Selenium contamination from a phosphate mine in southeastern Idaho is linked to fish deformities such as two-headed trout, and the problem would worsen if discharge limits were eased, a new government report found.

The findings come as Smoky Canyon Mine, run by the J.R. Simplot Company near the Wyoming border, is asking the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to relax restrictions on the amount of selenium that the mine may drain into tributaries of the Snake River, a world-class trout stream.

Chevron said Friday that it had no intention of apologizing for the environmental damage to the Amazon rain forest for which an Ecuadorean court ruled it responsible. Attorneys for both sides have said that if Chevron apologized, its legal liability of $18 billion would have been cut to $9.5 billion. Ecuador’s judiciary had set Friday as the deadline for an apology. James Craig, a Chevron spokesman, said an apology would be “a false admission of responsibility.” Chevron has no assets in Ecuador, so the plaintiffs must to try to collect the award abroad.

Across the country, activists with ties to the Tea Party are railing against all sorts of local and state efforts to control sprawl and conserve energy. They brand government action for things like expanding public transportation routes and preserving open space as part of a United Nations-led conspiracy to deny property rights and herd citizens toward cities.

Many are suspicious of environmental initiatives. Ed Elswick, a county supervisor, voiced criticism at last month's meeting.

An annual GDP growth rate of 9-10 per cent is unlikely in the current policy environment in India, says Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, and one of the world’s most influential journalists and public policy intellectuals. To enter the league of the world’s developed nations, India needs to develop basic infrastructure and a create a world class manufacturing sector, Wolf told a distinguished audience at Express Adda in Mumbai on Thursday.

JAMMU: Highlighting the State's rich bio-diversity and uniqueness of being land of rich fauna and flora, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Friday emphasized the need for protection and preservation of this individuality of Jammu and Kashmir.

Chairing the 2nd meeting of State Board for Wildlife (SBW), the Chief Minister, who is also its Chairman, said that measures should be in place to minimize wild animal-human conflict.

Bandipora—In occupied Kashmir, the level of water contamination in various blocks of Bandipora district has increased three-fold making it unfit for human consumption.

Gangtok, Feb. 3: The Sikkim forest department will receive Rs 13.12 crore from a Japanese government agency to rebuild the infrastructure damaged in last year’s earthquake. The amount has been sanctioned by the Japanese International Co-operation Agency that is funding a project to ensure alternative livelihood for people living on forest fringes in Sikkim. The release of the amount was announced by JICA representative Vineet Sarin during a review of the Sikkim Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Management Project (SBFP) here today.

The Government has announced the creation of six projects in public-private partnership mode in non-timber forest produce (NTFP), covering around 60 Naxal-affected districts in the country.

The projects, to be executed within six months, will cover Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, according to a Rural Development Ministry release here on Friday.

NewDelhi:The country will enjoy another bumper harvest in 2011-12, with an estimated 102 million tonnes of rice and 88 million tonnes of wheat projected as per the revised estimates of the Union government. But this could also create a problem of plenty for the government with the National Food Security Bill pending in Parliament, and the government unable to offload existing stocks to the states.

In an unprecedented move, the Bihar Government has decided to involve farmers in preparing the agriculture road map of the state for the next 10 years.
As per the decision of the Cabinet, the views of experienced and expert farmers would be incorporated in the roadmap, which is to be debated in the state legislature during the ensuing budget session.

“The state government is committed to implement the next roadmap on agriculture from April 1,” said Agriculture Production Commissioner Ashok Kumar Sinha.

PAU scientists warn that climatic changes may take a toll on various crops grown in the state. What is worrying Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, is that the rise in the average minimum night temperature and the humidity level may not only harm agriculture, but also the ecosystem in the state. Senior officials today made a presentation in this regard before the university board comprising senior officials of the state agriculture, horticulture and other departments. Financial Commissioner (Development) Navreet Singh Kang was also present at the presentation.

The second advance estimates of agricultural output released by the government on Friday projected another bumper harvest with foodgrain output pegged at a new record of 250.42 million tonnes during 2011-12 crop year as against the record 244.78 million tonnes the previous year. While the increased rice output in eastern regions has helped the country achieve this, the output of both the major crops — wheat (88.31 million tonnes) and rice (102.75 million tonnes) — is all set for a new record this year.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has introduced a Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) system to help farmers avoid distress sale of their produces.

In a statement here on Friday, NABARD chief general manager K.C. Shashidhar said the NWRs would enable small and marginal farmers with Kisan Credit Cards to avail post-harvest loans at concessional interest rates and store their produce in warehouses against warehouse receipts.

