TIT-BIT NEWS

• New Ministers
• Nomination for Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra (IPVM) Award - 1997
• INFOTERRA

New Ministers

The two new ministers in the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) are:

1. Shri Suresh P. Prabhu
   Union Minister for Environment & Forests

2. Shri Babu Lal Marandi
   Minister of State for Environment & Forests

Nomination for Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra (IPVM) Award - 1997

The National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB) is now inviting nominations for Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra (IPVM) Awards for 1997. Sixteen awards of Rs 50,000 each in cash along with medallions and citations will be given to persons / institutions, organisation covering the following eight categories:

1. Individual
2. Panchayats / Gramsabhas/Village level institutions/ village forest protection committees / cooperative organisations at village level
3. Educational institutions
4. Voluntary agencies, including Mahila Mandals, Yuvak Mandals, etc.
5. Government servants (individual)
6. Government agencies (not above the district level)
7. Corporate sector (private / public sector agencies)
8. Municipalities / municipal corporations / cantonment boards

Nominations will be considered on the basis of pioneering and innovative work in afforestation and tree planting, involving rural and tribal people especially women, in afforestation and eco-development, extension work, motivation of creation of awareness among people, establishing people's nurseries, promoting social fencing of community woodlots/pasture lands and creating sustainable institutional structures such as tree growers' cooperatives, village forest development protection committee and work done especially in difficult areas and difficult agro-climatic zones. Replicability and sustainability of the work done is given an importance while considering the nominations.

For details, contact concerned state forests departments and NAEB, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi - 110 003. The last date for receipt of nominations is June 30, 1998.

INFOTERRA

INFOTERRA, the global information network of the United Nations Environment Programme, through its network of 174 participating countries has been providing substantive information on environment to its users all over the world. ENVIS at the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, India, has been designated INFOTERRA's National Focal Point (NFP) for India and Regional Service Centre (RSC) for the South Asia Sub-region. It provides referral as well as substantive information in the form of bibliographies, photocopies of the relevant reports/reprints etc.