Pune: Swine flu has claimed 20 lives in the state since January, nine in March alone, say state health officials.

Among the total number of casualties, Pune district accounts for the highest number (10), said state surveillance officer Pradip Awate. “Six people died of H1N1 influenza within Pune municipal limits while four were from Pimpri-Chinchwad,” he added. Following the recent spurt in cases, doctors have warned citizens to be vigilant and take precautionary measures. “The virus has infected 170 people across the state since January,” said Awate.

The state government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that only 12 municipal corporations in the state have proper landfill sites for solid waste management (SWM).

On the other hand, 14 civic corporations, including Mumbai, do not have secured landfill sites. The five municipal corporations that have landfill sites approved by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) are Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur.

Apex court specifies that air, water, sea and forests cannot be with private sector

A social republic like India cannot have water in private ownership and deny the citizens their right to quality water at affordable prices, said Justice Rajinder Sachar here on Tuesday, criticising the Delhi Government’s move to undertake three public-private partnership projects in the city. Speaking at a conference on “Water Privatisation: Learning from India and International Experiences”, Justice Sachar said: “There is nothing above the Constitution.

The second version of the JNNURM must focus on putting systems in place that stop the extensive wastage of water in urban areas

Wild boar meat is being sold in Nagpur for Rs80 a kilo. Sambhar meat is available in Bhubaneswar for Rs100 a kilo.

Meat of rare birds, including egrets, moor hen and a variety of wild water birds, is being sold openly in the streets of Puducherry while the meat of the Indian bullfrog is up for sale in the markets of Dimapur. Across India, the sale of the meat of wild animals, including jungle cats, jackal, porcupine and other endangered animals, has reached mammoth proportions and if the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) does not take steps to counter this trade,

Surpassing China, India will become the world's largest economy by 2050, a report said.

"China will overtake the US to become the world's largest economy by 2020, which in turn will be overtaken by India in 2050," according to Wealth Report 2012 by Knight Frank & Citi Private Bank.

The Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) took the first step towards providing the growing city population with mass rapid transport system by holding preliminary site inspection for Nagpur Metro along with project consultant DMRC on Thursday. NIT Chairman Pravin Darade led the team to routes previously suggested by L&T Ramboll, which had prepared the initial feasibility study report for this project. NMC Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal also accompanied the team that later had a detailed discussion at the NIT headquarter.

An indifferent parent, dithering states and a lethargic Centre have allowed Union Carbide’s deadly waste to poison the soil and groundwater in Bhopal Oliver Twist would feel for the 350 million tonnes of toxic chemicals still sitting inside the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal.

Urban revolution: 20 new trendsetters to redifine India by 2030India is on the threshold of an urban revolution, the scale and speed of which is unprecedented. It took nearly 40 years for the urban population to rise by 230 million but it will take only half this time to add the next 250 million. Cities will be central to India's economic growth.

A Doppler Weather Radar (DWR), the first in Maharashtra, has been installed here for accurate predictions of monsoons, cyclones and other weather-related phenomena.

The DWR was installed on Sunday near the Babasaheb Ambedkar International airport in the city.