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“What is in a name? That which we call a rose, would smell as sweet by any other”, goes the line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There is quite a lot in a name, Juliet, especially if attaching the wrong terminology to a process is used to appropriate public funds - Rs. 800 crores, in fact.

‘Fly-ash’ refers to fine particles of ash sent up by the burning of solid fuel-like coal. Typically, this is the residue of ash generated by thermal power companies. Due to its toxic nature, the government has mandated that fly-ash must be dumped in ash ponds, which are specially made on vacant lands.

Countrywide ban on sand mining

Charba is a small village in Uttarakhand with a population of 10,000. It is located in the 'Vikas Nagar' area just beyond Dehradun - a section that the government has denoted an industrial area. This little village shot to fame when Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages (HCCB) decided to build a plant there.

Rajkumar needs no urging to talk about Sundari. She is evidently a favourite of his. When we met, he regaled me with stories of her beauty, her smartness and her incredibly sweet nature. When he finally brought her out to meet me, I failed to see any signs of a winning personality or of towering intelligence. "Well," I rebuked myself, "you've only met her for two minutes.

Till a few decades ago, most people in India grew vegetables and fruits in their own gardens. Then something changed. We shifted from 'farming for food' to 'farming for money'. The start of the ‘green revolution’ meant that production increased but so did the farmer's dependency on chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides.

The Dibang Multipurpose Project (DMP) proposed on the Dibang river in Arunachal Pradesh by NHPC Ltd (National Hydro Power Corporation), is slated to be India’s highest dam. A concrete gravity dam that will resist the pressure of impounding water through its own weight, its capacity is 3000 megawatts (MW).

History tells us cities were settled and abandoned several times in Delhi. But I have not come across an explanation for why the city was repeatedly established at the same site. Surely, the presence of the river Yamuna to the east of Delhi would have been a reason. The Yamuna, though is not a small river; it flows for 1,300 km.

IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh suspended for action against sand mining

The 1972 drought in Maharashtra affected several villages and talukas. Farmers in Purandhar taluka in Pune district decided to get together and discuss how to improve their situation so that they would not be as severely affected by poor rainfall in the future. Thus was born Pani Panchayat.