Think India Foundation

Master plan: Delhi government wants norms eased

NEW DELHI: In a bid to deliver on its promises to residents of unauthorized colonies, the Delhi government is seeking relaxation in Master Plan 2021 and building control norms so that regularization becomes possible for the 1,639 colonies that do not meet town planning and fire safety criteria.

The state's urban development department has sought relaxations in MPD-2021 in an official mail to the union urban development ministry to enable regularization on an "as is where is" basis. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Special purpose vehicle to be set up for Metro

Chandigarh : A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be set up for undertaking the construction of the Metro Rail project proposed for the Tricity, and a core team of officials would be formed to work on setting up the project. Feedback from the Planning Commission would also be sought before further action is taken.

These decisions were taken during a meeting on the Metro Rail in New Delhi on Tuesday. Apart from officials of Chandigarh, representatives of Punjab and Haryana were present at the meeting which was held with the Ministry of Urban Development. The Detailed Project Report was submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to the UT Administration several months ago. DMRC officials who had prepared the DPR were also present at the meeting. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Award-winning traffic-i-cop to keep tabs on violators again

Pune : The project was shelved due to paucity of funds.

The state government is all set to restart the much lauded traffic-i-cop project which was shelved due to paucity of funds.

Inspector (Administration) Rajendra Kamire from traffic police said, “The state government has given instructions to the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC) to reinstate the project. Funds have been assured for the project and the project will see the light of the day in the next couple of months.” Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Gurgaon has lowest sex ratio in Haryana

CHANDIGARH: Gurgaon-the most progressive city of Haryana has figured among districts having lowest sex ratio even as overall sex ratio of Haryana has increased to 879. 

According to data rolled out by Haryana Census department for census 2011, lowest sex ratio was reported in Gurgaon at 854, Sonipat at 856 and Jhajjar at 862. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

UT asked to team up with Punjab, Haryana officials

CHANDIGARH: For the Rs 10,900-crore Metro rail project, the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on Tuesday asked the UT administration to set up a joint core team of officials with Punjab and Haryana, and nodal officers from the ministry to work on the project. Besides, a new entity -- special purpose vehicle (SPV) -- will also be constituted to work out the economics of the scheme.

After a detailed presentation was made by the administration on different aspects of the project, it was also decided that the SPV could be registered under the Companies Act as a public sector body, either wholly owned by the Government of India or with equity participation from the state governments. A UT official, however, said that since the project involves big investment, the feedback provided by the representatives of the Planning Commission and other experts would be duly taken into account while taking further action on this matter by all officials concerned. Finance secretary VK Singh said the administration will start working immediately on the documentation to form this entity, in consultation with Punjab and Haryana, and the MoUD. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Call to save city’s shrinking wetlands

CHENNAI : Wetlands have shrunk in size and significance due to rampant urbanisation. The protected area of Pallikaranai marsh is not even one-tenth of its original size today.

Garbage dumped near Pallikaranai Marsh. Photo: M.Karunakaran.

In fact, a majority of wetlands across the city and its suburbs have gone the same way. On World Biodiversity Day on Wednesday, pivoting around the theme of ‘water and biodiversity’, conservationists emphasised the need to preserve what is left of these wetlands. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Cops put spanner in stormwater drain works in Chennai

CHENNAI : Projects affected as labourers have been detained in various places: Corporation

Stormwater drain work at Royapettah High Road. Photo: M. Karunakaran

Even as the civic body races against time to complete stormwater drain work in the city before the northeast monsoon, a new problem has presented itself.

Strong-arm tactics by the police have brought to a grinding halt the construction of drains under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Kochi civic body muses running own buses

Kochi: As part of the formation of Metro Cochin Transport Corporation (MCTC), a special purpose vehicle to manage the urban transport sector, a meeting of stakeholders convened by the mayor Tony Chammany has proposed that the civic body look at taking over the JNNURM low floor buses from KSRTC or have its own bus services.

Picture for representational purpose only.

Another major proposal was to run buses on a public private participation (PPP) basis with the corporation having 51 per cent stake and the rest with government employees and the public. Read more

Source : www.deccanchronicle.com

Garhwa reels under power, water crises

GARWHA: Erratic power supply and scarcity of water are making life unbearable in the district where temperature is hovering around 40-45° C for the last one week. Despite improvement in electricity supply, the recent power cuts are making the summer miserable for about 50,000 people.

There is no good news from the weather office too. It has said heat condition might get worse in the days to come. Stray clouds are bringing hope but little respite. Even rural areas are also under the grip of acute water crisis as wells, ponds, aahars and rivers have dried up. Danro river, which is the lifeline of Garhwa, has also dried up. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

'Pvt tanker owners creating artificial crisis of water in Jaipur'

JAIPUR: As the demand for water has increased in summer, residents of many colonies are finding it more difficult to get water through tankers. This is attributed to an artificial crisis of water created by private contractors. The residents have brought it to the notice of PHED engineers but to no avail.

Residents of Gangapole locality in the Walled City are complaining of irregular water supply and alleged that the PHED officers were not paying heed to their complaints. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Karnataka plans Rs 1,000-cr mega textile park

BANGALORE : The Karnataka government plans to set up a 1,000-acre textile park at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore in the Assembly constituency of Gurmitkal in Yadgir district, state’s Textile Minister Baburao Chinchanasoor said today.

The state’s Textile Department would submit a proposal to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board to earmark 1,000 acres of the total 3,500 acres acquired for industrial development for the proposed project at Kadechoor, he told reporters here. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

Fund shortage hits plan to prevent electrocutions in Bangalore

BANGALORE : Bescom to launch safety awareness drive from June 1

An action plan to prevent electrocution, which was prepared about six months ago, is yet to be fully implemented by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom). Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Gujarat Tourism undertakes Rs 20-cr water discharge system project at Bet Dwarka

Mumbai : The Gujarat Tourism Department has launched a Rs 20-crore project to interconnect the three lakes on the Bet Dwarka island and develop a proper water discharge system. During the rains, these lakes overflow and water can be seen spilling all over the place. The project aims at clearing the water outlets on the island, Rajeev Khanna reported in The Times of India.

Over the last year, the Department has focused on Dwarka and Bet Dwarka for upgrading tourism facilities. "We have spent Rs 50 crore from the kitty of the Department and Yatradham Vikas Board to improve facilities in Dwarka," said a senior official. Read more

Source : www.hospitalitybizindia.com

Path paved for drain project in Cuttack

CUTTACK: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday evicted all encroachments from Matrubhawan to Matgajpur to make way for reconstruction of the main storm water channel 1. The work is part of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded Rs 1,500 crore project to overhaul the drainage system of the 1,000-year-old city.

"The main stormwater channel along with the drains connecting them would be reconstructed scientifically so as to ensure maximum efficiency in carrying and discharging water from the city," said CMC commissioner Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

JAP-1 women constables manage traffic

RANCHI: Traffic police department in the city have engaged women constables of the Jharkhand Armed Police-1 (JAP-1) for manning areas prone to traffic congestion.

Busy thoroughfares in the city, like Albert Ekka Chowk, Sujata Chowk and Birsa Chowk, have JAP constables, who are proving efficient than regular traffic guards. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

33 accident prone spots in Nagpur: Cops

NAGPUR: A study of road accidents in the city over the last ten years has led the traffic police to mark 33 spots as accident prone. The traffic police also claim that nearly 80% deaths in road accidents have taken place due to helmetless driving.

This information was given by the traffic police in response to an RTI query by social worker Abhay Kolarkar. The figures say that 122 people were killed in 443 accidents in just the last four months. The traffic cops also said they booked 51,368 people in drunk driving cases from 2010 to March 2013. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Northeast boost in 4-nation corridor

New Delhi : Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Li Keqiang have held out hopes for infrastructure development in the Northeast and its inclusion in a larger economic region spanning Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM).

Singh said yesterday that rapid development of the two nations’ economies had opened up new opportunities for economic cooperation in the region. It is in this context that he thought the Northeast held immense possibilities. Read more

Source : www.telegraphindia.com

8-laning project runs into fresh green hurdles in Hubli-Dharwad

DHARWAD: A project to eight-lane the Hubli-Dharwad road has run into rough weather with green activists claiming that nearly 2,000 trees have been axed for the project. 

