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.

After Budgam district of central Kashmir was declared as tobacco-free, Srinagar district is to follow the suit by imposing similar restrictions in all the educational institutions to make the summer capital tobacco-free.

Keen on taking advantage of the national solar mission, the public sector Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) will make a foray into the renewable energy sector with a pilot solar power project in the state, to be set up alongside the Nathpa Jhakri project.

Pilot Project

Even as the government is pushing through Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s pet project - the National Food Security Bill - two key members of the Cabinet - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar - today voiced their concern over crucial aspects related to the proposed law that aims to make food a legal entitlement. While Mukherjee’s main worry was the country’s skyrocketing subsidy Bill, Pawar’s concern revolves around whether the existing mechanism was compatible enough to implement the proposed Food Security Act.

A notification issued by the Government of India banning the use of bulls as performing animals has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the adrenaline pumping bullock cart races at the 76th Kila Raipur Games that are slated to kick off at Kila Raipur village in Ludhiana tomorrow. Animal Welfare Board of India, (AWBI), Ministry of Environment and Forests, has written to Subodh Chandra Agrawal, Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, asking him to ensure bullock cart races are not organised at the Kila Raipur games, also known as mini rural Olympics.

Pakistan may be interested in importing the cholera vaccine which was tested and introduced in India in 2009 with the help of Seoul’s International Vaccine Institute. In the capital to attend the fourth meeting of the South Asian Forum for Health Research, a group of eight nations with common health challenges, Huma Quraishi, the Pakistani representative, said she did not know a cholera vaccine was available in the region.

With the shutting down of six thermal units in four thermal power plants, the power crisis has aggravated, leading to unscheduled cuts ranging between three and eight hours daily. Sources said two 210-MW and 110-MW units at the Panipat thermal power station, one 600-MW unit at Khedar, two 300-MW units at Yamunanagar and one newly commissioned 600-MW unit at Jhajjar thermal power plant were not contributing any power to the state’s kitty which had resulted in a shortage of 428 lakh units every day.

The Supreme Court today sought the Centre's response on conducting an independent inquiry into alleged illegal clinical trials of untested drugs by pharmaceutical companies in various states. The court issued a notice to the Centre as also to the Health Ministry and the Medical Council of India seeking their replies on a public interest litigation alleging that the country is being used for illegal clinical trials by the multinational corporation because laws are not implemented strictly.

Shimla: In an initiative backed by World Bank, the Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project has tied up with the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, for the standardisation of the silt-monitoring technology to help quantify the impact of watershed treatment interventions. World Bank is keen on developing a scientific model to evaluate the outcome of the programmes and projects being implemented for the rehabilitation of degraded watersheds.

Farmers in Punjab and officials related to the agriculture sector have expressed a serious concern over the proposed suggestion by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MPNG) to the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to cut off the supply of domestic natural gas to fertiliser units producing phosphorous and potash. Highly placed sources said if the decision was implemented, the cost of these fertilisers would go up and the farmers would resort to using nitrogen-based fertilisers like urea that would increase soil acidity and in turn, reduce productivity.