New Delhi: In an extraordinary effort at resolving policy disputes, the Union food ministry pleaded before the Supreme Court on Thursday to order the Planning Commission to release funds for reforms in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and to order the rural
development ministry to provide details of how many people in the category of poorest of poor had been left out of PDS.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday urged states and Union territories to hasten reforms in the public distribution system (PDS) for the effective implementation of the Food Security Bill.

Inaugurating a two-day conference of chief secretaries of states and Union territories, the prime minister said, “I would urge you to pay urgent attention to end-to-end computerisation of the PDS. We should be in a position to effectively implement the Food Security Bill by the time it becomes an Act of Parliament.”

In order to plug the pilferage of food items meant for distribution to people below the poverty line, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Union food secretary to hasten the process of computerisation of entire PDS system.

A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra set a deadline of two months to put in place the computerisation process for the PDS in entire country while asking the food secretary to take up the matter with each state and then submit a report.

A gas explosion in a southwest China coal mine Friday killed 11 workers and injured six others, state press said in the latest accident to hit the nation’s dangerous mining industry.

One worker remained missing after the explosion ripped through the Diaoyutai coal mine in Sichuan province Friday afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Calls to the local government’s work safety administration, which oversees mining, went unanswered late Friday.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister of Higher Education Qazi Muhammad Asad distributed cheques worth Rs 100,00 to the families of the men who were killed a fortnight ago in a phosphate mine collapse in the village of Tarnawi.

Ranchi, Feb. 3: Jharkhand is likely to join hands with three private companies to develop as many coal blocks in Ramgarh and Bokaro districts, a move that is expected to shore up revenues and boost industry confidence in the state. Joint ventures, or JVs, are likely to be inked with Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL), Adhunik Group and AMR Coastal Limited for mining and developing the coal blocks of Rabodh, Patratu and Pindra-Debipur allocated to Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation (JSMDC) by the Centre between 2006 and 2008.

Reacting strongly to Narmada Bachao Andolan’s demand for scrapping of the project and CBI inquiry, the Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited (SMHPCL) on Friday alleged that the Narmada Bachao Andolan has been spreading inaccurate information to mislead people, malign the project and delay it. According to information, alleging massive financial irregularities in its execution, the Narmada Bachao Andolan had demanded in Delhi on Thursday, scrapping of the controversial project in MP. They had claimed that its cost had escalated several times than the original estimate.

New Delhi In a breather for GVK group company Alaknanda Hydro Power Co (AHPC), the Supreme Court has allowed the construction of the R3,675-crore Srinagar hydel project in Uttarakhand without any hindrance.

A bench headed by justice Dalveer Bhandari, while seeking reply from Anuj Joshi and Bharat Jhunjhunwala, the petitioners before the Uttarakhand High Court, said: “We make it clear that the construction of the dam may go on without any hindrance. However, during the interregnum period, public hearing by the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) as directed by the high Court, shall remain stayed.”

Jorhat, Feb. 3: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will help the tea industry study the impact of climate change on tea bushes. The additional vice-chairman of Tea Research Association, Prabhat Bezboruah, said the recently formed working group on global climate change would take help from Nasa to study climate change and its impact on tea bushes.

India, Russia and China may consider imposing over-flight charges on European airlines, if the European Union (EU) continues with its plans of imposing a carbon tax on international airlines operating to the EU. The tax came into force from January 1.

A clearer picture is likely to emerge after an international conference in Moscow scheduled to begin on February 21. An inter-ministerial delegation drawn from the Ministries of External Affairs and Civil Aviation will attend the meet.

The Minister for Environment and Forests, Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, made it clear on Friday that India would put pressure on richer nations to shoulder a larger burden of the climate change responsibility at the Rio meet in June.

She said the principle of “equity” for cutting greenhouse gas emissions should be the “bottomline” of negotiations on climate change. She was addressing a session in the ongoing Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.

World leaders are meeting in Rio de Janeiro in June for the United Nations Conference on sustainable development, known as Rio+20.

India and France should collaborate to evolve acceptable solutions for the emission reduction regime to be adopted in 2015
am participating in the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) following the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban for pursuing the work that had enabled the adoption of a key agreement in December 2011. This agreement on climate change is first and foremost an extremely encouraging sign aiming at an effective multilateral regime for reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We cannot but rejoice at having reached such a compromise.

The European Union has made clear that while it would not consider putting on hold the inclusion of the aviation sector in its Emission Trading Scheme, it was willing to consider whether India's efforts to reduce carbon emissions could qualify for waivers. Likewise, the EU stressed that while it would push for a legally binding international climate agreement to which all countries are equally accountable, it is not asking developing countries like India to take on absolute emission reduction targets.

