China has approved the construction of the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border. The USD 137 billion project, which is expected to dwarf even China's own Three Gorges Dam, has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, the downstream riparian states. Concerns in India are centered around China's potential to control water flow, potentially enabling the release of large amounts of water to flood border areas in times of hostilities. The dam is part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and the Chinese government claims that the project is safe and prioritizes ecological protection.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
With the summer approaching sooner than scheduled, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, and West Bengal have already started experiencing heat waves with temperatures soaring above 40°C.
A high-level inter-ministerial team conducted a six-hour investigation in Badhaal village, Rajouri district, Jammu and Kashmir, to ascertain the causes of death of 17 members of three families under mysterious circumstances. The team, led by a director-rank officer in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, collected samples and briefed by senior district, health and police officers. The team's visit follows the deaths of 16 people between December 7 and January 19. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities focusing on potential neurotoxins and a spring that tested positive for pesticides.
For the first time since the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur last year, a number of MLAs of Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities are set to hold a joint meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday under the supervision of the home ministry, officials said.
India's Republic Day parade featured a tri-services tableau showcasing the country's increasing focus on enhancing synergy among its armed forces. The tableau, themed "Shashakt aur Surakshit Bharat" (strong and secure India), displayed a battlefield scenario with indigenous military equipment, including the Arjun main battle tank, Tejas MKII fighter aircraft, and the destroyer INS Visakhapatnam. The display highlighted the Ministry of Defence's commitment to boosting tri-services synergy and jointness in preparation for future conflicts.
How to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan. Top civil and police officers of the country participated in the meeting, official sources said.
Forty per cent of population will have no access to drinking water by 2030 and 21 cities, including New Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, will run out of groundwater by 2020.
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
The Standing Committee on Water Resources has recommended renegotiating the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address the impact of climate change on water availability in the river basin and other challenges which are not covered under the agreement.
It's time we remembered the fundamental: water cycle and life cycle are one.
Meanwhile, China has denied plans to construct a tunnel to divert Brahmaputra river waters.
Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal Justice N P Singh has resigned from his post citing ill health. Sources in the water resources ministry said Justice Singh, 80, had sent his resignation papers earlier this week.
According to sources, Union water resources ministry officials gave a presentation to the prime minister on the treaty and the projects involved.
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
Water is going to be a central part of the government's 2024 election campaign. And Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's work will be crucial for it.
Gujarat will host the next round of G20 meetings from March 27 to April 4, during which three conclaves will be held in the state on a range of issues, where delegates from different countries will converge for participation, an official said.
Among the cities that have fully implemented their projects are Agra, Varanasi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Udaipur, Pune, Surat, and Vadodara
Gadkari is credited with the construction of more than 90,000 km of national highways and 30,000 km of new roads in the country in the last 10 years.
Under the new water conservation plan for the 2006-2010 period, China aims to reduce water usage by 69 billion cubic meters by 2010.
The 28 new ministers who joined the Chouhan cabinet on July 2 include 20 of cabinet rank and eight ministers of state.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
The highest water-use efficiency of more than $ 50 per cubic metre is in Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, Denmark, Finland, and Great Britain while the lowest is in Central and South Asia, including India, at less than $ 10 per cubic metre.
Make in India has big shortcomings when it comes to natural resources.
'The cost of flying to Prayagraj has gone up six times due to the Kumbh Mela.'
The Group of Ministers, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, met on Monday for discussion with Union ministry secretary-level officers.
India to exploit to the maximum the capacity of Pak-controlled rivers -- Indus, Chenab, Jhelum as per the Indus Treat, source said.
The Tamil Nadu government welcomed the decision, hailing it as a 'grand victory for the 'Amma (Jayalalithaa) government' and the state's farmers'.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday retained 46 ministries as she allotted portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayti Raj, Health and Mines among her Cabinet ministers.
A plea seeking ban on 2018 Indian Premier League cricket matches on the ground that it leads to wastage of lakhs of litres of water, on Wednesday, prompted the National Green Tribunal to seek responses from the Centre, Board of Control for Cricket in India and others.
The top court directed the Secretary of the Union water resources ministry to personally appear before it on May 14 with a draft of the Cauvery management scheme to implement its verdict on water sharing between four states including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Gadkari said the water of these 'Eastern rivers' will be diverted and supplied to Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The Group of Ministers constituted for the creation of a separate state of Telangana on Wednesday discussed the sharing of river water and irrigation resources in Andhra Pradesh after the state's bifurcation, but failed to arrive at a resolution.
As per norms, sanction for prosecution of government employees accused of corruption has to be given within four months' stipulated time.
India's water future remains very bleak. The monsoon season, which once extended to 4 months, is now down to less than 30 days of heavy rain.
It has noted that melting glaciers due to any impact of climate change will not only severely affect the flow in Himalayan river system but will also give rise to natural disasters.
The statement of the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office comes on the heels of India issuing a notice to Pakistan seeking a review and modification of the IWT in view of Islamabad's "intransigence" in complying with the dispute redressal mechanism of the pact that was inked over six decades ago for sharing of waters of cross-border rivers.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
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