-The Times of India PANAJI: Six major lakes face a serious threat from pollution and rapid development, as a directive of Bombay high court at Goa to prepare a detailed plan for their protection has been relegated to the backburner. The government had constituted a task force in 2003 after the court issued a few directions to the forest department to protect Carambolim lake and take up the Conservation of six other...

-Down to Earth   14.5 per cent decline in employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, says country's chief auditor The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India recently released a report on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), highlighting the irregularities committed by the Uttar Pradesh government in implementing the scheme. CAG has pointed out that non-adherence to rules and regulations and inefficient financial management and monitoring of the...

-The Hindu If the Adani group is allowed to continue its development projects in Kutch simply by ‘compensating' for their ecological damage, the Centre will set a dangerous precedent that lets money power trump environmental regulations The Adani Group may be fined Rs.200 crore for a series of environmental violations committed by their waterfront development, port and power plant projects in the Mundra taluka of Kutch district. The waterfront development project, which...

-Al Jazeera   The reforms promoted by Prime Minister Singh do not go far enough to help food production and the hungry. The debate on the Food Security Act is based on myths on both sides. The government is propagating the myth that it is the largest anti-poverty and anti-hunger programme ever introduced anywhere in the world. The programme is being heralded as Sonia Gandhi's dream project, and billed as a miracle solution...

-IANS NEW DELHI: As part of its efforts to conserve fuel, the union government proposes to declare one day in a week as " Bus Day" when all employees will use public transport, petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said. "One day in a week is to be declared as 'Bus Day' as part of the petroleum ministry's mega fuel Conservation campaign," Moily told media persons here. "I have also urged all...