NEW DELHI: The EU wants countries meeting at a conference in June under the UN's Rio+20 mechanism to double their share of renewable energy by 2030 under an international obligation. It also wants countries like India to agree to double its energy efficiency levels under an international understanding.

Following meetings with both minister for aviation Ajit Singh and environment minister Jayanti Natarajan on the controversial carbon emissions levy that EU has introduced, Connie Hedegaard, European Union climate action commissioner, claimed the tax is inevitable “as aviation is increasing and emissions from aviation are also increasing.”

India, along with the international community, led by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICOU), has fiercely opposed the tax introduced from January 1 with airlines accusing the EU of having taken an extra territorial decision.

In the run-up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit, India continues to emphasise the principle of equity as forming the foundation for climate change negotiations.

“I would like to reiterate that the bottom line remains equity,” said minister of environment Jayanthi Natarajan addressing a special session on Biodiversity at the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. Ms Natarajan’s statement came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had endorsed her stand at the UNFCCC meet at Durban conference

The United Nations said on Friday that the famine that has killed tens of thousands of people in Somalia this past year has ended, thanks to a bumper harvest and a surge in emergency food deliveries.

But conditions are still precarious, United Nations officials warned, with many Somalis dying of hunger and more than two million still needing emergency rations to survive.

“The crisis is not over,” said José Graziano da Silva, director general of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, who just returned from Somalia.

More than 10,000 Australians were Friday stranded by flooding in the country’s east, with thousands ordered to leave their homes or businesses and the military called in to airlift supplies.

The New South Wales State Emergency Service said about 10,500 people were thought to be isolated by the waters that have rushed across the state’s north and southeast Queensland after days of constant rain.

More than 2,000 people have been ordered to evacuate buildings in the New South Wales town of Moree, which is preparing for its second flood in a matter of months.

King Abdullah's Relief Campaign for Pakistani People will provide funds amounting to US $120,000 to Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) with the purpose to install water pumps and filtration plants in the flood-ravaged areas of Punjab and Sindh.

In this connection, KARCPP signed a Memorandum of Understanding with HHRD, here on Friday, under which the latter would install water pumps and filtration plants in the flood-affected areas, especially hospitals and mosques, aimed at providing safe and clean drinking water to the community.

Malaria kills twice as many people every year as formerly believed, taking 1.2 million lives and causing the deaths not only of babies but also older children and adults. The findings from the research, which has reanalysed 30 years of data on the disease using new techniques, will force a rethink of the huge global effort that has been under way to eliminate malaria, the guardian newspaper reported on Friday. That ambition now looks highly unlikely by the UN target date of 2015.

Mumbai: Ever heard of a medical iron tablet actually containing free iron particles, that too in a huge quantity? State food and drug administration commissioner Mahesh Zagde initially did not believe it. However, when a Thanebased consumer presented him with the evidence, he was left both stunned and horrified. “The consumer walked into my office, and in the presence of officials showed how the iron tablet was attracted to a magnet,’’ Zagde told TOI.

NewDelhi:India may, in a few weeks, officially acknowledge that malaria kills 40 times the current estimate of 1,023 people a year.
A 16-member committee set up by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme to gauge India’s actual malaria death burden has arrived at 40,297 as the average deaths per year due to the disease carried by mosquitoes.

The World Cancer Day will be observed in Bangladesh today with no government programmes, while about 1.5 lakh people die of cancer every year in the country.

The government has chalked up no programmes to mark the day demonstrating its negligence in combating the deadly disease, experts said.

According to a study carried out by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, in 2010, cancer causes 21 per cent of maternal casualty in the country.

Health officials in Kyrgyzstan say they have diagnosed 70 new cases of HIV among children during a widespread check following a scandal over transmission of the virus in hospitals.

Muktsar: Despite the fact that at least 1,100 persons have died of cancer in Muktsar district alone in the past 10 years and the disease is spreading its tentacles at an alarming pace, the health authorities have not planned any awareness camps for the World Cancer Day tomorrow. The poor and rich both have been afflicted by the deadly disease. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal lost his wife Surinder Kaur to cancer last year. Former CM Harcharan Singh Brar’s son Kanwarjit Singh Brar “Sunny”, MLA Muktsar, is also reportedly suffering from the disease.

On eve of World Cancer Day on Friday, there were a number of young men who were battling for life in hospitals because they could not kick the addiction of tobacco.

In Ahmedabad as well as in Gujarat, spread of oral cancer is alarming. “Oral cancer accounts for 40 per cent cancers in men in the state. This is because of high addiction to gutkha,” said noted head and neck cancer surgeon of HCG Medisurge, Dr Kaustubh Patel.

