“Conviction sets a dangerous trend for judiciary” It has ominous undertones: All-India Milli Council Three days after a Chhatisgarh court convicted Binayak Sen of treason and sedition, the sense of disbelief seems to be growing, with more and more members of the civil society joining in to protest the judgment and urging fellow citizens to start a campaign for the release of the paediatrician and civil rights activist. The voices were unanimous in...

Proposed asbestos project could lead to a ‘Turner & Newall' epidemic There is a spectre over the verdant fields of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, hitherto suppressed by the clamour and euphoria of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's massive electoral mandate. Its cause is asbestos — the magic mineral, paradoxically known by its more sinister monikers of the “killer dust” and “the silent time-bomb.” In November last, the Kolkata-headquartered Balmukund Cement & Roofing Ltd. (BCRL) proposed...

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil has decided to walk the untrodden path. In the summary report which raises environmental concerns in the Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri regions of Maharashtra and emphatically supports the rights of its people, while strongly criticising the government's role, the WGEEP gave voice to the years of protests witnessed by the regions. The report seeks to answer various questions related to...

Farmers in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack Vilasrao Deshmukh as Union Heavy Industries Minister, after the Supreme Court ruled he misused his authority to protect a Congress legislator's money-lender father who charge exorbitant interest rates. "Local legislators are getting Police protection with the help of top leaders and are exploiting the debt-trapped farmers who are committing suicide," Kishor Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti,...

Deshmukh protected Congress MLA's family member from normal process of law: Bench ‘Cases involving misuse of public office for private gains shake people's confidence'Taking serious view of the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh (currently the Union Industries Minister), interfering in a criminal investigation against a family of a Congress MLA, the Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed an exemplary cost of Rs.10 lakh on the Maharashtra government.A Bench comprising...