US ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson on Tuesday said his government would initially provide $25 million for Tarbela Dam Fourth Extension Hydropower Project.

Expressing dissatisfaction over all the provincial and federal governments’ reports about the implementation of Flood Commission’s (FC) recommendations in letter and spirit, the Supreme Court asked

DHINKIA: A large number of anti-Posco villagers, including women and children, defied the prohibitory order of the administration on Tuesday and organized a protest meeting at Patana haat under Dhinkia gram panchayat after the cremation of three bomb blast victims.

The bodies of Narahari Sahoo, Tarun Mandal and Manas Jena killed in a bomb blast on Saturday, were cremated in Patana village in the presence of family members, anti-Posco villagers and leaders of several opposition parties.

A large group of people living in villages deep inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary are set for an occupy stir which will see them forcefully occupy bungalows, buildings and revenue land under the forest department in the district in protest against government delay in implementing the relocation package promised to them long ago.

The villagers, comprising around 2,600 tribal and nontribal families from 110 settlements situated deep within the WWS, had voluntarily expressed their willingness to move out of the forest three years back. The unique project, if implemented, could have added over 1500 acres to the sanctuary, making it one of the largest voluntary relocation programmes in the country.

The Union budget presented in Parliament on Thursday has provided an allocation of Rs. 150 crore for a neighbourhood development project at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, where a 2000 MW nuclear power plant is coming up.

The provision follows the Tamil Nadu government’s announcement of a Rs. 500 crore development plan for the region around Kudankulam. A note in the budget document stated that the allocation would be used to provide relief and rehabilitation to “project-affected” people of the area.

Administration argues pulling down their huts will ensure ‘safety of wildlife’

A day after the Union government announced a Rs.100-crore grant for Chukutiya Bhunjia of Orissa, a primitive tribe which lives on the eastern border of Chhattisgarh, 30 huts of the Baigas, another primitive tribe, were razed to the ground by government officials in the western part of the State.
The incident took place on February 18, adjacent to the Bhoramdeo Reserve Forest in Kawardah district. While officials reasoned that it was done to ensure the ‘safety of the wildlife,’ the eviction is in violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006.

However, balance in growth needs, environmental concerns while undertaking such steps should be ensured

Delays in environment clearances needs to be addressed on a fast-track basis for achieving coal production target of 795 MT during the current five year plan (2012-17), the Economic Survey said today. "Problems like delays in obtaining environmental clearances, land acquisitions and rehabilitation need to be suitably addressed in fast-track mode to achieve the 12th Plan targets for coal production," the Survey tabled in Parliament said. It should, however, be ensured that there is a balance between growth needs and environmental concerns while undertaking such steps.

Gujarat government has spent about Rs 796 crores for constructing 17,148 houses in Ahmedabad city for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers.