AHMEDABAD: There are more than 1,700 tigers in the country today. In contrast, there are just 411 Asiatic Lions, all of them in Gujarat. And yet the proposed Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill of the Union government maintains a deathly silence on lion preservation in the country.

The draft of the bill, uploaded on the Union forest and environment ministry's website for comments, does not mention the pride of Gujarat even once while there are elaborate provisions for tiger protection. This has left many wondering if this is plain oversight, or there are other reasons for the ministry hearing the tiger's roar and turning a deaf ear to the lion's.

AHMEDABAD: If everything goes according to plans, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will have three more routes by June-end. These new routes will take BRTS to Iskcon crossroads, Visat petrol pump in Chandkheda, and Soni-ni-Chawl.

The Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL) wanted to start these new routes by the end of this month, but could not. Now in all probability, the new routes will be added by June-end.

The city is lending a helping hand to Hubli-Dharwad, the second-largest urban spread in Karnataka after Bangalore. The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University has shown the way to the aggregation, which is suffering because of overloaded public transport service, by designing a BRTS for the twin city.

A Rs 450-crore project has been proposed, including Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) between Hubli and Dharwad. Cept University has been roped in as a consultant for the project which covers a stretch of 22.2 km.

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday agreed to hear a body of farmers and villagers in the case filed by Nirma Ltd against Union environment ministry’s decision to revoke the green nod for its Bhavnagar cement plant in Gujarat, rejecting the company’s opposition.

Nirma had moved the tribunal challenging the December 1 order of the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) revoking the environmental clearance granted to it on December 11, 2008 for its 1.91 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity cement plant, 1.5 MTPA coke oven plant and 50 MW captive power plant at Bhavnagar.

Gandhinagar: Gujarat agriculture minister Dilip Sanghani has said the state government had ‘stopped’ the distribution of the controversial Monsanto maize seed Prabal in Gujarat.

AHMEDABAD: Few months ago, fields of mustard in Nugar village of Mehsana district refreshed the memories of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol meeting in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. But, barely had one started cooling his eyes with this countryside view and a strong stench of chemicals became a big put off.

Surprisingly, one could hardly spot the source of this reek, as hidden amidst these lush green fields was an unscrupulous unit manufacturing various chemicals. Away from eyes of any authorities, the acidic effluents released from these units was flowing away merrily in the fields.

An innovative solar power project in Gujarat has started generating 1 mw of power, that is 1.6 million units of electricity per year, enough to meet the domestic power requirement of 16,000 familie

Ahmedabad: The state government has taken a decision to stop distributing Monsanto’s maize seeds called ‘Prabal’ to farmers. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Confirming the decision, agriculture minister Dilip Sanghania said, “The government has taken a decision that it will not distribute maize seeds of Monsato to tribals in the state any more. Instead, the government will insist only for seeds certified by Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU). We will give subsidy to the seeds certified by GAU.”

A multi-benefit pilot project generating one-MW electricity from solar panels atop the Narmada branch canal was dedicated to the nation by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Besides producing “clean energy” without causing any pollution, the solar panels would spare an enormous amount of land otherwise required if the solar power project was land-based. In addition, they save a huge quantity of water in irrigation canals from evaporation.

If even 10% of the 19,000 km-long Narmada canal network in Gujarat is used for setting up canal-top solar panels, it has the potential to produce 2,200 megawatt (MW) of solar power, save 11,000 acr