The World Bank-funded Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is the third such project in India, after Ahmedabad and Pune. Once completed, it seeks to dedicate two central lanes to buses and the rest to other vehicles. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Marketing training for urban poor

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will train the urban poor in improving their marketing skills by opening a micro-business centre on public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The state government has allotted 0.16 acre to the BMC for construction of the centre. It will hand over the land to Centurion University of Technology and Management, which is a partner in the project, to be undertaken under Swarna Jayanti Sahar Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY). Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Odisha gears up to implement National Urban Health Mission from coming September

Bhubaneswar: Odisha gears up to implement National Urban Health Mission. NUHM ,will run parallel to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Reproductive and child health programmes apart, it will address communicable and non-communicable diseases, especially State-specific diseases such as sickle-cell and flourosis. 

A meeting of State Health Secretaries and Mission Directors was convened  by Ministry of Health & FW , Government of India yesterday in New Delhi to review the preparedness of the States for implementation of this programme. . Principal Secretary Health & FW Mr Pradipta kumar Mohapatra, and Commissioner-cum-Mission Director NRHM Dr Pramod Meherda attended the meeting and presented the preparedness in Odisha which was highly appreciated . Read more

Source : indiaeducationdiary.in

Metro rail delays: Minister hints at tardy response by Bengal Government

KOLKATA : Union Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday hinted at lack of cooperation from the West Bengal Government in completing a slew of metro rail projects in Kolkata worth nearly Rs 17,000 crore.

According to Chowdhury, the Railways has been finding it difficult to carry out the metro extension projects mainly due to land acquisition hurdles. Read more

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

NUHM coming to Karnataka soon

Bengaluru: The much awaited National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) could soon get underway in the state with a team of four members from its Health and Family Welfare Department receiving broad guidelines on how to go about implementing it in Karnataka at a workshop in Delhi on Monday. 

Picture for representational purpose only.

A similar workshop will soon be held in the state to chalk out the project implementation plan (PIP) and a comprehensive plan for Karnataka will be sent to the Union health ministry by the end of July, according to Dr B.N. Dhanya­kumar, Director,  Health and Family Welfare Depart­ment. Read more

Source : www.deccanchronicle.com

Thiruvananthapuram slums present a grim picture

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Response to workshop on a Central project presents RAY of hope

The results of an ongoing survey of slums within the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation — which is almost complete — reveals high figures of unemployment, alcoholism, and drinking water shortage, highlighting the need for inclusive development, as promised by the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a ‘slum-free India’ programme by the Union government.

Mayor K. Chandrika presented the facts, based on the 75 per cent of the data obtained, during the first stakeholders’ consultation workshop held earlier this month by the city Corporation’s RAY technical cell. As much as 41 per cent of around 52,190 people interviewed so far are addicted to alcohol or drugs, 43 per cent are unemployed, and 52 per cent of those with pipe water connection get erratic supply. According to officials, the physical survey is complete and all that remains is for it to be entered into a Management Information System (MIS). Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Agitating residents likely to be taken on tour of sewage plants

KOCHI : Faced with increased public resistance against proposed sewage treatment plants in the State, the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) is planning to placate the agitated residents by taking them on a tour to some plant sites outside Kerala.

One of the proposals under consideration of the KSUDP authorities is to take the representatives of the residents of the area to a modern plant at Vijayawada.

The proposal of the Kochi Corporation to set up a sewage treatment plant at Mundanveli had met with stiff resistance from locals. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Kochi and capital city likely to get 150 more low-floor buses

KOCHI : Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram together are likely to get around 150 more AC and non-AC low floor buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

While the passenger patronage of low-floor buses in the city keeps fluctuating, those operating between districts and from Kochi city to suburban towns are making profits.

