Kerala is examining the possibilities of exercising its riparian rights to seek higher allocation from the Parambikulam-Aliyar rivers in view of the steep increase in utilisation of water from the river basins of the Bharathapuzha and the Chalakudi. The matter was discussed at a high-level review meeting convened by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here on Monday in preparation of the Chief Secretary-level conference to be held in the State capital on May 30.

Healthy Brew: Differently-abled children benefit hugely from the training provided at Tata Tea's vocational centres (Pic By C.P. Shanmugham)

From SLAPPs to hiring professional protesters, industry's working overtime to find new ways to attack. In the first week of April this year, a group of men came and stood outside the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi. They carried placards with offensive slogans directed at me. We understood the picket to be the latest in a dangerous pesticide industry mindgame.

With a parliamentary panel finding misutilisation and diversion of tsunami relief funds, an empowered group of ministers (e-GOM) headed by union home minister Shivraj Patil has undertaken a review of the Rs 10,000 crore rehabilitation scheme. Since 2008-09 is the deadline for implementation of the rehabilitation scheme, the e-GoM issued a directive to the affected states and union territories that the work should be expedited to complete the task within the stipulated time.

All schools across the country will have toilet facilities by the year end, Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said on Thursday. While Sikkim, Puducherry, Mizoram and Haryana have already achieved this target, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan will do so by July. The remaining States that include Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Punjab, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be able to cover all schools by November.

With southwest monsoon moving almost eight days in advance over Bay of Bengal and adjoining regions, the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted its onset over Kerala on May 29

The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday forecast that the onset of the South-west Monsoon over Kerala is likely on May 29, with a model error of plus or minus four days. In other words, the monsoon could enter the Indian landmass between May 25 and June 2. The normal date of onset over Kerala is June 1. Meanwhile, with the strengthening and deepening of the monsoon winds and widespread rainfall activity, the monsoon has already entered the waters surrounding the country.

The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to form a river basin authority for smooth implementation of the Pampa Action Plan. It recommended issue of an Ordinance to the Governor for constituting the authority on an urgent basis. The Pampa River Basin Authority, as per the proposed Ordinance, will have powers to take executive decisions on implementation of various projects under the Action Plan. The Plan aims at controlling the pollution of the river.

THE much-awaited monsoon is likely to hit the Kerala coast on May 29 this year. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), using an indigenously developed forecast model, maintained on Wednesday that the forecast implied a model error of +/- four days from that date. The mean monsoon onset date over Kerala is June 1, two days later.