been raised over the suitability of the newly launched 650 mm size semi-low floor buses on the present road condition of Imphal. Read more

Source : e-pao.net

JNNURM team in Ahmedabad city; Cong jumps onto inspection bus

AHMEDABAD: A four-member inspection team headed by the director and chairperson of JNNURM B P Sridevi is camping in the city to inspect high net-worth projects like the BRTS, roads and underground duct lines. The committee will also inspect the Bhadra fort for which an initial grant of Rs 32 crore was sanctioned recently.

The JNNURM committee initially had been intimated of complaints pertaining to poor quality works in the phase one and two of the BRTS project, which covers a stretch of 32 km. Senior Congress leaders had cried foul over road resurfacing projects being doled out to contractors instead of fresh roads for the BRTS. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

85 fortified police stations to come up in Maoist-hit areas of Bihar

PATNA: The Union home ministry has okayed construction of 85 anti-Naxalite police stations in Bihar. This is the largest number of such police stations okayed by the Centre for any state.

Giving this information to TOI on Thursday, DG Ashok Kumar Gupta -- who is also CMD of Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation(BPBCC) - said the Union home ministry had okayed construction of 400 anti-Naxalite police stations (fortified police stations) in nine Maoist-affected states. "We had sought 100 such police stations. The Centre has given approval for 85. With this, Bihar has got approval for the largest number of such police stations," Gupta said. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are among the other states which would have the anti-Naxalite police stations. Funds for setting up these police stations have also been allotted by the Centre, Gupta added. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Telecom bodies want 'essential services' status for industry

NEW DELHI: Industry bodies representing mobile service providers and tower companies want an 'essential services' status to be given to telecom infrastructure companies. The associations have demanded that the telecom sector be treated at par with other infrastructure providers such as energy and power and be given tax benefits for a 20-year period. 

The Cellular Operators Association of India representing incumbent telecom companies, Tower and Infrastructure Providers' Association representing tower providers and Reliance Communications have written to the telecom department and have unanimously asked the government to not bring tower companies under the uniform licensing regime. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

TERI lighting up millions of lives in a greener, eco-sustainable way

In 2007, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) undertook a bold, first-of-its-kind initiative-the organisation pledged to illuminate a million lives in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner, thereby ushering in an era of green energy in rural India. And if that was not ambitious enough, the organisation soon expanded its target to a billion from the earlier million, spawning the 'Lighting a Billion Lives' programme. 

TERI's initiative could hardly come at a better time. Today, even as urban India is embracing greener technologies with enthusiasm, as many as 61 million families in the rural countryside still rely on kerosene and wick lamps for illumination. In addition to being a highly restrictive means of lighting, these traditional lamps spew close to 5.5 million tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. And as the world wakes up to the need to monitor and control these polluting emissions, cutting down on the use of these lamps is undoubtedly a good way to ingrain sustainability into the rural framework. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com 

Budget 2012: Education sector expects another big push

India has one of the world's largest education systems, including 1.3 million schools, 30,000 colleges and 542 universities. According to the Education Division at Technopak Advisors, the size of the public education sector is $40 billion and the private sector amounted to $60 billion in 2011. In last year's budget (2011-2012), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs 52,057 crore for the sector. 

This year, members of the sector again expect a big push in expenditure especially related to the effective implementation of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act). "It (RTE Act) is a big challenge for the government. Many issues like setting up of neighbourhood schools and infrastructure require money," says Dhiraj Mathur, Leader of Education at PwC India. Read more

Source : businesstoday.intoday.in

Only mass rapid transit solutions can provide India's urban commuters with efficient mobility

Billions of man-hours are lost with people 'stuck in traffic'. This fact is also echoed in government's national urban transport policy. The reasons are well known: exponential growth of motor vehicles with negligible increase in road space. To make things worse, unprecedented rate of urban population growth has been reported in the last census. So, travel within major urban networks such Mumbai and Delhi has become unpredictable.

Nobody will disagree that the best thing that happened to Delhi in recent years is the metro rail. Metro has altered the character of the city in many locales. In Mumbai, the electric train service is touted to be the lifeline catering to almost 80% of citizen trips. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Can’t single out DSC for e-way woes: Commuters

GURGAON: The National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI's) intention to terminate its agreement with the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway concessionaire, DSC Ltd, is likely to add a fillip to those who have been campaigning to remove the toll plazas altogether.

A good number of commuters, frustrated with the way lanes are managed despite repeated protests, are hopeful that the Delhi high court hearing of the NHAI-concessionaire case, scheduled for March 1, will be sympathetic to their problems. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

By May, 6 new lanes at Suman Nagar junction in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)'s ambitious project to add six new lanes to the existing roadway at the Suman Nagar junction has entered a crucial phase. If all goes as planned, snarls will become a thing of past as early as May at this crucial six-lane junction, which is used by motorists for travelling from and towards Navi Mumbai as well as Thane.

