An amber light is flashing on the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant with the project expected to proceed only after apprehensions raised by the Japanese tsunami in the public mind have been thoroughly assuaged. The widely televised and reported struggle of Japan's nuclear establishment in containing overheating nuclear cores at the Fukushima power plant have rung alarm bells in India with environment minister Jairam Ramesh calling for more reviews and the...

The tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis in Japan will not slow down India's nuclear power plans. The Government on Tuesday made it clear that there would be no rethink on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who has been criticised by civil society groups, for clearing the proposed 9,900 MW nuclear power project in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats, said his ministry would put in additional safeguards as part...

Calling for an immediate halt to the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra, the Communist Party of India(Marxist) on Tuesday said environment clearance should be withdrawn and the entire issue re-examined in the backdrop of the developments in tsunami-hit Japan. In a statement, the Polit Bureau said a party delegation which recently visited the project area confirmed that locals were totally opposed to the location of the plant and to forcible...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep sorrow today and offered the full support of the United Nations after a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan, killing dozens of people and destroying towns, villages and large swathes of infrastructure. UN agencies say they are on standby to assist in Japan and any other countries that may also be hit by tsunamis in the wake of the quake, which was one of the...

The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...