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.

Senior official hopes to commission the first unit by August
There finally seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel with regard to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

A senior official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited on Wednesday expressed confidence that the situation could return to normal within the next four to six weeks, paving the way for its commissioning in August.

Pressure is mounting on the Indian government to commission the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) at the earliest.

Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) carried out an inspection of the KNPP on Monday in order to ensure that the nuclear fuel kept in the storage room was not being diverted for purposes other than generation of power.

Inaugurating the programme, the Nilgiris Collector Archana Patnaik urged the farmers to switch to organic farming. The government will extend a helping hand in marketing their products, she said.

Underscoring the need to bring about a mindset change among farmers, she said that they should personally take care of their lands and become technology savvy. Over dependence on subsidies should be eschewed.

On many occasions, district officials could not act on these illegal activities

Exploitation of natural resources like granite, blue metal and sand from the rivers, has been going on in the district during the last decade.
On many occasions, district officials could not act on these illegal activities due to political intervention. Still, some among the officials, who dared to curb this menace, invited the wrath of the quarry owners and their henchmen having the backing of political bigwigs, said Revenue Department officials.

TNPCB's drive against polluting industrial units on

Five textile processing units, found functioning illegally in Erode, were demolished on Tuesday.Continuing the drive against polluting industrial units for the second day on Tuesday, officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board identified four unauthorised textile processing units operating in Muthalithottam area and one in Kongampalayam.

Protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) has once again intensified with the new Tamil Nadu panel of experts claimed that the plant was safe and gave enough indication that the Sta

Even as the group protesting Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) upped the ante, the department of atomic energy (DAE) announced Tuesday it would add two more reactors to Kalpakkam Nuclear Plant in an effort to bridge the energy demand-supply gap.

The 500 MW fast-breeder reactors would have additional safety systems and were part of a series of nuclear reactors gearing up across the country to produce 20,000 MWe by 2020, S.C. Chetal, director, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, said.

CHENNAI: A two-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) carried out a detailed inspection at Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) even as the anti-plant protesters announced a 72-hour fast from Monday to protest a clean chit by a state government panel.

"The two member IAEA team is carrying out inspection of the nuclear material in KNPP. The team would account meticulously the amount of nuclear material received and stored," Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) chairman and managing director S.K. Jain told IANS.

TIRUNELVELI: The four-member committee set up by Tamil Nadu Government today virtually gave a clean chit to the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), saying it was well-equipped to withstand natural calamities, be it earthquake or tsunami.

Emerging from the two-hour long talks with members of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), committee Convenor S Iniyan told reporters that they inspected the KKNPP yesterday for more than three hours and reviewed the safety measures put in place to deal with any contingency.