A City-based engineer Prabhakar Wawge, has come up with a solar water heating system, which can be used in multistoried building without using terrace area. It can be used as a wall integrated solar water heating system and does not require any pumping mechanism for circulation. Wawge got the patent for his invention recently. He claims that in comparison with normal solar system his invention reduces the cost of solar water heating system by Rs 3000 to Rs 3500.

The preliminary data of a tree census conducted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is bound to give nature lovers in the city a cause for celebration. According to the data there are over 18 lakh trees in Mumbai. The civic body has said that the figure indicates an increase in the green cover over the last five years. However, the figures could also be attributed to the new parameter of measurement which categorizes a 4 feet high sapling with a diameter of 4 meter as a tree. The civic body will provide cash incentives to citizens to increase the green cover of the city.

The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant any interim stay in favour of Gutka manufacturers allowing the State government to continue to take action against gutka and pan masala which have poisonous contents like magnesium carbonate. However, another order by a different bench of High Court today stayed amendment to Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, under which state was going to ban Gutka from May 20.

CONSTRUCTION of 10 lakh houses for the poor and lower middle class and a load-shedding free Maharashtra will be on the agenda of the state government for the next two years, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced in Mumbai on Wednesday. He said that whatever land the State government has freed after the scrapping of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA), would be used up for providing affordable houses for the lower and middle classes in the State.

THE Maharashtra Government will implement an ambitious programme to build ten lakh houses for poor and middle class people in the next two years, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said today on the eve of the 48th Maharashtra Day. "Maharashtra is the most progressive state in the country and has given direction to the country," Deshmukh said in his message. "The new housing policy of the government is being discussed in the country and the government has already announced providing 270 sq feet houses to slum-dwellers under the slum rehabilitation scheme," he said. PTI

Construction of Maharashtra's tallest dam is expected to commence soon. The project architect, Central Designs Organisation

Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG), under its

Six forest officials, including Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) V P Patil and Range Forest Officer (RFO) Sanjay Darade were allegedly assaulted by devotees of an ashram in Tungareshwar sanctuary on Wednesday afternoon.

Scientists of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) have discovered a huge 250 mm long lizard, which is said to be the largest in the common gecko family, in the ghats of Pune's Junnar taluka. According to scientist Varad Giri, the lizard was first photographed two years ago by Pune-based herpetologist Ashok Captain, who forwarded the photos to BNHS for identification. "The new gecko has some distinctive features including its large size and unusual scales on the body,' Giri said. So far, a 220-230 mm long spotted rock gecko was the largest lizard discovered in India.