JANAKI KNOWS well that it is hard for her to rear more than four children. Yet she is not willing to go to the sterilisation camp. Her husband would be of no help in taking such a decision. “He drinks heavily, beats me up every day,” she says. Janaki is not able to express her fears in clear terms, but it is difficult to imagine her summoning up the courage...

Activists opposed to the Posco project in Orissa have decided not to give "an inch of land" for the mega steel venture, even as the BJD government was gearing to start land acquisition over the next two weeks. Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Chairman Abhaya Sahu said that anti-Posco movement was passing through a very "critical stage" after Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave clearance for the project. "We have been fighting...

The face of agriculture in India is changing fast. It needs to become not only sustainable but also profitable for farmers especially the young to stay on the land and cultivate it. The farmers must understand how markets respond to agricultural produce. He should not stop by spending all his life's energy and resources on creating the agricultural produce, but should know how to get good returns for his efforts. This is...

Nitish calls for balanced view on proposed plant in Chainpur Agitators allege misinformation on perceived hazardous fallouts of proposed plant “17.8 acres of land acquired to set up the factory is cultivable, fertile” Taking note of the mounting public uproar against the proposed asbestos factory at Bishnupur-Chainpur village in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said “there was no ban on setting up asbestos factories in India.” Mr. Kumar, however, said...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's observation that enforcement of environmental regulatory standards should not lead to a throwback to the days of the licence-permit raj strikes a jarring note in an era of enlightened, science-based conservation. By projecting regulation as a threat to economic development, he has brought needless pressure to bear on the nascent efforts of Minister Jairam Ramesh to bring accountability and transparency to the Ministry of Environment and...