Humiliated, many victims refuse to pick up the cheques. Fazilka: Believe it or not, the Punjab Government has issued cheques for as little as paise 53, Rs 10.67, Rs 12.58, Rs 18, Rs 38, Rs 41.74 and Rs 51 as compensation to flood-hit victims. Shocked “beneficiaries” said even beggars did not accept 50 paise in alms. While Chiman Singh of Tahliwala Bodla village has been awarded paise 53, Shanti Devi, wife of Kottu Ram, has been given Rs 10. 67.

KOLKATA, 7 FEB: Although Tata Motors Limited (TML) and the vendors are similarly placed, the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act discriminates between the two, counsel of the vendors at TML's Singur site, Mr SK Kapur, submitted before the Division Bench of Mr Justice Pinaki Ghosh and Mr Justice Mrinalkanti Choudhury of Calcutta High Court today.

BHUBANESWAR: With culling beginning from Sunday, almost half of the City’s central business hub would come under the no-poultry zone for at least three months. Since Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO) is the epicentre of the outbreak, a 3-km radius area stretching from Station Square to Baramunda and from Satsang Vihar to Jayadev Vihar, will be off-limits to poultry. According to BMC estimate, at least 29 out of 60 wards would come under the impact zone.

AGARTALA:The proposed up-gradation of Agartala airport to an international airstrip has run into rough weather with the dispute over land acquisition for expansion of the runway and other mandatory infrastructure.

Officials here on Saturday said that the state government had been demanding an international airport for the past two years but the Airport Authority of India(AAI) sought land as the state’s contribution.

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.

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.

The Housing and Urban Development Department which administers Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, had taken up with Union Ministry of Environment and Forests the project for funding the compensation to be paid to the Dal dwellers for acquisition of their land and structures within the Dal lake. The project has now been cleared after its techno-financial justification.

Over 6,200 poultry birds and ducks were culled in Tripura after reports of a fresh outbreak of bird flu, officials said here on Thursday.

The culling was done in Lembuchara area of western Tripura. “Mopping up operations and disinfection of poultry farms, birds and ducks enclosures and cages have begun,” Tripura animal resource development department director Manoranjan Sarkar said.

New Delhi The government has made it mandatory for pharmaceutical companies sponsoring clinical trials in the country to pay financial compensation to volunteers in case a trial-related death or injury is proved. Moreover, the onus of proving that clinical trials did not cause death or injury will now lie with the drug company, according to a recent notification of the health ministry.