-PTI Pingali has been appointed director of the Tata-Cornell Initiative in Agriculture and Nutrition Washington: Former World Bank economist Prabhu Pingali has been appointed by the Cornell University to lead effort to help reduce poverty and malnutrition in India, a project established through a USD 25 million endowment from the Tata Trusts. Pingali has been appointed director of the Tata-Cornell Initiative in Agriculture and Nutrition (TACO-AN), a long-term project established through a...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court on Monday directed that all criminal cases against the agitators opposing the Kudankulam nuclear plant be withdrawn to restore normalcy in the area. Giving a series of directions, a Bench of Justices K. S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said: "Endeavour should be made to withdraw all the criminal cases filed against the agitators so that peace and normalcy be restored at Kudankulam and nearby places, and steps...

-The Indian Express SC has usefully separated valid safety concerns from generalised fears of nuclear power In clear and ringing terms, the Supreme Court has backed the operationalising of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Nuclear energy is necessary for the larger public interest, for "present and future generations", it stressed, while ordering the government to comply with all safety measures. The court had been hearing a string of petitions that said the...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court on Monday said there is no basis to the fear that the radioactive effects of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, when commissioned, will be far reaching. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said: "We are convinced that the KKNPP design incorporates advanced safety features complying with the current standards of redundancy, reliability, independence and prevention of common cause failures in its safety systems....

-The Hindu Environmentalists say EIL is not qualified to conduct study, want report to be reviewed by an independent experts panel Ahemedabad: Environmental experts and activists, who have alleged that Engineers India Limited (EIL) is not qualified and accredited as yet to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Mithivirdi nuclear power plant in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, have found serious gaps in the EIA report itself in its present form. They have...