<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News item titled "Massive fire breaks out at NTPC’s Superthermal power plant in Jharkhand" appearing in the Business Standard dated
"At the current pace, on each day of the year, 290 habitations are provided with drinking water,' announced the government in the Budget session to showcase the "impressive progress' made under the UPA's flagship Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission (RGDWM) meant to provide "safe and sustainable drinking water sources' to villages. What the Government glossed over is the official reality check
As the phase of implementation of the law approaches, there is palpable unease among the tribal populations. At Pipalkhura, forest Department personnel destroyed tribal homes and took away their belongings. THE road to Pipalkhura is long, rocky and dusty. Across a parched, hilly landscape occasionally broken by a village, farm or bazaar, we make our way to this remote village in Madhya Pradesh. Suddenly, we see a cluster of white tents breaking out of the brown earth
In early December 2007, the country prided itself on providing the world with a road map to check the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5NI. Containing the virus in Maharashtra in 2006 and in Manipur in 2007 gave health authorities sufficient caus
Bird deaths have been reported from Ghatshila in East Singhbhum division of Jharkhand. By February 3, 500 birds had perished. Jharkhand does not have enough laboratories to check blood samples of
Rehab, clearances a bother in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh. Tata Steel's greenfield projects in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have been delayed by about 12 to 16 months due to issues over land acquisition and resettlement, the company's executives said. The company plans to invest about Rs 90,000 crore in the three projects, which will have a total capacity of 23 million tonnes. Speaking to journalists today on the sidelines of Steelrise 2008, a three-day conference, the company's Chief Operating Officer H M Nerurkar said that all the projects were delayed. Construction work has not started on the first project, which was to go on stream in Kalinganagar (six million tonnes). About 400 families are yet to be re-settled for the project. Equipment costing about Rs 10,000 crore had already been ordered for the Kalinganagar plant, said Amit Chatterjee, advisor to Tata Steel Managing Director B Muthuraman. The project would be spared some cost overruns as the equipment was ordered some time back. Still, the equipment is expected to come this year and there could be penalties if it was not cleared in time from the ports. Nerurkar was optimistic about the construction work starting by March-end. In Orissa, the company is yet to get recommendation for iron ore mines for its project in the state. The state government was assessing the mines that Tata Steel already has there, Nerurukar said. The scenario is no better for the company's proposed five million tonnes plant in Chhattisgarh. According to Varun Jha, vice president, Chhattisgarh project, the first phase is planned to be commissioned by 2011 and the second phase by 2015. But the project has been delayed on account of litigation over mines. About two-thirds of the residents have accepted the compensation package. Investments would depend on when the project would start, Jha said. Addressing a seminar at the steel conference, Partha Sengupta, vice president (corporate services), Tata Steel, who is in charge of the Jharkhand project, pointed out that applications for land acquisitins were made a year and a half ago. However, the state government was yet to announce a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package, which was necessary for land acquisition, he said.
JAMSHEDPUR: Colourful and refreshing, the Butterfly Park set up by the Tata Steel Zoological Society, here, the first in the eastern region, has become the cynosure of all eyes. The species on display were the Plain Tiger, Lime Butterfly, Commander and Lemon Pansy, while those like the Common Emigrant, Common Crow, Peacock Pansy, Common Castor were being bred. Hundreds of butterflies of the five species have been released in the display area while efforts were on to collect plants on which the larvae of the other species fed.
China-based Sinosteel today said it would set up its first integrated steel plant in Jharkhand and a cold forged rolls unit at Haldia in West Bengal. "We are in the mining, designing and equipment supply business and have participated in the construction of big steel plants in China. But, for the first time we are putting up an integrated steel plant,' Hongsen Wang, managing director of Sinosteel India, told reporters on the eve of the International Steel Seminar being organised by the Steel Scenario journal. Wang said Sinosteel has submitted the proposal to the government for setting up the steel plant in Jharkhand for which the company would invest $ 2 billion. "It will be a five-million-tonne plant, but in the first phase we will start with two million tonne,' he said, adding that 3,000 acres would be required for the project. He said the company has prepared a report for its plant which would come up between Silli and Chandil and was being vetted through MECON. Asked whether Sinosteel has tied up with a company for iron ore supply for its Jharkhand plant, Wang said, "We will try to get a captive mine and apply for the mining lease. We will, however, not wait for the captive mine. We will start construction as soon as we get the land.' On the cold forged rolls unit in West Bengal, he said 30 acres had been acquired, which would be set up at a cost of $ 25 million.
Entrepreneurs and NGOs find innovative models to take solar energy to rural homes in the country. As dusk slowly lapses into night, it is time for millions to call it a day. For, before the night falls, farmers with their cattle have to be at home, children have to finish studies, housewives have to finish the household chores, as life comes to a standstill once it is dark.
The poultry industry, which has suffered losses on account of the recent outbreak of avian flu in West Bengal, is eagerly waiting for the government's subvention on interest rates charged on loans extended to them by banks. The Reserve Bank of India, last week, had issued guidelines to banks suggesting a one-year moratorium on repayment of outstanding loans, conversion of working capital loans into term loans, and re-schedulement of term-loan repayment as a relief to the affected poultry industry. According to sources, the finance minister P Chidambaram may announce the government's subvention rates on loans extended to the poultry industry either before the Budget or may spell it out in his Budget speech. The Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had earlier announced that the government would work out separate relief packages for the poultry sector - one exclusively for poultry farmers in West Bengal and the other for the poultry industry in the country as a whole, which has suffered in sales due to a dip in prices in the country and the ban imposed by different countries on Indian poultry imports. The government's package would include subvention rates on interest charged by banks. He had assured that the financial package would be an improved one over that announced in March 2006 on account of the outbreak of bird flu. The March 2006 package contained 4% interest subvention, a one-year moratorium period for repayment of loans, conversion of working capital into loans, and extension of fresh loans for working capital. "The poultry industry had demanded zoning of poultry areas in the country based on geo-climatic conditions, so that exports from bird flu-free zones can be business as usual, ban on export of corn and soybean to augment feed availability, 7% central government's interest subvention on loans, and a two-year moratorium on repayment of loans,' said Anuradha Desai, chairperson of the National Egg Coordination Committee. The government has turned down the proposal for zoning of poultry areas, even though the industry had pointed out such zoning or compartmentalisation exists in the US and is allowed by the world animal health organisation - OIE. It has also refused to impose a ban on exports of corn or soybean. India has a poultry population of 489 million (nearly 3% of world's poultry), out of which 51% is concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Due to the recent incidence of avian flu in West Bengal, culling operations were undertaken not only in those states but also in parts of the neighbouring states - Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
