-The Sentinel Assam   Cluster of villages across Barak Valley have been threatened by erosions of various rivers crisscrossing the zone. A good number of villages have been completely or partially wiped out by the swirling and surging waters of Barak, in particular, during heavy floods. Reports about the fate of such villages have appeared in the media time to time and continue to hit the headlines. The state government and its...

Are smaller states easier to govern and hence better for the people? The most recent reorganization took place in November 2000 when three mega states - Uttar Pradesh,Bihar and Madhya Pradesh - were sliced up to give birth to Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, respectively. It is more than a decade since then. The new states are now well-established. But, how are they faring compared to the 'mother' states? Has the...

An independent study says some 250 thermal power projects that have got clearances may be meant just to grab land and water resources. THERE have been a growing number of headlines that speak of an energy crisis and the energy deficit in India in the last few years. The disparities in the demand-supply scenario, the increasing prospects of disruptions in the global supply of fuel and the consequent results of higher...

-The Hindu   A few recommendations by the Indian Council of Forestry and Research and Education (ICFRE) have upset the National Council for Protection of natural resources (NCPNR), which is fighting a legal battle against illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The ICFRE which carried out a macro-level Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study of Bellary district following a direction from the Supreme Court had submitted its report to the court recently. Recommendations such...

'Economic growth will need massive energy. Will we allow an accident in Japan, in a 40-year-old reactor at Fukushima, arising out of extreme natural stresses, to derail our dreams to be an economically developed nation?' Every single atom in the universe carries an unimaginably powerful battery within its heart, called the nucleus. This form of energy, often called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times more powerful...