The government has confirmed prevalence of anthrax in Chittoor, Prakasam, Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts and attributed its outbreak in the State to the leather industry thriving in Tamil Nadu close to the common border. Replying to a question tabled by G. Muddukrishnama Naidu (Congress), Animal Husbandry Minister M. Buddha Prasad informed the Assembly on Wednesday that disease broke out among sheep at Jandlapeta in Karvetinagar area of Chittoor Municipality close to the Tamil Nadu border. Five sheep and four cattle perished last month as a result. The incidence of the disease was also reported in Prakasam district in December and some

Does away with middlemen; ten States keen to replicate model The implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) through biometric smart cards in Andhra Pradesh has attracted nationwide attention, with many States planning to adopt a similar method. Financial Information Network and Operations Ltd (FINO), a Mumbai-based technology solutions provider, is presently implementing NREGS in five districts of Andhra Pradesh by paying wages through biometric smart cards. "The hassle-free mode of payment sans middlemen has become a hit with the unskilled manual labourers. Encouraged by the feedback, at least 10 other States, including Orissa, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, are showing interest in adopting similar methods,' Mr Rishi Gupta, Chief Financial Officer and President (Sales), FINO, told Business Line over phone from Mumbai. Implementation After a successful pilot programme in eight mandals of Warangal and Karimnagar districts, the payment of pension and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme wages are now being paid through smart cards in 259 villages

Illegal and excessive sand mining in the riverbed of the Papagani catchment area in Karnataka has led to the depletion of groundwater levels and environmental degradation in the villages on the banks of the river in both Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

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