India

• India's first environmental management system certification BS 7750, equivalent to ISO 14001, the interna- tional environmental standard, was receutly awarded to the Orissa-based Nicco Corporation.

• A Rs 296I-crore hydroelectric project with an installed capacity of 900 MW will be set up with Japanese assistance at Baghmnndi in Purulia) West Bengal.

• An AIDS awareness programme, sponsored by the European Commission was recently launched in Assam. The project will be implemented in collaboration with the Voluntary Health Association of India.

• A Rs 287 crore loan was announced on February 17, by the World Bank for improving water supply and sewerage network in Punjab.

• The Himachal Pradesh government will soon be launching a Rs 15.41 crore national watershed development project for rain-fed areas, with a view to generate successful models of development in the agricultural sector.

• The United Nations Development Programme sanctioned Rs 18 crores on February 16, for providing communication services in six lakh villages of the country and also for the development of the oilseeds and pulses sector.

• The Global Environment Facility has sanctioned US $50 million to the Rajasthan Energy Development Agency for a proposed five MW solar thermal power project, it was announced on February 15 in Jaipur.

• The European Union will provide Rs 126 crore for the afforestation of 23,400 ha of land in 300 villages of Haryana. The work on the project is scheduled to begin next year.

• The West Bengal fisheries department began work on the biggest piscicnlture project in Asia on February 10 at Meendwip, a 40-sq kIn island near the estuary of the Hooghly, West Bengal.

• Nearly three crore Hepatitis B virus carriers are Indians and more people die due to this virus than due to AIDS. This was revealed at a seminar held in New Delhi recently on the 'Prevention of hepatitis B virus infection'.