• India achieved another milestone in nuclear research when Kamini , the mini nuclear reactor using uranium 233 as fuel, attained criticality last month. With this, India became the only country in the world to use uranium 233, derived from thorium, as a fuel in a nuclear mode.

• In a bid to reduce pollution in the Ganga, a cabinet committee has sanctioned Rs 400 crore for setting up sewage treatment plants for townships situated all along the Ganga. The Ganga-Yamuna basin covers six states, with more than hundred municipalities.

• Each hour, on an average, 91 Indians die of heart diseases and 68 due to cardio-vascular strokes. This was revealed by a recent study conducted by the National Congress on Health and Dietary Fats, New Delhi.

• The large number of lives claimed by the dengue epidemic in Delhi has prompted the state government to set up an independent centre for year-round disease monitoring and epidemic warning. The centre would be established on the lines of the world famous Centre for Disease Control at Atlanta, US.

• Faced with severe criticism over the neglect of sanctuaries in the country, the Union environment minister Jai Narain Prasad Nishad has ordered the review of all mining leases located within protected areas in the country. It has been discovered that illegal mining operations were going on within the limits of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

• Despite contrary claims by the state government, malaria continues to rage on in Rajasthan with the death toll reaching beyond 500. According to official figures, 34,144 people had been affected by the disease in the state till October 15. Most lives have been lost in eastern Rajasthan.

• The Indian tiger may yet be saved, thanks to the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. It has started a project that aims to produce the endangered species through test tube births in collaboration with the city-based Nehru Zoological Park.