The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Wednesday decided not to accept the World Bank’s aid for the tiger conservation programme. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, chaired by Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh. Though Mr. Ramesh was keen on accepting the aid, conservationists were against the move. “Personally, I was very keen that the World Bank provide...

Wants exclusion of tiger reserve area falling within its purview  Says construction of dam will disturb the core habitat of wild animals Minister concerned at the ecological implications of project NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has asked the Centre to review the Ken-Betwa river-linking project in Madhya Pradesh in view of the ecological implications. In a letter to Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, Mr. Ramesh...

KEY TRENDS    • Extreme temperature shocks reduce farmer incomes by 4.3 percent and 4.1 percent during kharif and rabi respectively, whereas extreme rainfall shocks reduce incomes by 13.7 percent and 5.5 percent *&    • It is estimated that to cover 50 percent (5 million ha) of the total acreage under rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) in India, about 60000 Turbo Happy Seeders and 30000 super SMS fitted combines will be required; at present, there are only about 3000...