Nayachar: The six-member expert committee constituted by the state government to see the technical and economic feasibility of a chemical industry on Nayachar liked what it saw on the first visit to the island today. Led by former ONGC chairman and the Hinduja group vice-chairman in India, Subir Raha, the team (see box) of scientists that included oceanographers and chemical engineers spent over two hours criss-crossing the island. "Prima facie, it looks good. The initial drilling suggests that the soil has load-bearing capacity. However, we will look into more than 10 areas

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked the state Government to allot agricultural land to the oustees of Omkareshwar Dam on the Narmada, on

In protest of Special Entertainment Zone being constructed in the area, residents of villages near Thane surrounded the Esselworld theme park on the outskirts of the city and prevented people from entering there, sources said on Monday. The zone spread over 1000 hectares and is being constructed in the Gorai-Manori-Uttan area in neighbouring Thane by Essel Infraprojects Limited, a subsidiary of the Essel Group.

Bhopal, Feb 18: Forest Department has taken the decision to allow sale of forest produce grown on private land. This sale would be effected through Forest Committees. In the wake of this decision, farmers would be able to get better prices for their forest produce. Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah has issued instructions to every forest range to implement this system this year. All the conservators of forests have been instructed to ensure implementation of this scheme and send the compliance report of the same within one month.

KOLKATA, Feb. 17: The state government plans to recover the huge costs of conducting feasibility studies in Nayachar Island from its potential investors. But the funds have to come from its own coffers for the time being. The proposed chemical hub would require extensive studies such as geographic mapping, geological and geophysical as well as oceanographic studies and environment impact assessment to get clearance.

Bhopal, Feb 17: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid the foundation stone of new industrial area in village Hargarh in Jabalpur district. On this occasion he said that a proposal has been forwarded to the Union government for establishing a special economic zone (SEZ) at Hargarh.

An innovative Australian play highlights the dire status of Australia's indigenous people. Ngapartji Ngapartji, staged at the Sydney Theatre festival held in the third week of January, is based on

IBM sued over pollution Residents and business groups in New York sued IBM Corporation on January 3 alleging that decades of pollution from the company's former microelectronics plant in the village

On New Year's eve, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat declared that his government had decided "to do away with' the special economic zones (sezs) in their present form and had asked the centre to

The public hearing for Jindal group's fourth coal mine in Tamnar block in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, was conducted amidst protests on January 5. People claimed they were not informed of the hearing and