Hyderabad: The environmental activism of Union Minister Jairam Ramesh appears to have set him on a collision course with his party’s government in Andhra Pradesh. Joining the debate on the proposed bauxite mining in the coastal Andhra region, the Environment Minister made it clear that he would not allow mining “as long as he was a member of the Union Cabinet”.

Though the Congress government in the state is keen on going ahead with the mining project, Ramesh asserted he would continue to oppose it in the interests of safeguarding the rights of local tribals.

The district administrations of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam have issued a bird flu alert in the wake of avian influenza cases in Odisha.

The administrations of the three coastal districts have also appealed to the public, particularly poultry farmers and non-vegetarians, to take precaution. A senior Animal Husbandry Department officer said they have started making all possible efforts to stop migration of crows, parrots and cranes, besides poultry chicken, from Odisha.

Nov. 28: The AP forest department has decided to set up

Aug. 22: The panchayat raj minister, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana, has raised objection to a thermal power station proposed in his native Vizianagaram district and has stalled operations of the project. He even dashed off a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr K.

Aug. 22: The state roads and buildings minister, Mrs Galla Aruna Kumari, said that proposals had been made for projects worth Rs 3,560 crore, extending to over 712 projects for the state. The Central governm-ent too has given a positive picture, stating that the State of Accruals were in proper shape due to which a sub-meeting would be soon organised.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 8: The Union minister of state for human resource development, Ms D. Purandareswari, said that there was a need for a policy to stop export of iron ore as the steel industry would be facing a severe shortage in the ensuing years.