India aspires for a non-violent, atomic weapons-free world and believes that the international community should conclude "universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable prohibitions on nuclear weapons

Satellite images show fires along Nilgiri, Agastyarkoodam; grasslands in Upper Sanatorium area and Kambimoodu destroyed

Shredded notes in the process of transformation to fine paper at Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute in Jaipur.

Still to recover from the blackout that lasted several hours this past Friday, Delhi and its satellite towns were subjected to yet another power shutdown on Sunday morning as more than 37 supply lines

Ladies Circle India (LCI), an organisation formed by wives of members of Round Table India, will construct 100 toilet blocks in rural schools across the country over the next two years to commemorate

The Rajasthan Cabinet has decided to amend the State's laws on exporting/transporting cattle in order to facilitate export and migration of the high quality Nagauri calves to other parts of the country. However, there is a catch: the bovines would be allowed to be transported to the States where a ban on cow slaughter already exists. Conceding the long-time demand of farmers from Nagaur district, the Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje decided to carry out amendments to the Rajasthan Cow Slaughter, Prohibition and Regulation of Temporary Migration and Export of Bovine Elements Act, 1955. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore, who briefed journalists later, said the Government had acted on the recommendations of a Cabinet committee headed by Home Minister G. C. Kataria in this regard. The amendments would allow export of Nagauri calves above the age of 2 years for agricultural and dairy purposes, he pointed out. Nagauri bulls are know for their quality and resilience and even in the current Assembly there has been an outcry from the MLAs from Nagaur district for lifting the ban on the sale and transport of calves. The ban made it unviable for the farmer to breed the Nagauri variety, which eventually was leading to its extinction, they had pointed out. More autonomy In another decision the Cabinet resolved to accept the recommendations of the A. K. Vaidhyanathan Committee to provide more autonomy to the cooperative bodies in the State. The State would carry out about a dozen amendments and insert Section 47 A in the Rajasthan Cooperative Act to facilitate the increased autonomy. The Cabinet also decided to launch urban development projects in 15 towns of the State with financial assistance totalling 273 million US dollars from the Asian Development Bank. The project, with a funding format of 70:30 (70 percent from ADB and the rest from the State Government and local bodies) would carry out schemes on drinking water, sewerage, drainage, road, flyovers, development of slums and heritage properties besides garbage management and improving fire-fighting. The beneficiary towns would include Alwar, Bharatpur, Sikar, Churu, Sawai Madhopur, Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jhalrapatan. Mr. Rathore said the Government proposes to amend the Rajasthan Financial Act, 2006, to relax conditions for filing petitions in the case of disputes over land tax assessment.

It is the third time in the last decade that forest staff have acknowledged the presence of tigers in the Devarayandurga State Reserve Forest Area, near Tumkur. Though the news makes the people of Tumkur proud, tiger conservationists remain skeptical over the claims. According to the Karnataka Wildlife Warden, T.V.N. Murthy, who is stationed here, a tigress and its two cubs were sighted by forest staff in the Devarayandurga State Reserve Forest recently, Mr. Murthy told The Hindu here on Thursday that on the night of February 19, T.V. Srinivas, Assistant Conservator of Forests, was returning after a night patrol in the forest. He saw a tigress and her two cubs resting between two ancient structures of the Ganesh Temple point on the periphery of the forest area, mid-way between Belgumba and Oordigere survey areas. Mr. Murthy said even as Mr. Srinivas stopped the jeep and shown the headlights on the tigress, the cubs escaped the glare. The tigress, however, was unperturbed. Mr. Srinivas and his deputy, M.N. Naik, who has worked in tiger sanctuaries at Bhadra and Anasi (Dandeli), tried to take a closer look. But the tiger gracefully slipped away into the darkness. Mr. Naik said the tigress seemed tired. The cubs, Mr. Naik said, were about 18 inches tall. Mr. Murthy said a team of Forest officials inspected the area the next morning for pugmarks. Although the pugmarks of all the three animals were sighted, they could not be documented because the dry weather had made the imprints unclear. Previous sightings Mr. Murthy recollected his tryst with a tiger in the same forest in 2000 and said: "Presence of tigers in the Devarayandurga State Reserve Forest area is reconfirmed.' He and his three-year-old son had just marched past a galloping tiger. It was a hair-rising experience for both of them. In 1998, Forest staff had sighted a tiger. Pugmarks of adult tigers had been found a couple of times in different parts of the forest. Tiger conservationists will have to dwell on the issue to establish the fact, he added. Ameen Ahmed, office-bearer of Nisarga, a wildlife nature club, however, has another viewpoint. He said that a circus group may have released the tigress and her cubs from their captive livestock, into the forest. Tiger conservationists, he said, were highly skeptical over the presence of tigers in the Devarayandurga forest area. "Nature lovers visiting the beautiful mountain ranges of the forest are constantly haunted by the presence of tigers,' he said, and added: "The Devarayandurga tiger mystery stands still. Tiger conservationists cannot just wish it away,' Centenary year The Devarayandurga State Reserve Forest will enter into its centenary in a few days from now. There are complaints about tree-felling along the Belgumba-Oordigere Road that passes right through the forest. Environmentalists have been demanding that the road be abandoned. The action will help avoid pilferage of forest wealth and wildlife. There are also complaints of unauthorised granite mining activity near the forest. The Government, which is believed to be preparing to celebrate the centenary year of the forest, must pay attention to stop illegal mining activity in the vicinity of the forest. The Government has also a duty to retrieve the 75-acre plot that was given to Tumkur University from the buffer zone of the forest. Though the Supreme Court invalidated the grant of the plot, the varsity has not returned the land, even after the Government provided it alternate site measuring 320 acres on the south-eastern part of Tumkur.

