PUDUCHERRY: The first reactor of the Koodankulam nuclear power plant will be made operational within 15 days of Tamil Nadu government conveying its decision (on the operation of plant) to the Cent

CHENNAI: Governor K Rosaiah on Monday launched a scheme to supply purified water to 10 villages in Tiruvallur district. The scheme is an initiative of the Sree Balaji Seva Trust.

KOCHI: It was part of the efforts to regulate the increasing number of highrise buildings that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) issued a fresh set of guidelines towards getting environmental clearance for high-rise buildings in three states, including Kerala.

According to the new set of rules, any high-rise building which needs clearance from the municipality or local bodies should be situated in proximity to a fire station. This is to ensure that in case of an emergency, the fire engines reach the building without delay.

CHENNAI: As India is undertaking major tax reforms for the taxation of goods and services, a group of state-level policy makers have suggested green taxes to be integrated in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to tackle issues of pollution and maintain a sustainable growth.

The experts, which included chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister Dr C Rangarajan and director of Madras School of Economics D K Srivastava and other dignitaries, while deliberating on a state-level policy makers’ decision here on Friday, suggested the need for mechanisms for green taxes in GST to penalise those polluting the environment.

NEW DELHI: After dialogue with the protestors against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant failed to yield results, the government initiated steps to throttle the fund flow, especially from foreign donors, into the NGOs suspected of actively aiding and abetting the resistance movement that has delayed the commissioning of the two 1,000 MW reactors in the plant by over three months.

CHENNAI: The city will soon have its own urban transport policy with the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) working on plans in this regard.

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government-formed four-member expert committee on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), which had earlier ruled the two Russian reactors safe, submitted its report to the state government Tuesday.

Queried about the committee's report and recommendations, Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) former chairman and panel member M.R. Srinivasan told IANS: "The committee has been formed by the state government.

CHENNAI: In a bid to make the state slum-free, the Tamil Nadu government has selected nine urban agglomerations under the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for preparing proper rehabilitation plans.

Official sources told Express that the likely nine cities are Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, Salem and Vellore.

CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday inaugurated a scheme to plant 64 lakh saplings across Tamil Nadu.

She kicked off the scheme by planting a banyan sapling in the Corporation park located in front of the State Secretariat. With a view to increase the forest cover and to safeguard bio-diversity in the State, the government has been taking various steps. Due to the ever-increasing number of vehicles and urbanisation, air pollution is going up.

Farmers optimism on the state government giving a new lease to the Palar river has come a cropper with media reports suggesting that the Karnataka Government plans to block the flow of water to the Pennaiyar River altogether. Farmers here were optimistic that the state government would take up with the Union Ministry of Water Resources, the proposal to divert the excess flow of water from the Thenpennaiyar River below Krishnagiri reservoir to the water-starved Palar basin through a Pennaiyar-Palar link project.