This is under the extended phase one of the scheme, in which 10,000 more such buses will be given to cities in various States. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Vijayasri river front project hit by roadblocks

VIJAYAWADA : No progress, though the VGTMUDA announced the project about two years ago

The much touted Vijayasri, a river front project, is confronted with many hurdles, environmental issues and inordinate delay in decision making. There is no progress in the project though the Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTMUDA) announced the project close to two years ago. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Akhaura-Agartala rail link: Indo-Bangla officials meet to devise plan today

This link would also be vital for the Trans – Asian Railway Network (TAR), of which both India and Bangladesh are members. As part of TAR, India has been constructing a 350 km rail link from Jiribam (India) to Moreh (Myanmar)—a link Bangladesh can be benefitted from.

Rail officials of Bangladesh and India sit today in Dhaka to work out a plan to implement the Akhaura-Agartala rail link, which will allow Delhi to connect with its seven north-eastern states.

India’s rail officials say that Delhi is moving for rapid implementation of their much-sought rail link which the two neighbours believe will open up a new era of business opportunities and people-to-people contact in the region. Read more

Source : dhakatribune.com

Sai temple in Cuttack razed to clear traffic

CUTTACK: After razing temples on Kathajodi river bed along Naraj to Markat Nagar stretch, the district administration has now turned the bulldozers towards those creating traffic bottlenecks in the city. On Monday, the Shirdi Sai temple at Ganesh ghat and 12 other small shrines along the ring road were demolished.

The Sai temple, located in the middle of the road, was creating serious traffic congestion in the area, said a district official. Three bulldozers were pressed into service to pull down the temple spread over 0.5 decimal. The temple authorities had shifted the idols on Sunday itself and allowed the administration to do their work. The 12 other temples along the road had come up on government land, the official added. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Residents question 'safe' bio-medical waste disposal in Gurgaon

GURGAON: Waste management is an integral part of a healthcare system. Helping the Millennium City, which has emerged as a hub for quality healthcare services, to manage its bio-medical waste effectively and successfully is city-based Vulcan Waste Management Pvt. Ltd, a common bio-medical waste treatment facility (CBWTF) authorized by Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of bio-medical waste.

"As per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines in any area, only one CBWTF is allowed to cater to up to 10,000 beds situated within a radius of 150 km. Gurgaon at present has around 5,000 beds in its healthcare units, hence there is no need for a second facility as we are successfully providing our services to them. If the number of beds increases, we will increase our capacity as we already have the authorization," said Kuldeep Panwar, founder director of Vulcan Waste Management located at Bhondsi. The company also caters to the districts of Faridabad, Rewari, Mahendergarh, Palwal and Mewat. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

No tax, but West Bengal may sell water to make up for it

KOLKATA: The state may not collect water tax from the people but it is planning to make up for this by selling about 15% of water from 23 treatment plants, being set up in the state, to bottled water manufacturers. The idea is to collect the operational and maintenance cost of these treatment plants. The urban development department has sent the proposal to Centre for approval.

Secretary level officers had gone to Delhi last week to place some proposals to the Centre. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Utility told to adhere to JNNURM rules

PUNE: The Union ministry of urban development has advised the transport undertakings of 61 cities, including the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), to procure modern JNNURM-funded buses under JNNURM funding according to the urban bus specifications recommended by the ministry. The ministry recently came out with the specifications which focuses on comfort and quality ride for passengers and drivers.

In a letter sent to the transport and urban development departments earlier this month, the ministry had said that all future procurements of the buses should be carried out as per the bus specifications. The urban bus specifications were published at the bus funding workshop held on May 6. The specifications however are recommendatory in nature. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Virbhadra opens new bridge in Shimla

Shimla : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Monday inaugurated a bridge near the Auckland tunnel here, which was constructed at a cost of Rs.2.52 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the foundation stone of the bridge was laid by him during previous regime of the Congress in March 2007 but the Bharatiya Janata Party government, which remained in power from 2008 onwards, failed to complete it in the stipulated time. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

2 out of 3 local train commuters in Mumbai peeved with long ticket queues

Over half of Mumbai's suburban railway network users are unhappy with facilities that should have made their journeys more pleasant, a railway survey has found.