Public Interest Litigation by NBA on alleged corruption in rehabilitation The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the State Government, Chief Secretary, Chairman of the Narmada Valley Development Authority and others in response to a public interest litigation petition by Narmada Bachao Andolan against alleged corruption in the rehabilitation process of Sardar Sarovar Project affected families in Madhya Pradesh. NBA leader Medha Patkar herself pleaded the case. The Bench consisting of Chief Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice Prakash Shrivastava heard the plea by Ms. Patkar and issued notices to the respondents, including the State Government, Chief Secretary, Chairman NVDA, Chairman, Narmada Control Authority (NCA) (who is also Secretary to the Union Ministry of Water Resources), State Secretary, Revenue Department, Director-General of Police, Inspector-General Stamps and Registration, District Collectors of five districts --Badwani, Dhar, Jhabua, Khargone and Dewas. They have been asked to file their replies within a month. The petition filed through senior advocate N. S. Kale on October 16, 2007, was heard on March 3. The petition alleges that there was a nexus between the NVDA officials and contractors when it came to setting up the rehabilitation sites and this has resulted in preparation of "shoddy and uninhabitable' rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) sites. It goes on to point out that thousands of eligible project affected families (PAFs) have been kept out of the ambit of rehabilitation and resettlement while those not eligible have been declared as PAFs. It is the contention of NBA that the nexus between officials, middlemen and advocates has led to huge corruption and swindling of public money meant for rehabilitation. The petition says the Madhya Pradesh government policy has allowed the land and house-based rehabilitation directives of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award (NWDTA) to be twisted and this has led to corruption. The State rehabilitation policy induced fake registries, where PAFs who were given cash for buying lands actually ended up giving commission to officials and middlemen, it is alleged. By signing fake registries, they facilitated a process where crores of rupees were amassed by officials and agents as commission, depriving PAFs of basic resource security and a better living condition after resettlement. NBA has said in a statement signed jointly by NBA activists Ashish Mandloi, Clifton Rozario and Kamla Yadav that FIRs were filed against PAFs and about 35 of them were arrested. Later all of them except one were released on bail and no action was taken against the NVDA officials though notices were issued to 30 of them. Out of a total of 2,600 land registries claimed by NVDA as part of SRP, 758 are already officially accepted by the government as fake registries, after preliminary enquiry by special departmental officers, NBA has pointed out demanding a CBI probe into this matter.

The Union budget has sought to send a message that the government will do all it can to rein in inflation even while maintaining the growth momentum. The Prime Minister had made the point earlier that no government can be oblivious to the objective of ensuring price stability without hurting the growth process. However, as all recent monetary policy statements have been articulating, the pursuit of both the objectives calls for a deft balancing of the often conflicting options. For instance, higher interest rates are necessary to contain inflation but are detrimental to economic growth. It is clear from the budget proposals that the fiscal policy too is seized of a similar urgency in stimulating an economy that is slowing down and vulnerable to a resurgent inflation. There are downside risks from the external environment. While the consequences of the U.S. sub-prime crisis on the Indian economy are not yet clear, high food and commodity prices, including that of oil, pose significant supply side risks and are inflationary. The budget envisages several measures to boost domestic consumption. One of the key drivers of the spectacular GDP growth over the past four years, private domestic consumption has been lagging during the current year. The adjustment in income tax slabs should increase the disposable incomes of the middle class estimated at 250 million. The considerable step-up in the allocation of funds for Bharat Nirman and other social sector schemes will also boost consumption. So will the reduction in CENVAT and specific excise duties such as those on small cars and two wheelers. Over the past 18 months, domestic interest rates have risen as the RBI pursued a vigorous anti-inflation policy. Both consumption and manufacturing have been adversely affected. The government's commitment to fiscal rectitude should help ease interest rates. In fact, a vastly improved picture of public finance is seen in the lower public borrowing projections for 2008-09. However, the off-budget subsidies on food and petroleum do not figure in the government's estimates of the fiscal deficit. Also it is not clear how the government proposes to compensate the banks for the Rs.60,000 crore write-off of farm loans. Both public and private investments have been rising as a share of the GDP but their growth would seem likely to moderate. Continuing the attempts at removing infrastructural bottlenecks and upgrading the skills of the young workforce will help in removing supply-side bottlenecks. Along with the emphasis on agriculture and rural development, they hold the key to more inclusive growth with stability.

The implementation of the Supplementary Nutritional Programme (SNP) in Assam is "tardy and failure.' It is handicapped by long spells of non-feeding days, inequality in and manipulation of the allotment for nutrition, diversion of the allotment without compensatory replacement and incurring of excess expenditure,' according to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG). The report, tabled in the Assembly on Monday, showed that the Assam government did not provide funds for the SNP during the financial years between 2002-03 and 2004-05. The additional Central assistance of Rs. 135.86 crore for nutrition meant exclusively for children below three years was diverted for providing nutrition to all groups of beneficiaries.

Pages