MALDA/BANKURA, 3 FEB: Nine babies at Malda Medical College and Hospital, and 10 babies at Bankura Sammiloni Medical College and Hospital have died in the last 48 hours. In Malda, health officials said the deaths were caused by low birth weights and malnutrition, the same causes they gave for previous deaths. Minister of state for health Chandrima Bhattacharya plans to visit Malda Monday in connection with the recent child deaths, and also attend a government function.

JAIPUR: Jay Naidoo, chair of the GAIN Board, South Africa said 60 million children in India are malnourished, which is higher than the total population of South Africa.

Naidoo was in the city at the launch of fortified wheat flour and fortified edible oil for sale in open market. He said, "Around 60% of India's total population is living below poverty line. These people are dependant on the government. So, government plays important role in the fight against malnutrition as it passes laws, regulations and policies. These people need high quality food rich in folic acid, iron and Vitamin A."

Cancer is often considered a disease of developed nations. In developing countries such as India, the focus has been on curbing communicable diseases. This has resulted in a dramatic improvement in life expectancy in India from 32 to 63 years in the past five decades. However, with the neglect of non-communicable diseases and a rapidly ageing population there has been an unhindered increase in cancer incidence and mortality.

The spectre of infant deaths continued to haunt government hospitals in West Bengal, with 19 cases reported in Malda and Bankura over the past two days. While nine infants died in the Malda Medical College and Hospital, 10 children were reported dead in the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital.

The babies who died in the Bankura hospital were “suffering from pneumonia and birth asphyxia, while some had low birth weight,” superintendent Panchanan Kundu said.

In the last five years, only 60% of MGNREGA work completed y Authorities fail to utilise funds allotted under the scheme. The state government has asked the Centre to increase the wages of the labourers engaged under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, but the authorities in the state have failed to achieve the target fixed under this programme. Hardly 60 per cent of the work taken under this national flagship scheme have been completed during the last five years.

SHILLONG: After the successful implementation of the SPTS buses in the East Khasi Hills, the State Government has now decided to introduce ten buses, procured under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), in Jaintia Hills district.

Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh will formally flag off a fleet of swanky buses on February 18.

Announcement comes at concluding session of ITS seminar

The Union Urban Development Ministry will fund 80 per cent of the cost of preparing master plan/ detailed project report for intelligent transport system (ITS) in important cities across the country, including those in Karnataka.

Slum improvement project under BSUP

The city Corporation will launch a slum improvement project under the Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) project at Kalladimukham by February-end.
As many as 318 housing units will be constructed in two phases under the Rs.10.5-crore project. This includes 105 units for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes families and 213 units for general category families. The project will be implemented by COSTFORD.

Sterlite Copper has sponsored Rs 2.7 lakh towards a drinking water project at Vadakkusilukkanpatti.

Col. S. Krishnan handed over the confirmation letter to Collector Ashish Kumar, Collector, here on Friday. It has sponsored the project based on requests from the villagers as there is an acute shortage of water. The cost is Rs.8.1 lakh out of which Rs 2.7 lakh will be contributed by the company as people's contribution, according to its statement.

The State Government has given the nod for installing garbage processing units based on modern technology in all the districts of the state. Local bodies will have to provide the necessary land and the full expenditure of installation of units will be borne by the State Government.

Briefing mediapersons on the cabinet decisions here on Thursday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the government had succeeded in identifying four effective models for garbage treatment.

The present yard poses a threat to residents of Nagercoil Municipality

It is high time the district administration explored ways to ensure safe and scientific disposal of garbage collected from the Nagercoil municipal limit and other extension areas either in the existing compost yard at Valampurai Vilai, situated in the heart of the town or in some other places.

Leaks of radioactive water have become more frequent at Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant less than two months after it was declared basically stable.

The problem underlines the continuing challenges facing Tokyo Electric Power Company as it attempts to keep the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant under control. A massive earthquake and tsunami badly damaged the plant last March, resulting in the melting of three reactor cores.

Pakistan and Qatar are likely to sign two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) according to which the two countries will jointly explore development of hydropower, identification of sources of financing, exploration of investment opportunities in energy sector, rehabilitation of existing hydropower plants and construction of National Highway and Motorway infrastructure, official sources told Business Recorder.

These MoUs, sources said, will be inked during the visit of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, scheduled for February 6-8.

With efforts to break the logjam over the Kudankulam Nuclear power plant hitting a dead-end, the Tamil Nadu Government has decided to constitute an expert panel to look into the “fears and concerns” of locals over the project.

Making this announcement in the Assembly today, the Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, said the expert panel would soon submit its report to the State Government.

