The Supreme Court today directed the Haryana government to file a fresh status report within three weeks giving details of the relief and Rehabilitation measures undertaken in Mirchpur, the scene of violence against Dalits in April this year. A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly passed the order after senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the victims comprising about 150 families which had fled the village following the incidents,...

Expressing 'deep distress' over the 'shameful practice of manual scavenging' in the country, the National Advisory Council, headed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Saturday asked the government to 'fully abolish' it by the end of 2012. It observed that despite the practice of employing scavengers being declared an offence, no one has been punished for it. The issue is seen as 'an issue of sanitation than of issue of human dignity,'...

The Orissa government has filed its response to the Ministry of Envionment and Forest (MoEF) regarding Meena Gupta committee’s reports on Posco project, denying all allegations about violations of Forest Rights Act (FRA) and Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) at the project site. The state government has reiterated its earlier stand that there are no tribals at the Posco project site and palli sabhas had been conducted as per established procedures and...

Posco’s proposed $12 billion steel plant in India is in doubt after a government panel recommended scrapping environment clearances given to the world’s third largest steelmaker. Three of the four members of the panel suggested that approvals should be canceled because of “flaws in the studies, and shortcomings in the clearances granted” to the project in the eastern state of Orissa, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told reporters yesterday in New Delhi....

The showpiece proposed iron and steel project in Orissa by South Korean steel major POSCO faces a huge cloud of uncertainty with an expert panel set up by the Environment Ministry alleging violations of environmental laws. Three of its four members today recommended that all initial clearances to the project be cancelled. The lone dissenting voice was that of former Environment Secretary Meena Gupta who argued that there was no need...