Delhi has been named the most competitive city in India for its demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent and tourists by a new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research report.

The 136-year-old Red Hills reservoir, one of the city’s major primary drinking water sources, is set to be improved after several decades. The Water Resources Department (WRD) has not taken up any major project at the reservoir since 1994, except for maintenance work worth Rs.5 lakh every year.

The WRD has now called for a tender for the project, worth Rs. 10.16 crore, to strengthen the reservoir. The water level in the reservoir now stands at 8.43 feet. The department has not stepped up the level for a few months now, in order to facilitate repair work.

High Tide Hits Mamallapuram Temple In TN, Revives Tsunami Fears

Levels of Carbon dioxide (CO2) recorded recently, caused by the burning of garbage at the Pallikaranai dump yard ranged between 515- 399 ppm (parts per million). CO2 is a major greenhouse gas.

Last Saturday, a major fire broke out at the dumping yard. Smoke from it posed both a health hazard to residents nearby and also hampered the vision of motorists in the vicinity, besides polluting the environment. Following this, the Chennai Corporation decided to suspend the dumping of garbage here.

The report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the World Health Organisation, that diesel fumes are as cancer-causing as asbestos, arsenic, mustard gas and tobacco is the

A total of 2,566 persons in the State were afflicted with dengue fever and 36 succumbed to the disease, according to the Health Department. Similarly, 204 persons in the State have so far been infected with A (H1N1) and five had so far died of the infection.

The announcement followed a review meeting by Health Minister V.S. Vijay with Health Department officials, including Principal Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, Director of Public Health Porkai Pandian, Chennai Mayor Saidai S. Doraisamy and Director of Medical Education C. Vamsadhara.

The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has ordered the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services, Chennai, to enquire into and send a report about the alleged dumping of bio waste on the main road at Tiruvallur.

In his order on a complaint, SHRC Acting Chairperson K. Baskaran stated that the report should be filed within four weeks. The complainant, K. Sudhan, an advocate, stated that while he was on his way to Tiruttani he noticed the bio waste dumped by the Government Hospital, Tiruvallur, piled up near the hospital entrance.

The LPG import terminal project of IndianOil Petronas Pvt Ltd (IPPL) near Chennai that can help in speeding up cooking gas supplies to millions of households in the South, especially Tamil Nadu, is facing delay in its commissioning for want of a clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment.

The Ennore terminal had been completed in all respects and was got ready for commissioning by March itself, say sources in Indian Oil Corporation.The wait, according to IPPL officials, is for the CRZ (coastal regulation zone) clearance from the Ministry for the pipelines connecting the jetty at the Ennore port and the terminal. A length of 675 m is falling in the CRZ zone, they add.

West Bengal has the highest number of red category industries causing high pollution, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while 43 industrial clusters have been identified as “critically pollut

Sewage contaminates sprawling Perungalathur Lake

Unchecked encroachments and pollution are taking a severe toll on many lakes in the southern suburbs of Chennai, and the Perungalathur ‘periya eri' (big lake) is no exception. Originally spread over 150 acres, the lake's expanse is now less than 100 acres, due to unchecked construction of unauthorised structures, according to officials at the Kancheepuram District unit of the Public Works Department (PWD). Officials said that encroachments around the lake, which had began to trickle in some decades ago, had now assumed enormous proportions.