News Snippets

>> The Bihar government will set up a community radio station, the first for farmers in the state. Decks have been cleared for setting up the community radio station following clearance by the central government and approval of funding for it. Bihar's agriculture minister Nagmani said that the centre had cleared the setting up of a low power transmitter for the community radio station under the Media Support to Agricultural Extension programme.

Gizmo salve

"My cellphone is the only thing left that occasionally makes me smile when there is little left to laugh about," says a Zimbabwean who does not want to be named. A cellphone has become more than a tool for communication in Zimbabwe, it has assumed a new identity. Zimbabweans who can afford it use a cellphone to relieve everyday stress by exchanging political messages with friends and relatives.

One stop shop

If you want to know about the latest environment news log into www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in. You are also likely to get information on how to install a solar water heater and even waste management. The portal is an initiative of the National Knowledge Commission (nkc) and the Centre for Science and Environment.

For the Marginalized

www.asianborderlands.net

Future shock, this?

Prince Charles turns the heat on genetic modification

Halt GM crops

the Supreme Court on August 12 issued notice to the Centre on an application seeking a moratorium on allowing the cultivation of any genetically modified (gm) crop in the country.

Rice at a click

There is a new website to cater to rice farmers in Vietnam. The site, http://www.caylua.vn, deals with themes such as rice production, rice biology, farming techniques, irrigation, nutrition management, epidemics control, harvest and post-harvest technology, seedling nursery technology and rice products.

News Snippets

>> A group of direct-marketing companies in the US are banding together with their corporate clients to make mailing practices greener. The Green Marketing Coalition's guidelines for making the industry more sustainable are: Using chlorine-free recycled paper and choosing clients committed to recycling,

A new ethic?

A new ecological guide will promote eco-friendly providers of goods and services in Mexico from September. The directory, similar to the traditional yellow pages of telephone books, includes 22 categories, including food, health and ecotourism. "We realized that there was a lot to offer. If we wanted those businesses to do well, we had to connect them to the demand for sustainability," Dania Martnez-Parente, coordinator of the non-governmental New Ventures project Pginas Verdes (Green Pages), told the Latin American website Tierramrica.

Panic strikes

The continuing unrest over the Amarnath land transfer seems to have driven the Jammu and Kashmir administration to panic. On August 3 Jammu administration blacked out two local tv news channels and sealed the offices of two Hindi dailies for allegedly whipping up communal passions. Chief secretary S S Kapur said action was taken against the media houses which defied the official advisory.