The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill is a first step towards granting functional autonomy to the country's nuclear regulator. THE true independence and functional autonomy of the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has been questioned for long. The issue gained further importance in recent months after it was raised in many quarters in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March in Japan. To allay public fears as...
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CBDT cell to track poll expenditure
-The Economic Times The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will soon have a dedicated cell to monitor election-related expenditure by political parties and donations made to them. "A special cell is being created under CBDT to look at election funding," said a finance ministry official. The new cell will be headed by a commissioner rank officer of the I-T department and will monitor election-related expenditure and political funding and enforce...
More »A differential calculus by Ramachandra Guha
Some commentators have compared the struggle led by Anna Hazare with the movement against corruption led by Jayaprakash Narayan in the 1970s. A man of integrity and courage, a social worker who has eschewed the loaves and fishes of office, a septuagenarian who has emerged out of semi-retirement to take on an unfeeling government — thus JP then, and thus Anna now. Superficially, the comparison of Anna to JP is flattering...
More »New NAC Bill combines Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement by K Balchand
The United Progressive Alliance government on Friday unveiled its second draft Bill addressing the burning issues of land acquisition as well as rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R). The National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, as recommended by the National Advisory Council, will make it mandatory that gram sabhas are consulted and the R&R package is executed before the acquired land is transferred. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh...
More »Tea firms see losses ahead as workers strike by Manish Basu
Two of India’s biggest tea companies, Goodricke Group Ltd and Duncans Industries Ltd, said they may plunge into losses as workers, backed by key political parties, agitate for more pay. The labour unions reject this contention. The two companies are the main plantation owners in West Bengal’s Dooars region and do not have too many gardens elsewhere. Between them they produce about 34 million kg of tea a year; Goodricke is...
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