For promoting usage of energy saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in the country, leading lamp manufacturer Osram will distribute more than 2 million CFL units to poor families in Mahrashtra, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. A unit of CFL will cost around Rs 10- 15 while actual cost of the unit is around Rs 300. Osram has already carried out the ground works for the project, which is expected launched over the next few weeks. "We have signed MoUs with respective state electricity boards and the project would be financed through carbon credit generated through the clean development mechanism (CDM) under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC),' Gagan Mehra, managing director of Osram India told FE. However the company is yet to decide volume of carbon credit needed for the implementation of the project. Osram model for CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto protocol for reducing CO2 emission in the lighting industry. The company in collaboration with state electricity boards will distribute special CFL bulbs with a longevity of 15 thousands hours amongst the poorer section of the population. "We have identified as present districts such as Visakhapatanam in Andhra Pradesh, Sonepat and Yamuna Nagar in Haryana and Pune in Maharashtra for distribution of CFL units and gradually the programme would include other districts in the state,' Mehra said. Osram would be importing most of the components of the CFLs to be distributed in the three states and it would be assembled at the Sonepat plant of the company. "As the project would be in operation for seven to 10 years in three states, after two years of implementation, we plan to manufacturer the CFLs at our plant,' Mehra said. Mehra admitting that despite the low energy consumption by CFLs, the disposal of these bulbs has been a key issue. "All the manufacturers of CFLs are working out a strategy for proper disposals of these bulbs with the Electricity Lamp and Components Manufacturers Association of India (ELCOMA),' he said.

The state government has decided to strengthen the civil defence system to tackle man-made and natural disasters. It is proposing to give two acres of land at the existing AP Fire Services Academy in Vattinagulapally to set up the Civil Defence Training Institute. The Centre will provide funds for construction of the institute. Sources in the home department said the plan was to merge the civil defence system with the fire and emergency services department. Initially, training will be given to volunteers from all major cities in the state. Following this, volunteers from villages will be given training. A senior official said the government wanted to make civil defence system the first response or first level defence network in case of any disaster or calamity. "Volunteers who are trained at the institute in Vattinagulapally will be paid a stipend during the training period,' said the official. "But they will be paid honorarium only when their services are utilised,' he added. At present, the civil defence in Hyderabad comes within the ambit of the city police commissionerate. Training is being imparted to volunteers in fire fighting, rescue operations, first aid and air raid precautions.

The Board of Approval (BoA) of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on Monday cleared 14 new proposals, including ten formal approvals. While two SEZs each have been cleared in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, one each will come up in Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The BoA granted formal approvals to two SEZs of the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (SIPCOT), one for transport engineering goods at Tirunelveli and another of automobile and auto ancillary at Thiruvannamalai. Similarly, two SEZs of Mahindra Worldcity (Jaipur) Ltd. of handicrafts and light engineering at Jaipur were given formal approvals. Other SEZs cleared include an information technology SEZ by Videocon Realtors and Infrastructure Ltd. at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, IT SEZ by Devbhumi Realtors Pvt. Ltd. at Ranga Reddy District in Andhra Pradesh, pharmaceuticals SEZ by JB SEZ Pvt. Ltd. at Panoli in Gujarat and Power SEZ by Wardha Power Company at Chandrapur in Maharashtra. According to Commerce Secretary G. K. Pillai, who also heads the Board of Approval, so far formal approvals have been granted for setting up of 439 SEZs out of which 201 have been notified as on date. The Commerce Secretary said that over Rs. 67,347 crore had been invested in these notified SEZs, giving direct employment to 97,478 persons, which is in addition to the employment provided to 1.83 lakh persons by the seven Central Government established SEZs.

Beggars have got Rs 95 lakh in the state Budget. The government has sanctioned the amount for rehabilitation of beggars in 2008-09. Rs 75 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs will be given for maintenance and construction of homes for beggars respectively. This decision follows directions of the High Court.

BG group of the UK is keen on picking 25-30% stake in state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) Krishna Godavari and Mahanadi basin deepsea oil and gas exploration blocks off the east coast. BG has expressed interest to take 30% interest in KG basin Block KG-DWN-98/4, which ONGC had won in the first round of auction under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and 25% in Mahanadi basin Block MN-DWN-2002/2 that the state-run firm had won in NELP-IV. "We have approached the government for approval of the farm-in,' a company official said.

"Why shouldn't salt-making be classed as agriculture?' asks R Potharaju. "Both require land, water and sunshine, and are subject to vagaries of nature,' he reasons. Potharaju is convenor of the

compact fluorescent lamps (cfls) may become cheaper in India. The Union ministry of power is contemplating a scheme to popularise cfls. Called