City, Mahuva Identified Among 6 Vulture Safe Zones In The Country

Ahmedabad/Mahuva: Vulture conservation in Gujarat has got a major boost with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) selecting Mahuva and Ahmedabad among the six provisional vultures’ safe zones (VSZ) in India. Within three years, vultures successfully bred in captivity under the BNHS’s Save Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) programme will be released in their natural environments in Mahuva.

AHMEDABAD: The forest department has, after a successful hatching programme, decided to go in for satellite telemetry tagging of the turtle. This would help them know the movement of the turtles and even track them.

Dinesh Kumar Sharma, chief conservator of forests said that the project will be taken up under the World Bank aided ongoing Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project. He further said that the department will start a turtle hatchery with modern equipment and gadgets in Mandvi to further intensify the efforts of turtle hatching and conservation.

AHMEDABAD: Mass transport services like the BRTS of Ahmedabad will have to be implemented in other cities of the state. This was stated by the chairman of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Sudhir Krishnan. He said that BRTS in Ahmedabad was a success and hence the same should be replicated in other town and cities of the state.

Krishnan was speaking at a seminar on 'Urban Transportation - Emerging Trends, Challenges and the Way Ahead' at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, on Saturday. He said that with people from rural areas rushing towards the urban zones, proper planning was required to protect the environment.

AHMEDABAD: The Union government has decided to set up Fluoride Mitigation Centre in the state. The Centre is likely to come up in Gandhinagar.

The announcement was made at the Conference of state ministers and secretaries dealing with drinking water and sanitation. The conference was held in New Delhi. Earlier, in a reply to the question of BJP Rajya Sabha members, the Union Government had said that a detailed project proposal for the establishment of Fluoride Mitigation Centre in Gandhinagar had been received by the ministry of drinking water and sanitation in November 2011.

GANDHINAGAR: Hiding their environmental lapses is soon going to get harder for Gujarat companies. The third-party environmental audit made mandatory by the Gujarat high court (HC) for certain industries is all set to get stricter.

The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has recommended three major changes to the way environmental audit is carried out by companies at present. The changes will be presented to HC for approval next month.

AHMEDABAD: International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is helping Ahmedabad-based Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) provide energy-efficient cook stoves and solar lanters to its members. IFC will provide a partial credit guarantee for a $5 million loan that an Indian private sector bank is providing to SEWA-sponsored Grassroots Trading Network for Women.

Under the initiative, women from various villages in Gujarat will be provided a loan to buy the combination of stove and lantern, at Rs 2,800 and Rs 1,800 respectively.

The Narendra Modi government's bid to generate funds to promote clean energy by introducing a Green Cess on every unit of conventional electricity generated in the state has not gone well with major industrial players of the state, who have now challenged the constitutional validity of the government's move in the Gujarat High Court.

Acting on the individual petitions by the companies the High Court has restrained the state government from initiating any proceedings or recover any amounts by way of cess on generation of electricity from the petitioners till June 15, when the next hearing in the matters was scheduled.

AHMEDABAD: Between January and April last year, there were close to 550 malaria cases in the city.

AHMEDABAD: Forests and other departments in Gujarat have been very proactive in carrying out biodiversity conservation measures, significant among them being those related to whale shark, sea turtle, restoration of mangroves etc., Dr. A P Singh, member secretary, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, said.

Gujarat Biodiversity Board too has launched several measures for the conservation and development of biological diversity, including marine, he said, adding that Government of India had enacted the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 for the conservation, development and regulation of biodiversity. The main objective of the Act is conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilization of biological resources.

New Delhi: In a rare compliment from a UPA minister for the Modi government in Gujarat, new and renewable energy minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the solar power plant atop a water canal in