Based on the report, the Government will take further action, she said.

NPCIL steps to allay concern about safety

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project can be readied for commissioning in three months if the local agitation against it comes to an end, the project's Site Director M. Kasinath Balaji has said. Now what was left to be done before the project could be commissioned was to remove the dummy fuel, prepare the machine for the real run, and submit the requisite reports to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for clearance.

KOCHI: The attempt of the Kochi Corporation to set up a bio-gas plants for decentralised treatment of biodegradable waste has failed to yield results despite spending Rs 61.61 lakh. This was owing to the lack of proper monitoring and timely remedial action.

NEW DELHI, 3 FEB: As Air India promised to pay Rs 28 crore dues by this evening, state-owned oil companies have resumed jet fuel supplies to the national carrier today. All the three oil companies ~ Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum ~ had jointly stopped aviation turbine fuel (ATF) supplies to Air India in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Trivandrum and Kochi from 4 p m on Thursday.

CHENNAI, 3 FEB: The DMK today charged the Centre and the AIADMK government with being “lethargic” in solving the Koodankulam nuclear plant row and raised the pitch on the Mullaiperiyar Dam issue demanding that Kerala restore the area, where the reservoir is located, to Tamil Nadu. The DMK general council ~ its top decision-making body ~ met here against the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict on 2G spectrum scam where the apex court had pointedly blamed former telecom minister Mr A Raja, its senior leader.

AGARTALA: Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) has finally proposed to hike in the existing power tariff to tide over the financial constraint.

The TSECL has been facing tough time following hike in the gas price, implementation of new pay structures for its employees and increase in operation and maintenance cost.

Every possible effort is being undertaken to make the State self-reliant in power generation. Giving top priority to feeder separation and completion of new thermal power projects, important targets have been fixed to complete works within time-limit. A target has been fixed to start power generation in two extension units of 250 MW of Satpura thermal power plant at Sarni in August and November this year. Besides, a proposal is also under consideration to replace five old 62.5 MW units of Sarni plant with a new unit of 660 MW.

CHENNAI: Manithaneya Makkal Katchi on Friday said the argument that the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant would augment the power availability in Tamil Nadu was based on “wrong information”.

Participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, MMK leader MH Jawahirullah said the Unit I of the KKNPP was estimated to generate 1000 MW. However, actual power generation would be only around 700 MW, he claimed. Of this, 35 MW would go to the power requirements of the plant, residences of those working there and the neighbouring areas, he said.

Distribution reforms in power sector should be accelerated for capacity addition to yield results. At a time when India has staked its claim to a seat at the high table alongside world powers, around 57% of rural households and 12% of urban households have no access to electricity. That partly explains why India’s per capita consumption of power of around 717 units a year is way below the world average of 2,600 units and developed countries’ average of 8,000 units.

KOLKATA, 3 FEB: The state government will give compensation to the tea garden workers, whose property and buildings have been damaged by elephants. State forest minister Hiten Burman said this after a meeting with several tea gardens' associations today. The state government and tea garden owners will jointly pay the compensation to the labourers.

‘Concerted efforts necessary to prevent human-elephant conflict'

A day-long sensitisation programme under the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity and Greening Project for members of Village Forest Councils and anti-poaching watchers was organised by the Nilgiris North division of the Forest Department here on Friday.Listing the objectives and use of such programmes, District Forest Officer, the Nilgiris North, S. Ramasubramaniam said that without the support of people particularly those residing in villages located in and around the forests, conservation would become an uphill task.

KOLKATA: Rhino census in West Bengal will begin from March 12, forest minister Hiten Barman said. "Authorities concerned have already been asked to take appropriate steps in this regard," he said here. Besides, there could be an amendment to the Bird Conservation Act to save winged species, he said. To prevent leopards often entering into tea gardens, Barman said steps were being taken to restrict the movement of leopards within the limit of sanctuaries.

The fourth phase of the intensive ‘Tiger Monitoring Programme,' envisaged by the Tiger Task Force of the Union Government, began at the Kalakkad - Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in Tirunelveli on Friday.

Giving details about the programme H. Malleshappa, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director, KMTR told The Hindu that the work on three phases had been completed. In the fourth phase, the setting up of 100 cameras in every four sq.km. area had begun.

Non-Congress states have performed better in the MGNREGA corruption index. The Supreme Court has “officially” declared corruption in the 2G case. All licences stand cancelled. The 2G scam has been the most talked about corruption case in India. Land grabs and mining are the other two areas of widespread corporate and public (bureaucrat and politician) corruption.

Iran on Friday launched an observation satellite into orbit above Earth, its third since 2009, the official IRNA news agency reported.