The issue of acquiring farmland for industry is threatening to jolt West Bengal's Left Front, the world's longest-running democratically elected Communist government, says Sumit Bhattacharya A confidential digital map shows exactly how many land owners had taken the compensation, how many had taken partial compensation, and how many had refused to part with their land for the botched Tata Nano plant in Singur, West Bengal. The map -- based on Global...

The Fukushima disaster has prompted calls to review legislation passed by the Indian parliament in August 2010 that capped compensation payable, in the event of a nuclear accident, at 320 million U.S. dollars. "Fukushima showed what the potential damage from an accident could be," M.V. Ramana, physicist and well-known commentator on nuclear energy safety issues, told IPS. "The economic damages [at Fukushima] must have certainly exceeded the compensation allowed in the nuclear...

The government has set the ball rolling for estimating black money by signing agreements with three leading think-tanks NCAER, NIFM and NIPFP to conduct study on unaccounted income generated inside and outside the country. They have been given 18 months to complete the study and also suggest administrative and legal measures to prevent generation of black money, according to sources. The first study on unaccounted money was conducted by NIPFP way back...

“We live in a society governed by the rule of law; and we shall have to proceed as per law” I-T department recovered undisclosed income of Rs.25,000 crore in the last 24 months Amid the hue and cry on the “black money” circulating within the country and abroad, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday announced the setting up of a group to quantify the black money being generated. “As soon as the report...

Although finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised food security and inclusive growth in his budget speech last year, hunger continues to stalk over 300 million citizens of the country. India slipped to 67th place in the Global Hunger Index 2010 rankings of 122 countries prepared by International Food Policy Research Institute. An Oxford University report said that 410 million Indians live in poverty. While there may be nit-picking over the...