• The 11th Planning Commission has directed the Karnataka government to focus on ways to encourage the herbal medicine sector. At least 55 per cent of the medicinal plants that have been notified by the government are found in Karnataka.
• The Union government has selected one district in each state as a 'model' to implement the national crop insurance scheme. For instance, in Andhra Pradesh, the west Godavari district has been chosen for the scheme's implementation.
• To find out the pattern of temperature changes in the deep sea and also to study the phenomena of global warming, India, along with the us , Japan and France, will participate in a global project, which will also make available information on Indian climate.
• Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, is facing severe air pollution problems due to a drastic rise in vehicular emissions, said the chairperson of the state pollution control board. In some parts of the city, suspended particulate matter is reported to be as high as 350 microgrammes per cubic metre (g/cum), surpassing the permissible limit of 200 g/cum.
• The Jharkhand government has decided to launch a programme to plant herbal and medicinal plants on wastelands that cover 60 per cent of the state's total geographical area. In the first phase of the programme, geranium (genus Pelargonium) will be planted.
• The Union food and textiles ministry has directed jute mills to reduce the amount of batching oil used in jute bags by three per cent . Batching oil is an environmentally unfriendly hydrocarbon element that is used as a softening agent in jute bags.
• The Food Insecurity Atlas of India has identified Jharkhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa and Chattisgarh as the most food insecure states. The maps depict areas with low birth rates, large anaemic population, high infant mortality rates and unbalanced gender ratio. The government will use the atlas for evolving food security programmes for the tenth five-year plan. The atlas has been prepared by the UNWorld Food Programme and the Chennai-based MSSwaminathan Research Foundation.
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