The Suman Nagar junction is one of the busiest intersections on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH). Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Kharghar cops work from rented residential flat

Mumbai : Even as the crime rate rises in the hub of Navi Mumbai, policemen are jostling for space in an apartment that has no lock-up or room to store records, as the construction of their permanent office building lies in limbo

Space jam: Cops sit in a corner of the building's staircase and register complaints. They grumble that it is difficult for them to carry out their work in the space provided

The satellite city of Navi Mumbai has been growing at an exponential rate, and crime rates have gone up in proportion to the burgeoning population that comes hand in hand with development, especially in Kharghar. Read more

Source : mid-day.com

Virtual teaching new mantra to revolutionise classroom study

BHOPAL: A cyber curriculum might sound a little farfetched idea for now but a virtual teaching session linking Bhopal's Gandhi Medical College (GMC) with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has heralded an innovation that is all set to change classroom education in the country.

Under-graduate medical students of the GMC interacted with professors in Delhi in the first virtual teaching (VT) classroom session here on Wednesday. The pilot project under the aegis of national knowledge commission (NKC) aims at raising the average medical education standards and increasing interactivity between medical colleges. The project by NKC would link the command control at AIIMS Delhi with PGI-Chandigarh, NEIGRIHMS-Shillong, JIPMER-Pondicherry, GMC-Bhopal, Lady Hardinge Medical College-Delhi and University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Mono rail project for Indore gets going

INDORE: Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) made a presentation before the Indore Municipal Corporation on Wednesday for a mono rail project in the city. The proposed mono rail may cost around Rs 140 crores per kilometer.

General manager of EPIL, S K Jain made an elaborate presentation before the senior officials of civic body. Following the presentation the Mayor Krishnamurari Moghe asked the company officials to carry out a survey of the city and present a report for further deliberation. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Proposed power tariff hike faces stiff opposition

INDORE: The 25% hike in power tariff sought by the MP Western Region Distribution Company was strongly opposed by the people at a hearing organised by the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPERC) on Wednesday.

People from different walks of life argued in unison that hike in power tariff would lead to power thefts. Projected loss by the company, for which tariff hike is proposed, can be mitigated by reducing the distribution losses, recovery of outstanding dues and controlling the establishment costs of the distribution company, they point out. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Bangalore’s growth: Planning still in progress

Bangalore : Sprawling malls and multi-storey complexes continue to sprout at a frenetic pace in India’s technology capital.

However, increasing concern that Bangalore’s development is unplanned has prompted experts in various fields to gather in the city on Thursday to find ways to ensure the growth is solid and not fluid. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

Govt mulls use of light rail system in Capital

New Delhi : Taking a step forward to strengthen the public transport in the Capital, the government is once again considering its earlier plan of building a light rail transit (LRT) system.

Building LRT corridors will bring Delhi at par with several world-class cities such as London, New York,Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur that have an integrated multi-modal transit system. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

On fast track: Rapid Metro project work enters last lap

Gurgaon : Come July and the trial run of India’s first 100% privately funded and operated light rail transit service, Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon (RMG), would begin, easing commuting woes of lakhs of residents. 

The work of laying steel tracks, which have already arrived at a stockyard in Gurgaon,would begin in the next few days.

The consignment of equipment, including the insulated third rail, has also arrived from Austria. The third rail is a method of providing electric power to a train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the railway track. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Coaching takes centrestage in education

JAIPUR: It was a matter of shame for a student going for tuition almost two decades ago, recalls Neera Mathur, principal of Sawai Man Singh School. Later on, the education system has transformed into a billion dollar 'industry' giving birth to many offshoots.

The only offshoot of the system, which is indeed growing faster than the industry itself, is the ubiquitous coaching industry. "Coaching centres kill the creative power of students. Ideally, they should be allowed to re-think of what has been taught in the classroom. This process is not happening as students seeking tuitions take classes lightly," said Mathur, who discourages students from taking coaching unless it is for any competition exams. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Trains on the Delhi Metro will run at 110kmph - that's 5kmph faster than the Airport Express

The Delhi Metro says trains on this line will run at 110 kmph, 5 kmph faster than the Airport Express carriages. 

The Delhi Metro has announced plans to connect Dwarka and Gurgaon on the new line

But it is to be seen if Metro lives up to its word, considering that trains on the Airport Express line have yet to hit their planned top speed of 120 kmph. Read more

Source : dailymail.co.uk

Green line gets thicker; biodiversity park in Aravali

Gurgaon : In an effort to preserve the natural beauty of the Aravali hills, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) is planning to develop a biodiversity park here on the pattern of an existing park in south Delhi ridge of the mountain range. 

“We want a park in Gurgaon similar to the one located in the Aravali ridge in south Delhi, where one can enjoy a complete thematic beauty of Aravali vegetation, animals and birds,” Huda administrator Praveen Kumar said. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Huda makes a beginning, drain pain to end soon

Gurgaon : The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) seems to have finally woken up after repeated complaints from the residents about water stagnation in the drain of DLF City (Phase 4). The department has finally deployed labourers to cut out separate drains to make way for the stagnant water to move towards Huda’s Badshahpur master drain. 

