The Jaitapur nuclear power project has drawn blood even before its boundary wall is ready. One person was killed in police firing on Monday, which by all accounts was unnecessary to disperse peaceful protesters. There was arson in Madban, at the site’s centre, which gutted some grass and a part of a tiny makeshift shed belonging to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. The police went berserk and intruded into...

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday condemned the police firing at people protesting against the Jaitapur nuclear power project. It demanded adequate compensation for the kin of the deceased and those injured. In a statement, the party said the local people had opposed the location of the plant in their area and refused to accept the forceful acquisition of their lands. It said the Jaitapur project to be set...

Given the scale of corruption in India, the constitution of a Jan Lokpal will be a welcome initiative. But the proposed Lokpal has the makings of a super-monster. After 42 years of hesitation and uncertainty, an institutional mechanism to deal with the all-pervasive incidence of corruption in India is in sight. What apparently moved the state machinery was the agitation spearheaded by Anna Hazare, which drew spontaneous support primarily in the...

Marked 7 in severity and reclassified as a ‘major accident' The nuclear radiation crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan was reclassified on Tuesday as a “major accident” with the same worst-case rating as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. However, Japanese authorities quickly sought to reassure the international community about the continuing efforts to end the Fukushima crisis that was mainly triggered by natural disasters. Chernobyl, in contrast, was seen more primarily...

Filmmakers, activists, journalists, aid workers, policy-makers and United Nations staff are gathering in New York this weekend for a two-day documentary forum aimed at raising public awareness about the fight against hunger worldwide. The third annual “Envision: Addressing Global Issues Through Documentaries” forum, which kicks off tonight, comprises film screenings and panel discussions centred on the themes of combating hunger and poverty, one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that...