In a rare event at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a team of veterinarians and assistants conducted an eye surgery on a leopard. Conducted between 11 am and 2 pm on Sunday, the operation was necessitated by old wounds the leopard had suffered after several bouts of in-fighting in the national park. "The leopard, a male which is eight years old, was suffering from problems in both eyes,' said wildlife veterinarian at the park, Dr Kishor Batwe. One eye was deformed and also had fibrosis, which was obstructing his vision, said Dr Batwe.

The Central Government-appointed Community Based Monitoring (CBM) Project under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has come out with a preliminary report on the functioning of health care infrastructure in rural Thane. CBM project is a key to acquiring health rights for the rural population. It was started in April 2007 in five districts of Maharashtra including Thane rural. The report will be discussed with government officials in a public hearing at the zilla parishad level.

One dead in city after slab collapses on him; two kids die in Raigad roof-crash; two bodies found on Kashid beach Sunday's downpour may have been considerably lighter than the previous day

Over 1000 local and indigenous plants were planted by entire Kumar Builders family on in the presence of several dignitaries like Mayor Rajalakshmi Bhosale, Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi and Prakash Thosare, director of Social Forestry. They all took an oath for environment protection.

Professional help sought for data collection; findings to be part of PMC's Environment Status Report While it is no secret that the unprecedented and unplanned growth of the city has put severe pressure on its various resources, for the first time the Pune Municipal Corporation is coming forward to actually study and assess the impact of the damage on at least one critical area

At least 18 people have been killed in different parts of Maharashtra in rain-related incidents as heavy rains lashed the state on Thursday, police said. Four people were struck by lightning in Kolara and Bhorsabhorsi villages in Buldana district of eastern Maharashtra. In Aurangabad, three people were crushed to death and another three injured when a wall collapsed due to heavy rains in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) complex. Earlier, in Mumbai, a minor boy was killed when a wall fell on him in Chembur, a northeastern suburb, police said.

Sourav Ganguly chief guest, host Subroto Roy missing On the occasion of World Environment Day, Aamby valley city, conducted a plantation drive at Aamby valley near Lonavla. As a part of the event, over 2500 trees were planted by residents of the township. Sourav Ganguly was the chief guest for the event.

Volkswagen India celebrated the 36th observance of World Environment Day through a tree plantation ceremony at its upcoming manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune. Volkswagen employees planted 250 trees to encourage green surroundings at the facility. Mr. Joerg Mueller, President, Volkswagen India also participated in the initiatives. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mueller said, "Globally, we have been constantly working on energy efficiency and making our business more environment friendly.'

The IMD, on Thursday, issued a cyclone warning to the ports and fishermen on the Maharashtra-Goa coast for a period 24 hours, ending Friday 1 pm. The IMD office website advised fishermen "not to go out in the sea during the next 24 hours'. Explaining that the sea would be very rough with south-easterly waves, the website warned, "Winds will be of speed 45-55 kmph, temporarily reaching 65 kmph in gusts.'

Amid reports of declining tiger population nationwide, there is still hope for wildlife lovers and forest officials in Madhya Pradesh as the number of tiger cubs is increasing. Madhya Pradesh is known as Tiger State, but the average number of tigers came down to 300 in the last census.