“We want to connect this nullah directly with Badshahpur drain but it may take a month time as the distance between DLF Phase-4 and Golf Course is around two kilometre. At several places, the nullah is not shaped or might have disappeared,” said a Huda official. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Universal healthcare plan may be nixed

The Planning Commission is now favouring a policy driven by an internal committee that has recommended a dominant role for private healthcare companies

New Delhi: The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is likely to run into a debate on public health policy after the Planning Commission moved to nix a proposal to include healthcare in the list of public entitlements such as education and food.

Central to the proposal—initiated by a high-level expert group (HLEG) headed by K. Srinath Reddy, a leading advocate of preventive cardiology and president of the Public Health Foundation of India—was the role of the state as a healthcare enabler. Instead, the Planning Commission is now favouring a policy driven by an internal committee that has recommended a dominant role for private healthcare companies. Read more

Source : livemint.com

Mobile phones to aid infrastructure development

Villagers in India suffering daily due to lack of good infrastructure can now initiate action by clicking a picture of the concerned area on their mobile phone, and forwarding the same to the Union ministry of programme implementation, reports ET.

Srikant Jena, minister for programme implementation, has said that they are working on a proposal so that a complaint can be filed through mobile phones. Anyone can take a picture of a substandard road constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, or a poor quality house built under the Indira Awas Yojana, and send it to them. The ministry will inquire and act. Read more

Source : wirelessfederation.com 

Bihar to announce park protection policy soon

PATNA: The Bihar government would soon announce its new policy for the development and protection of parks, said urban development minister Prem Kumar in the legislative council during pre-lunch session on Wednesday.

Replying to a question of Basudeo Singh of the CPM, the minister said that this proposed policy would come into force in the 2012-13 financial year. The government is committed to develop and protect parks located in various parts of the state, he said. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Entrance exams merged for technical institutes

From 2013, CBSE will conduct the joint entrance exam, and IITs will design the question paper

New Delhi: Beginning 2013, all Union government-funded technical education institutes, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), will admit students through a single entrance examination, Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal said on Wednesday after a meeting with state education ministers.

With this, the government has formally merged the joint entrance examination (JEE) conducted by the IITs and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) held by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Read more

Source : livemint.com

28% of Gurgaon city's medical waste left untreated

GURGAON: In Gurgaon, it is estimated that every hospital bed generates close to 2 kg of medical waste. This category of waste includes expired medicines, used syringes, and other organic biomedical waste products, severely hazardous if not treated with due process. And according to a report published recently in Gurgaon on medical waste management, at least 28% of the medical waste generated on a daily basis is not being properly treated. ,

"All this medical waste generated is not being treated by registered facilities on a daily basis," the report, compiled by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) says, adding that a similar trend can be witnessed in other cities of the country. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Up Close: Little feet shelter under The Banyan

Quarry workers are more than eager to send their children to her school

Striking a chord: Jeny says that once the children get an idea of what a school is, they never want to look back. Photo: Satish Badiger

What strikes you about Jeny Verma, the co-founder of Lovedale Foundation, is the clarity of her intentions and precision in communication. Cradling the dreams of the people of Anagalapura, three kilometres from Horamavu, Jeny and her not-for-profit organisation work towards building a sustainable life for the children of quarry workers that live in and around the area.

Her foundation nurtures ‘The Cherish Home', a home for the elders, ‘The Littlewoods', a children's home, and a school called ‘The Banyan'. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Various bodies unite for Bangalore's solid growth

Bangalore : A bunch of senior civil and urban planners and representatives of various industries will participate in a meet organized by Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) on Thursday, Feb 22 to assess whether master plans for Bangalore's growth are solid enough to cater to the exploding population of the city and discuss how all stakeholders can add value to these plans.

Moreover, the participants will assess the role of metro in easing commuting problems, security aspects and whether the large IT firms can share transportation services to lessen vehicle congestion on roads. Read more

Source : news.oneindia.in

New Cities summit from May 14 in Paris

The New Cities Foundation (NCF), a Swiss non-profit organisation working on the field of urban innovation in 21st century cities, will hold the inaugural New Cities Summit from May 14-16, 2012 in Paris.

The annual summit is the centrepiece of the Foundation’s work. It aims to be the leading annual global event on 21st century urbanization, with a unique focus on urbanisation in fast-growing economies in Asia, the Middle-East and Latin America. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

New vented dam in Mangalore may be ready by 2013

MANGALORE: The augmented water supply for the city, which the new vented dam at Thumbay is expected to bring about, is likely to be in place by December 2013. While the existing vented dam has a storage capacity of 4.89 million cubic metres (mcm), the new vented dam, that is being constructed 50 metres downstream from the existing dam, will take the storage up to 14.74 mcm. This would meet the city's water requirements for five months with zero inflow.

The existing storage capacity of 4.89 mcm helps Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), which uses this water storage reservoir as its primary source of drinking water, for three months. The new dam will give the civic body a cushion of two months in meeting its water supply requirements to domestic and commercial users in the worst-case scenario of prolonged summer which can be accentuated by a delay in the onset of monsoon. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com