To deal with the monkey menace the Himachal Pradesh government will construct big parks exclusively for the simians where they will be provided with food and water.

Manali: Four people were killed and at least seven injured when a landslide hit them at Nehru Kund on the Manali-Leh highway on Monday.

It was perhaps a first for Palaniappan Chidambaram. He had a most unusual effect on Lok Sabha MPs last week. Minutes after he delivered his Budget speech, MPs across party lines were on the phone, cancelling weekend parties and making arrangements to head home.

plague cases are on the rise and are afflicting countries more frequently than before. A who report says there were around 1,900 cases worldwide in 2002, which increased to 2,100 cases in 2003. In

Finding a place to stay in the remote and far-flung areas would no longer be a problem, especially for trekkers and wildlife lovers, as accommodation will be made available in 400 forest rest houses t

Shivalik hills of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are among the 107 million hectares in the country worst affected by soil erosion, resulting in continuous and gradual depletion of fertility and

The AIDS bomb is ticking fast in the hill state, already struggling with diseases like TB and cholera.

Shimla: Unchecked over-the-counter sale of globally banned veterinary drug diclofenac in Himachal Pradesh has put a question mark on the government's effort in phasing out the drug that has been pro

Despite a dearth of power in the north, small and medium entrepreneurs are not keen to profit from the energy efficiency project introduced by the State Bank of India (SBI). The energy efficiency project for energy-intensive SMEs was rolled out by SBI in the second half of 2005 in the Chandigarh circle (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Chandigarh). So far, the preliminary/walk-through energy audit of 83 units has been conducted and the detailed energy audit of 10 units has been done in the past two years. It is surprising that while Punjab alone has more than 200,000 small and medium industries and has clusters of iron foundries and forging units (which make intensive use of energy), only 83 units came forward and only10 out of those implemented energy conservation measures. According to sources in SBI, 50 per cent of the cost of energy audit or Rs 50,000 per unit,whichever is less, is to be borne by the bank and remaining by the unit. There is a funding incentive also where fresh term loan up to 90 per cent of the cost of equipment (Rs 2 lakh to Rs 1 crore) for the energy conservation can be obtained at a concessional rate. The study of the SME sector in the north reveals that most of the entrepreneurs are averse to growing bigger as it would invite tax implications. For instance, if the turnover grows beyond Rs 1.5 crore, they come under the ambit of excise. "It is not the fair charges but the hidden costs, the rampant corruption in Punjab, that undermines the spirits of entrepreneurs to increase the value and volume of business', said one of the small entrepreneur. But those who undertook this project were able to cut the cost of energy consumption by 10 per cent to 20 per cent. An official of Venus Cotsyn India Limited told that they implemented all the suggestion offered by the consultants for the efficiency of steam supply, air supply and electric power and the results were fruitful. Similarly, Ludhiana-based Eastman Forging and Casting was also able to save substantially on account of energy efficiency project. A senior official at the Local Head Office of SBI Chandigarh said that despite the minimum saving of energy consumption cost of 10 per cent to 15 per cent that can go up to 25 per cent 30 per cent in specific cases, the response of industry has been lukewarm.

The Central Government has declared 14 water resources projects, including two each in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir and three in Himachal Pradesh, as National Projects. It is proposed to provide 90 per cent project cost of irrigation and drinking water component of the project as Central Grant after techno-economic appraisal of the detailed project report and investment clearance by the Planning Commission. The projects are Teesta Barrage (West Bengal), Shahpur Kandi (Punjab), Bursar (Jammu and Kashmir), 2nd Ravi Vyas Link (Punjab) Ujh multipurpose project (Jammu and Kashmir), Gyspa project (Himachal Pradesh), Lakhvar Vyasi (Uttranchal), Kishau (Himachal Pradesh /Uttranchal), Renuka (Himachal Pradesh), Noa-Dehang Dam Project (Arunachal Pradesh), Kulsi Dam Project (Assam), Upper Siang (Arunachal Pradesh), Gosikhurd (Maharashtra) and Ken Betwa (Madhya Pradesh).