Power crisis has spurred engineering students to devise energy-saving projects this year

What if you had an application in your building that could track which household uses the maximum electricity and could calculate extra tariffs for that specific household? Would the timing and duration of load shedding differ for everybody then?

Activist groups fear rights violation in Kudankulam area, where police have been heavily deployed to curb protests against State government's green signal to the project.

Seeking release of all those arrested by the police in and around Kudankulam area, Pon Chandran of Peoples Movement against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) said in a release that struggle committee members were being arrested and were being charged with offences such as sedition.

With a call to put an end to the exploitation of ground water in the ecologically sensitive Nilgiris district, World Water Day was observed under the aegis of the Public Awareness Association of Udhagamandalam here on Thursday. A signature campaign marked the occasion. Participants pointed out that the sinking of bore wells which was until a few years ago unheard of in Udhagamandalam and many other parts of the district is of late on the rise.

A terrace spread over 1,000 sq.ft. with rainwater harvesting (RWH) structure can help meet the water needs of two people for a year. Not only that, the structure will also offer surplus water.

Assuming that a family of two uses 80 litres a day, it will require around 29,000 litres a year. Whereas, the yield from the 1,000 sq.ft. terrace in a year will be around 36,000 litres, says K. Mylswami, project coordinator, Siruthuli. This is assuming that Coimbatore's average annual rainfall is 647 mm.

Reports by the experts’ panel, came in handy for the Tamil Nadu government to give its approval for the Kudankulam nuclear power project downstate, it is learnt. The expert groups of both the central and state governments observed the proposed 2,000-Mw endeavour met current safety standards.

Besides, officials say, rising power deficit also forced the J Jayalalithaa government to rethink its policy on Kudankulam. Tamil Nadu is reeling under power shortfall, recently prompting its government to seek the Centre’s intervention to overcome the crisis.

Zero tilling and organic farming will not only eradicate the need for expensive fossil fuel machinery, synthetic fertilizers and crop chemicals but also increase yields substantially and make way for farmers to return to their natural state, said Foundation for Farming, (Zimbabwe) Director Brian Oderive.

He was inaugurating an international workshop on ‘climatic change in agriculture: Adaptation and mitigation strategies,' held at Gandhigram Rural Institute near here on Wednesday.

Water bodies, big or small, assume great importance as sources of storage and groundwater recharge — but they are also easy prey for abuse. Three such long-neglected lakes will be rejuvenated next month, with the State government proposing to turn them into drinking water sources to meet the growing demands of the expanded city.

Landlords who let out space will also be punished

The district co-ordination committee, which was established based on the Madras High Court order to monitor the polluting industrial units, has decided to initiate criminal action against the owners of illegal textile processing units and those providing lands on rent to set up such units. The Village Administrative Officers (VAOs) have been directed to file a complaint with the police against the owners of the units and the landlords.

Need for setting up plastic re-cycling unit stressed

The need to evolve ways to tackle effectively the growing threat to the ecology of the Nilgiris, particularly its forests, from plastics was emphasised by the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Protection and Vigilance), Lakshmi Narayan, here on Wednesday.

KOODANKULAM: Police and paramilitary personnel maintained strict vigil as tension prevailed at Idinthakarai, the epicentre of the stir against Koodankulam nuclear power plant, with anti-nuclear agitators continuing their indefinite fast today protesting the state Cabinet's decision to go ahead with the project.

Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in strength in areas around here as security has been stepped up after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced the Cabinet's decision to go ahead with the project on Monday.

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