Mendha Lekha gets record bamboo rate

Mendha Lekha village in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra has proved wrong the forest department’s stand that gram sabhas cannot manage forest produce.

Devise action plan to tackle malnutrition deaths: Bombay HC

Taking suo moto cognisance of the deaths of infants due to malnutrition in Nashik district of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has asked the government to design an action plan to tackle the situation.

Onion export ban lifted

The Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, has decided to lift the ban on onion exports. Onions can be now exported subject to a minimum export price (MEP) of US $ 475 per tonne.

Rent an e-scooter

Once famed as the bicycle city of India, Pune has lost that reputation because of rising number of motor vehicles. It can once again host a quiet and clean transportation system, albeit with a twist. The Maharashtra transport authority has approved a scheme under which Puneites can hire electric scooters that emit absolutely no exhaust gases.

Industry paid for IP seminars to train judges

Leaked documents of correspondence between lobby group FICCI and industry have revealed an unsavoury nexus between the two in funding a roundtable on intellectual property (IP) matters for judges in Maharashtra, many of whom were specially invited because they were hearing cases of IP crimes such as piracy.

PepsiCo to shell out more for water in Maharashtra

On September 12, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by PepsiCo India, questioning increased water charges with retrospective effect from 2001. They must now clear Rs 70 lakh as arrears in water bills. A 2009, the Bombay High Court directive had upheld the Maharashtra government'ss decision to charge industries which use water as a raw material (soft drinks, mineral water) a higher rate (ten times the existing) with effect from September 2001. Against this decision, PepsiCo filed the appeal in the Supreme Court.

Mumbai’s second sea link unlikely

MUMBAIKARS won’t see any more sea links, at least for now. After the successful run of the five-kilometre road over the sea, linking Bandra to Worli in South Mumbai, the Maharashtra government was planning its extension to Haji Ali via another sea link. But now that plan has been shelved. Instead, a 3.7 km coastal road will be built.

Onion growers blockade highway; demand revoking export ban

The Union government's decision to ban onion export has not gone down well with farmers. Protests continued in Nashik district of Maharashtra, one of the largest onion growing regions in the country, while farmers blocked the National highway from Mumbai to Agra. The Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) has, meanwhile suspended onion trading for an indefinite period. 

DRDO unit not fit to handle union carbide waste : MPCB

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has told the Madhya Pradesh High Court in an affidavit that the DRDO facility at Nagpur has neither the requisite infrastructure nor the storage facilities for handling toxic waste from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. What's more, the incinerator at the facility has been non-functional for the past two years.

Soy seed racket busted in Maharashtra

A soybean seed racket has been unearthed in Akola, Maharashtra. The scam comes on the heels of the large scale soy seed germination failure in the state and further erodes the credibility of government seed corporations. (Read: Seeds of failure)