The biggest grouse is the time taken to buy a ticket, with two out of three commuters complaining about it, followed by cleanliness - both on the rakes and in the stations - and toilets. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

80,000 Families Affected Due to Recent Quake in J&K

SRINAGAR : The recent earthquake in Doda region of Jammu and Kashmir damaged public infrastructure worth Rs 100 crore as over 80,000 families were affected by the natural disaster.

The losses to public infrastructure have been assessed to the tune of nearly Rs 100 crore with major damage reported in Doda district where public infrastructure worth Rs 89.10 crore has been damaged, an official spokesman said after a review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary M I Khanday here. Read more

Source : news.outlookindia.com

Water at dirt cheap rate for builders

Gurgaon : At a time when the city is reeling under an acute water crisis, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) is busy selling water to private developers at dirt cheap rates.

To make matters worse, the authority has been claiming that it doesn’t have enough canal water, which is supplied to New Gurgaon localities such as DLF City, Sushant Lok, Southcity and Huda sectors. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

DLF Phase 3 residents protest water shortage

Gurgaon : Irked over the inadequate water supply, a large number of residents and members of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) of DLF City Phase-III staged a protest against the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and DLF Estate Developers Ltd. at Moulsary Avenue Road on Monday.

Carrying banners and shouting slogans, the residents blocked both sides of the road in DLF City Phase-III, causing a traffic jam for nearly an hour. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Metro rail project: Haryana's plan to partner with UT may be decided today

Chandigarh : Haryana's plan to partner with UT administration in the ambitious Metro rail project is likely to be decided in a meeting of the project's coordination committee in New Delhi on Monday. 

UT administration, Punjab, Haryana and the union ministry of urban development (MUD) will take part in the meeting to discuss the project that is expected to cost Rs. 10,900 crore. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

India, China renew flood data pact on Brahmaputra

NEW DELHI : While India is seeking a joint mechanism with China for better transparency about 39 project sites that the latter is reported to have identified on tributaries of the Brahmaputra, including seven on the main river, what was signed on Monday during the visit of Premier Li Keqiang was a “renewal” of the existing pact between the two countries on sharing flood data during the monsoon season.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (L) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) at a delegation level meeting in New Delhi on Monday.

At a joint press conference, both leaders expressed their willingness to expand cooperation on trans-boundary rivers. Mr. Li said he was ready to share more information on hydrology and rivers but there was no official word on setting up a joint mechanism to address India’s concerns on dams coming up on the Brahmaputra on the Chinese side. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

India seeks clarification on Kishanganga order

NEW DELHI : India has moved the Court of Arbitration at The Hague for “clarification” or “interpretation” of the February order on its dispute with Pakistan over the 330-MW Kishanganga project under construction in North Kashmir.

In the order, the court does not permit New Delhi to use the modern “draw down” technique for removal of silt deposits in run-of-the-river dams on rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Jaipur Metro might miss deadline again

JAIPUR: With a lot of civil construction work for the Jaipur Metro rail corridor still pending, it remains a major challenge for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to start commercial operation of the project by August, the new deadline.

In a recent project review meeting, it was learnt that the project is set to miss its extended July 2013 deadline and urban development and housing (UDH) minister Shanti Dhariwal had announced August first week as the fresh date. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Chavan to meet those displaced by Navi Mumbai Airport

Mumbai : They are likely to meet in the next 10 days to sort out land compensation issue

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will meet people displaced by the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport (project affected persons or PAPs) in the next ten days to sort land allotment for the project.

Officials of the state urban development ministry confirmed the development to Business Standard on Monday after a meeting between Chavan, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Bhatia and other government officials. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Jora reviews Power, water and ration supply scenario in Jammu

JAMMU : The Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CA&PD) Department has dispatched advance two month ration to the earthquake affected areas of erstwhile Doda district. 

The information was given at a meeting chaired by the Minister for Urban Development, Nawang Rigzin Jora, convened to review the functioning of PDD, PHE, CA&PD, Police, JMC, JDA and other services departments, here today. Read more

Source : www.kashmirtimes.com

New masterplans for urban pockets of J&K

Jammu : Taking into account the increasing population of Jammu and Kashmir, the state government has formulated new masterplans for urban pockets. 

