Environmentalist honoured

Dr T N Khoshoo Memorial Award in Conservation for 2008 was presented to Ms Rebecca Pradhan at a function at India International Centre, New Delhi on Monday. The Ashoka Trust for Research and Environment  presented the award to Pradhan in recognition of her outstanding work in conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Ms Pradhan is originally from Kalimpong, India, she has been living and working in Bhutan for many years.

Siddu for quota in judiciary

Bangalore, dhns: Former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramiah on Monday called for immediate introduction of reservation in judiciary in India. He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Towards a Casteless Judiciary’, organised to commemorate former Law Minister LG Havanur’s birth anniversary. “Of the 26 jdges in Supreme Court, there is only one judge belonging to the dalit community and backward classes respectively. The situation is even worse in the High Courts. Of the 610 judges in 21 HCs across the country, there is less than 10 per cent representation from SCs, STs and OBCs.”

Biomas gasifier plant set up

To help rural communities residing in remote areas/ districts of the State with better access to electricity, the UNDP, in association with the Centre and the State government, on Monday commissioned a 500-kva biomas gasifier plant at Boregunte village in Tumkur district. Funded by UNDP’s global environment facility, the plant, which uses carbon neutral biomass to produce electricity, is the second unit commissioned under the project.

BUCTA protest

Bangalore University College Teachers’ Association (BUCTA) on Monday staged a demonstration near the office of Joint Director (collegiate education) for not releasing salaries since November 2007 to colleges that had low NAAC grades. They shouted slogans against alleged inhuman act of denying salaries to teachers for the last four months.