Over 90,000 people residing in several low-lying districts of Gujarat were evacuated due to heavy rainfall which lashed the state this rainy season. Relief Commissioner B P Meena said that the water level in the Narmada, Mahi, Vatrak and Sedhi rivers were receding. The Army was deployed in several districts to help out in the relief operations.
Over 1,100 people have been rendered jobless in Kynrut village of the west Khasi district near Shillong following the Supreme Court order banning the export of timber from the north-east. Kynrut exports timber to the tune of 12,000 cubic feet everyday. Presling Dkhar, a villager said that the people had shifted from agriculture to tree plantation as they found timber business more lucrative.
At least 200 full-grown deodar trees are facing the axe with the Himachal Pradesh government clearing construction of the first aerial ropeway from Shivalik hotel in Shimla to Jakhoo temple which is the highest point in the town standing tall at 8049ft. Many other trees would be cut once the construction of the cable car project begins.
The Union government has banned doctors from determining the sex of the foetus and has decided to grant educational scholarships to girls born to a family living below the poverty line. Prime Minister I K Gujral made this announcement in his address to the nation on the occasion of the India's 50th anniversary of Independence.
The United Nation Fund Population Agency has approved a Rs 2.4 crore Reproductive Child Health and Women Empowerment sub-project for Mahendergarh and Yamunanagar districts of Haryana. The government would spend Rs 7.34 crore on construction of new buildings of hospitals, primary health centres and community health centres during the current financial year.
An Indo-Swiss joint pilot project has been signed to meet the growing demand for artificial insemination for cattle in coastal Andhra Pradesh. The project is expected to take all breeding operations initially in Visakhaptnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts with a corpus fund of Rs 2.5 crore.
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