"The objective of the government is to develop every corner of the state with improved basic amenities. In this connection, the government has prepared revised masterplans for urban pockets in view of increase of population and area (of Jammu)," state Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture Raman Bhalla said yesterday. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Centre to set up four electronics clusters in AP

Chennai/ Visakhapatnam : India under its national electronics policy aims to achieve $36 billion in hardware and electronics exports by 2020 by promoting the proposed clusters

The Centre is planning to set up 200 electronics manufacturing clusters (EMCs) across the country over the next eight years. Of these, Andhra Pradesh is expected to get four, said Killi Kruparani, minister of state for communication and IT.

The minister was addressing a workshop organised by the Software Technology Parks of India and Visakha Information Technology Association here recently. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

Aadhaar enrolment to get easier with 2,000 more machines

Pune : You’ll find it easier to enrol for the Unique Identification Authority of India cards – or Aadhaar cards – as the state government plans to deploy 2,000 new machines for registration.

Secretary of the state information technology (IT) department, Rajesh Aggarwal, said they have placed work orders for 2,000 kits which will be used to register people for Aadhaar cards. This will lead to an increase in capacity by around 50% in the state which has 4,399 operational machines in 1,744 active registration centres run by both-- state and non-state registrars (like banks). Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

VMC revives A2Z ties for solid waste mgmt

VARANASI: Gurgaon-based private group A2Z is being roped in once again to manage solid waste from 90 wards of the city. However, the group would have to complete pending work in the Karsada plant before the deal is finalized. The group had already completed 75% of the work in the plant before it fell out with Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) in August 2012.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by principal secretary, urban development, in the state capital on Friday. Municipal commissioner RP Singh on Saturday said that roping in A2Z to complete the Karsada plant was a better option as it would not put any additional burden on the treasury. Besides, the group would also be responsible for management and disposal of the solid waste. The door-to-door collection of the garbage and its transportation to Karsada plant will be managed by the VMC.'' The company representatives admitted to their faults and assured us of no repetition of such mistakes.'' he added. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Delhi to get tout-free, seamless property registration system

In a major revamp of existing property registration system, Delhi Government will put in place a transparent mechanism by end of the year under which people will be able to access hassle-free services in all 13 sub-registrar offices without any jurisdictional issue. 

The aim of the ambitious project – first of its kind in the country – is to offer people a tout-free and seamless property registration experience through a highly secured online platform, which will replace the six-decade-old current system. Read more

Source : www.financialexpress.com

Redevelop Lutyens’ Zone, but don’t touch the greens, says DUAC

NEW DELHI : As plans get under way for redeveloping parts of Delhi that were designed by Edwin Lutyens, the Delhi Urban Arts Commission wants the “green character” of the area left untouched.

Apprehensive that an increase in the floor-area ratio in Lutyens’ Delhi will mean more high-rises and more trees felled, the Commission has written to Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna and the Delhi Development Authority to ensure that a reduced green cover is not the consequence of this redevelopment. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Karnatak region expects more aid from new govt

Chennai/ Dharwad : With the Congress forming the new government headed by Siddramaiah in Karnataka, the people in North Karnataka are hoping that several issues haunting the region would be resolved.

The project of diverting the water from Kalasa and Banduri streams to Malaprabha to solve the problem of drinking water is a key issue the people expect to be solved. The Goan government has put a hurdle to the implementation of the Kalasa Banduri Nala project by approaching the Supreme Court saying that the project would be detrimental to the interest of Goa. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

No power backup at Huda water supply plant

Gurgaon : At a time when water scarcity is a burning issue in the city, the lone water supply plant of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda), located at the fag end of Basai, does not even have power backup. With power disruptions being a perennial problem in these parts, the plant cannot supply water even hours after a power cut.

As a result, the residents of old Gurgaon have been reeling under severe water crisis for the past three weeks and the residents of DLF City are likely to stage a protest on Monday. “We have been purchasing water from private suppliers for the past two weeks. The DLF management says that Huda has not supplied water which has virtually led to the scarcity,” said Joginder Singh, a resident of DLF Phase-III, the locality hit worst by the scarcity. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com