Endosulfan, a powerful 50-year-old insecticide sometimes called DDT’s “cousin,” was officially banned last week at an international pesticides meeting in Geneva. Partial exemptions were created for India, however; the chemical may be used on some crops there for up to 10 years. Many countries outlawed endosulfan long ago because it is dangerous to farmworkers, accumulates in the body, kills beneficial insects and persists in the environment. The United States is an...

Anna Hazare and the civil society won a crucial first battle in the war against corruption. There is a possibility that the Lokpal Bill could be passed by Parliament by August 15. However, that is by no means assured: a number of politicians, a part of section of political establishment and a section of bureaucracy will try to derail the Bill or dilute it so much that it is rendered...

It was indeed an unusual ''social movement''. A group of ''activists'' who had banded together to draft one version of a bill that would establish a statutory institution to investigate corruption in the political establishment sits in protest demanding the acceptance and passage of its version of the bill. The protest has elements of a social drama inasmuch as it fronts an elderly leader, Anna Hazare, with Gandhian credentials, a...

A transparent assessment of the costs and risks associated with India's ambitious nuclear plans must be made before any ground is broken at Jaitapur or elsewhere. You really have to hand it to the nuclear industry. In any other sphere of the economy, a major industrial disaster is likely to have adverse, long-term financial consequences for the company or companies whose product or activity was involved in the accident, regardless of...

A rethink of UPA's nuclear push is ruled out. The riotous protests and death at Jaitapur or the disaster at Fukushimi might slow the rollout of nuclear power plants but it won't derail UPA's plans of a nuclear thrust to the Indian economy, sources in the government told TOI. The Fukushima impact on Indian shores has been to force the nuclear establishment to do a bit of closed door review but...