Shimla: Not willing to take any chances, the Wildlife Department is going in for DNA sampling of eggshells and chicks of western tragopan at its aviary in Sarahan where the highly endangered bird is being bred in captivity as part of a conservation programme.

The soaring mercury beat all available records to make today the hottest day in the Queen of the Hills in 170 years. As the temperature climbed to 32.4

Questioning the wisdom of the government in raising multi-storeyed structures in sliding zones and over water channels, Baljit Malik, coordinator of the Kasauli Bachao Andolan, said today that the state of affairs in the state capital was dismal, requiring immediate intervention.

Alleging that the state Government has failed to protect the interests of farmers, the Himachal Kisan Sabha (HKS) has decided to launch a statewide campaign from November 23 on issues including restoration of timber distribution rights, relief against monkey menace, increase in milk procurement price and proper availability of fertilisers.

Shimla, July 27 After 17 years, one of the state's biggest mining projects is back on track. The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) last week got government approval for its proposal to extract and sell steel-grade limestone from deposits in Arki
of Solan district.

A Government of India navratna PSU, NMDC had first struck a deal with the state government to mine limestone from Arki in 1991, but when its tie-ups with steel manufacturing units like SAIL did not work out because of economics of transporting limestone to steel factories down south, the project was shelved.

The acute drinking water shortage and the failure of the door-to-door garbage collection scheme dominated the proceedings of the monthly meeting of the local Municipal Corporation (MC) today. The councillors demanded that residents should be provided adequate drinking water at least on alternate days. Expressing concern over the acute water scarcity in the capital most of the councillors demanded that concrete steps must be taken to provide relief to the people.