THE Madurai Bench of the High Court has appointed advocate Karunanidhi as commissioner to report on the alleged pollution caused by a quarry near Dindigul. Gunasekaran of T Pudukottai in Oddanchathiram taluk of Dindigul district in his public interest petition had said that quarrying in hillock at Polikadu was not to be permitted; but on Nov 29, 2007, the district administration granted permission for quarrying.

The United Nations has announced 2008 as the Year of Sanitation.

More than three years after the devastating tsunami hit the Tamil Nadu coast, rehabilitation measures are still underway.

Another four modern garbage stations at an estimated cost of Rs 8 crore are being planned for the city in Zones 2, 4, 5 and 7, and they will be completed within next six months.

Fulfilling a long-standing demand of the residents and elected representatives, the Tiruneermalai town panchayat near Pallavaram has given a new look to sanitation complex in Vembuliamman Koil Street

Fishermen of Kallar near here on Wednesday returned on Thursday morning with a prize catch a huge fish weighing nearly a tonne. According to local fisher men, in local parlance, the fish is called

Land owners who gave away their lands for SEZ were compensated at the rate of Rs three lakh an acre and family members have been assured jobs on the basis of educational qualifications Around 2,100 acres of land, valued at Rs 63 crore, had been registered for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to be set up near Perambalur, district Collector Anil Meshram said. Speaking on the development works in the district, the Collector disclosed that land owners who had given away their lands towards SEZ were compensated at the rate of Rs three lakh an acre. Their family members have also been assured of jobs on the basis of educational qualifications. A total of 298 acres of land has been acquired near Naranamangalam for starting MRF tyre factory. The Cauvery Combined Drinking Water Scheme to facilitate 306 residential units and the town panchayats of Arumbavur and Poolambadi are being implemented at Rs 61 crore. The work would be completed by 2009. Underground drainage scheme for Perambalur municipality is to be implemented by TWAD Board at an ried out at an estimated cost of Rs 5.45 crore, which includes the extension of the main roads in Perambalur town. The department of cooperatives had plans to sanction Rs 41.80 crore as loans. So far, Rs 37.81 crore had been disbursed as agricultural loans. Under the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy maternity assistance scheme, Rs 5.23 crore had been distributed to 6,322 pregnant women and 129 medical camps were organised under the Varumun Kappom scheme, providing medical facilities to more than 1.5 lakh persons, Collector said. Under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), an allocation of Rs 18.94 crore was set apart for implementing special schemes. School drop outs numbering 177 were re-admitted in schools and fitted into the regular scheme. Regular education for 869 differently-abled students is also under implementation. Under the unemployment assistance scheme, Rs 1.90 crore had been distributed to 11,172 youth. More than 1,400 girls had been benefited under the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar memorial marriage assistance scheme totaling Rs 2.11 crore. estimated cost of Rs 20 crore. Five mega road projects are also being car.

In a major breakthrough, the district administration has solved a long-pending land acquisition problem plaguing the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation. Collector Rajendra Ratnoo has achieved this feat here today at a daylong marathon tripartite meeting, involving revenue officials, NLC management and people affected by the land acquisition. As per the agreement, the NLC management has come forward to distribute Rs 5 lakh per acre of land as compensation to the affected people. People in the peripheral villages were protesting against the NLC move to acquire land in the region where NLC had been distributing a compensation of Rs 80,000 and above for an acre. They wanted the NLC to hike the compensation as land value had increased significantly. Residents had demanded that the State Government intervene and had staged agitations on sever al occasions. Many rounds of talks between the NLC management, local residents and district administration were conducted but in vain. The president of the Federation of Cuddalore District Farmers Associations V Venkatapathi and secretary Karmangudi S Venkatesan have expressed deep gratitude to the district administration for solving the vexed issue pending for over a decade. Among others DRO Natarajan, 18 representatives from 14 peripheral villages and NLC officials including DGM (Land Acquistion) Palani have participated. TRADE UNION POLL:The stage has been set for a major battle among trade unions in the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) on Feb 28.

Where's the forest service in this? TWO items of news in the past week, on India's tiger count and on forest depletion, has caused much anguished comment.

The Madras High Court has upheld a new tender condition of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) stipulating that only washed coal should be supplied to its thermal power stations. The decision to