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

MAHUVA: Have poachers become active near Gir National Park again? Missing claws of a lion that died a year ago and a cub that has been missing for nearly 50 days indicate that all is not well in the lion's abode.

A 10-month-old lion cub in this range has been missing since March 5 and the forest department has no clue about its disappearance. K S Randhawa, deputy conservator of forests, Bhavnagar, denied that a cub has been missing but senior forest officials confirmed to TOI that the cub has indeed been traceless.

Close on heels of commencing use of wastelands in northern districts and rooftops in towns and cities, Gujarat is set to potentially use the existing 19,000 km-long network of Narmada canals across

GANDHINAGAR: State's auto hub, Sanand, is all set to be the initiator of a new solar power revolution. For the Sanand branch canal of Sardar Sarovar project at Chandrasan village has been selected for the first 1 MW canal-top power project.

As of now, solar PV panels, 16-metre wide, have been installed at Chandrasan village. Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) will commission the first 1 MW project, which will be inaugurated by chief minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

VADODARA: Your morning cup of tea would not fire up your sleepy senses without a little milk in it, and yet a debate has been stirred up on what should be India's national drink - tea or milk.

On Saturday, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia announced in Jorhat, the tea capital of India, that tea will be given that place of pride by April next year.

AHMEDABAD: A debate over improving connectivity to Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) city has been vexing the state government for long. With nearly 10 floors of 22 of the towers ready at GIFT SEZ site, the urban development department is mulling over the feasibility of taking a BRTS up to the heart of the project. The discussion is on for the last one month in the state urban development department. The new transport may also require a new bridge to be constructed across the Sabarmati river between Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) and GIFT city.

A government inspection team says OPG Power, already facing environmental objections to its 300 Mw thermal power plant in Gujarat, is carrying on construction work at the project site without requisite approvals.

A joint site (Mundra in Kutch district) inspection last week by the state environment impact assessment authority, the regional office of the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the state expert appraisal committee and the Gujarat pollution control board detailed the breaches. The required approvals include those under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance.

Gujarat has received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for 2010-11 for a watershed management programme in Patan district, the ancient capital of the western state.

Larsen & Toubro has commissioned a six-MW solar project for Sun Group in Gujarat.