The Integrated Processing Development Scheme, recently announced in the Union Budget for the textile sector, will enable development of new textile processing parks and also improve infrastructure, including effluent treatment facilities, in the existing textile processing centres through public private partnerships.

With an outlay of Rs. 500 crore for the XII Plan period, the scheme looks at leveraging Rs. 5,000 crore investment in the segment. The budget has proposed Rs. 50 crore allocation for 2013-2014. Details of the scheme are expected soon.

Gandhinagar: The incidences of swine flu continues unabated in the state as seven fresh cases of patients testing positive for the virus came to light on Thursday. Of these, five cases have been reported from Rajkot while one each was reported from Bharuch and Surat.

The flu that is also referred to as H1N1 virus has claimed 30 lives in Gujarat in the past two months, health minister Nitin Patel said in the state assembly on Thursday. An alert has been sounded in the health fraternity regarding the virus which has Saurashtra in its grip. Patel said that H1N1 virus was a cause of concern which has spiked because of the prolonged winter.

This would help GSPC create India's largest city gas distribution company

Five months after it acquired 65% stake in Gujarat Gas Company Ltd (GGCL), GSPC or Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation is planning to merge its city gas distribution entity, GSPC Gas Company Ltd with Gujarat Gas Corporation Limited (GGCL). Persons close to the development said this would not only help GSPC create India's largest city gas distribution company but also allow it to transfer the loans it took to acquire GGCL on its books as the company is listed.

The joint venture companies are yet to decide on the quantum of the bond or external commercial borrowings

NPCIL-Nalco Power Company Limited — a joint venture between Nalco and NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd) to set up nuclear plants —will raise a term loan of up to Rs 1,500 crore over the next three months to fund the construction of power generation capacities. The joint venture’s board met in Mumbai last week to take stock of the progress of the plant’s construction. B L Bagra, director (finance), Nalco said, “Initially, we are looking for Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 crore funding from various banks. We are in talks with the banks and hope to complete the process in the next two-three months.”

Terming the current global climate change scenario as "serious times", a US environmental law expert on Wednesday cautioned that the rise in sea level in the Indian Ocean could make cities like Kol

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat ranks fifth in the country in terms of people being treated for HIV, and also for the number of children being treated.

From the sky, the Garden City of Bangalore now looks more smoggy compared to other mega cities in the subcontinent, thanks to rising levels of tiny soot particles in the atmosphere from vehicle and

India needs to focus on treating waste water from the industries to meet the rising demand for fresh water.

AHMEDABAD: The population of vultures in the city may not have shown a decline in the 2010 census, but the expert scavenger is quickly losing ground here. Ahmedabad has seen a drop of about 44 per cent in the bird's population in just two years, according to latest figures.

This is the third largest drop after Surat and Amreli districts. The two districts have reported a drop of around 65 per cent. These figures were revealed during the vulture count conducted by the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research ( GEER). Some of the birds have also migrated from Ahmedabad to Mehsana.

At 938, It’s At All-Time Low In Gujarat: Survey

Ahmedabad: If there is an address for vultures in Gujarat, then it is Kutch. This district neighbouring Indo-Pak border has the highest number of Gyps vultures including White-Rumped vultures and Long-Billed vultures in the state. The vulture census taken up in May revealed that the vulture count in the state has fallen to below 1,000 - an all time low in Gujarat.