Justice N Ramamohana Rao of the High Court on Monday directed the central government to explain within one week as to how it could say that the wages payable to the workers under the NREGA scheme can be lower than the wages fixed as per the Minimum Wages Act. The judge was dealing with a writ petition and a resultant contempt case filed by one Ajay Kumar of AP Vyavasaya Vruthidarula...

As environment minister Jairam Ramesh gets close to deciding the fate of $12 billion Posco’s steel plant in Orissa, civil society pressure from India and around the world is mounting to scrap the project. Around 40 business schools professors have urged Ramesh to look into the dubious data produced by Orissa to convince importance of the Posco’s project of steel plant and a port. The professors, who analysed reports submitted by different...

After 10 days of back and forth discussion, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) plans to recommend withdrawal of the clearance granted to the South Korean giant Posco for its Rs.54,000-crore integrated steel plant in Orissa. “It was a conditional clearance that specifically mentioned the need to meet the FRA [Forest Rights Act] requirements,” said an FAC member, who did not wish to be named. “We have agreed that they have not...

An environment ministry committee has confirmed that the Forest Rights Act was violated during acquisition of land for South Korean steelmaker Posco's project in Orissa. The Forest Advisory Committee, which in December 2009 had given approval for the $12 billion project, did not recommend scrapping the approval given. In August 2010, the ministry had stopped the acquisition work on the basis of a report submitted by the NC Saxena Committee, constituted to...

Striking workers at Foxconn India in Sriperumbudur near Chennai take on the corporate giant, demanding better wages. WORKERS at Foxconn-India in Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, have been on strike from September 24 demanding better wages. They also want the reinstatement of 24 suspended colleagues and the withdrawal of an eight-day wage cut slapped on some workers. That they have held out for so long is remarkable, not least...