The first solar-powered village in Sri Lanka, Galgamuwa village in Monaragala of Uva province is to be opened tomorrow, Ministry of Power and Energy announced.

AGARTALA, June 25: Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey has demanded speeding up of rural electrification and restructuring Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP) to revitalise the ailing power distribution system in the State.

The climate bill nearing a vote in the U.S. House will reward farmers who plant trees or take other steps to control greenhouse gases and it will remove for five years an obstacle to corn-based ethanol, said the House Agriculture Committee chairman on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to pass "historic legislation" to fight global warming, prompting his fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives to aim for a vote on Friday on the bill to reduce industrial emissions of carbon dioxide.

Sri Lanka government is planning to provide electricity for 400 rural villages in the North during the next three years, Minister of Power and Energy, W.D.J Senaviratne said.

Minister Senaviratne added that this would be another step of "Uthuru Wasanthaya" program introduced by the government to develop the Northern region of the country.

Power and Energy Minister W. D. J. Seneviratne said Sri Lanka is far ahead in the field of providing electricity to the rural people compared with other countries in the region. Of our total population, 80 percent have been provided with electricity.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a memorandum submitted by Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne to launch a comprehensive rural electrification scheme with financial assistance from the Government of Iran.

United Nation's Global Environment Facility (GEF) on Thursday signed a project document with Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) and Economic Affairs Division (EAD) for the implementation of $19.2 million plan for setting up mini-hydel power plants in the district of Chitral.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved Rs 10 million for the provision of basic energy services through solar energy to the remote villages of Deh Tiko Baran in Jamshoro district.

The PM issued the directive based on the recommendations of Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. The funding would be provided out of the People

In a bid to provide basic services to the rural poor, a Delhi-based NGO, Goonj has initiated electrification work in Katara village near Sipajhar in Darrang district with the support of Dr Pradip Kr Sarmah (Ashoka Fellow), executive director of Centre for Rural Development (CRD), a Guwahati-based organisation.