• A Rs 700 crore National Fund for Calamity Relief (NFCR) has been set up by the Centre to provide immediate assistance to states during floods, cyclones, drought and earthquakes.

• Situated in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, the Khetri Copper Complex (KCC) has become the first zero pollution mining-cum-metallurgical industry in the state.

• The Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Calcutta is setting up a kala azar strain bank to help researchers studying the dreaded killer disease.

• In view of the proposed ban by Germany on imports containing hazardous azo dyes, the Indian garment export sector has taken steps to shift to eco-friendly alternatives like vat and reactive dyes.

• The state department of environment, West Bengal, has developed the Calcutta Environment Monitoring and Strategy Action Plan (CEMSAP) to implement various pollution control measures in the city.

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi is launching a project which involves the production of superior quality hybrid varieties of tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage and cauliflower.

• To combat the ill-effects of ecological degradation in the Shivalika region of Jammu and the Kerawa belt in Kashmir, a Rs 42.24 crore integrated watershed development project has been launched for implementation by June 1997.

• A new strain of the Yersinia pestis bacteria was responsible for the plague outbreak in Surat last year, according to a team of scientists who analysed the organism at laboratories abroad.

• The Centre is establishing a Cleaner Technology Promotion Network at the National Environmental Engineering Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, which will provide polluting industries with cleaner technologies.