Two months ago, Cabinet approved a draft law that seeks to create a better legislative environment to attract investments in mining and ease land acquisition through higher compensation to people displaced by projects. This show of goodwill could help the government win some hearts in troubled landscapes of Orissa and Karnataka.  But mining companies are not entirely convinced as they have to pay higher royalties and want changes to be made...

The anti-corruption movement has enabled the Indian middle class to feel smug about itself. Its members have gone through a vast range of emotions during the last two decades, from self-hatred to self-righteousness. Liberalisation of the economy has created for this class an excitement of many kinds. It has meant the freedom to pursue the quest for wealth without guilt and, at the same time, it has meant feeling set...

-The Economic Times   Jairam Ramesh may have stirred up a hornet's nest when he, as environment minister, complained of MPs indulging in conflict of interest by lobbying for environmental projects, but a look at the Register of Interest of Rajya Sabha members proves how MPs have managed to find a place in many House panels despite having business interests in the sectors concerned. According to the register of interest, made public...

Civil society groups on Tuesday came out strongly against the Centre’s draft National Food Security Bill, which has not incorporated the National Advisory Council’s suggestion for providing maternity entitlements to about 15 crore women in the informal (non-Government) sector, as in the Central Government, thereby denying food security (breast feeding) to infants.  Similarly, the current legal guarantee of 'hot cooked meals' for children attending anganwadis has been diluted by providing 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...