These hydro projects have capacities exceeding 25MW

As many as 24 hydro power projects, having capacity above 25 MW, are pending for want of environmental and forest clearances, Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal said today. "Twenty four hydro electric projects (installed capacity above 25 MW), which have been accorded concurrence by the Central Electricity Authority are pending for want of environmental and/or forest clearance," the Minister said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

With only about 2,000 Gangetic river dolphins left in India, down from tens of thousands just a few decades ago, the Bihar government is planning to set up Asia's first research centre to strengthen conservation efforts to save the endangered mammal.

An official in the chief minister's office said the Gangetic dolphin research centre would be set up in Patna, where dozens of dolphins can still be seen in the stretch of the river near the state capital.

Miners’ association urges cancellation of December increase in export duty; says development hitting long-term interests

Export shipments of iron ore declined 60 per cent in February on high duty levied by the government to discourage supply to steel mills abroad. Data compiled by the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) showed the overall export fell to 4.22 million tonnes in February, compared to 10.58 mt in the corresponding period last year. The overall export in the first 11 months of 2011-12 recorded a decline of 36 per cent to 55.8 mt as compared to 87.3 mt in the same period last year.

The five-member Empowered Committee (EC), headed by former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, on Monday finalised six chapters in the final report to be submitted to the Supreme Court on the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam.

Besides Justice Anand, other Members in the panel are: Justice K.T. Thomas, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu;

The past history of organic life can be the key to the future, said ex-head of Geology Department, University of Jammu, Prof SK Shah while delivering the SP Nautiyal Memorial Lecture at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology on Thursday. Delivering his talk on bio-events and climate change, Prof Shah spoke on the burning topic giving palaeontologial insights on the past history of life and its adaptations, mass extinctions, diversification and innovative life which survived and changed the face of the earth.

Inspection in the wake of recent tremors in the region

Allaying the apprehensions of the people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the two technical experts of the Supreme Court appointed-Empowered Committee (EC) on Tuesday informed the Committee that the recent tremors in that region did not have any impact on the Mullaperiyar and Idukki dams and that the dams were safe.

The Supreme Court-appointed empowered committee on the controversial Mullaperiyar dam on Tuesday refused to entertain Kerala’s plea to lower the reservoir’s water level from 136 feet to 120 feet. The five-member panel, headed by former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, also asked the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to submit a report on urgent basis on the recent tremors in the area. The committee declined Kerala’s request in view of the status quo order of the SC.

Kerala on Monday asserted before the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee that the “construction of a new dam is the only solution to the complex Mullaperiyar dam issue” and that it would give more water to Tamil Nadu.

Appearing for Kerala, senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan and counsel Mohan Katarki said: “If the new dam is feasible and the proposal of Kerala is found… reasonable by the Empowered Committee, there is no need for addressing the issue of safety of the old dam.”

NEW DELHI, Dec 16 – Even as the agitation against mega dams in Assam gathers momentum, the Centre is currently examining the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of seven private hydropower projects proposed to be set up in Arunachal Pradesh.
Of the seven projects, three are over 1000 MW capacity, including the 1000 MW Siyom, 1140 MW Demwe Upper and 1000 MW Naying hydropower project.

The five-member Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, at its meeting here on Monday, will examine the reports it has received from various agencies it constituted to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala.