Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday expressed her support for the farmers' agitation against land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the serving of “private purposes in the name of public purpose” was the trigger for the unrest. Indicating that she would join the movement in Noida, Ms. Patkar said the agitating farmers must be called for dialogue that should be decisive. “Till then, there should be a moratorium on the...

Tihar jail today has the largest collection of charged or convicted top officials, a powerful ex-minister, sundry Politicians and officials. Maharashtra had a teflon-coated chief minister who was ‘sacked’ to a cabinet post in Delhi after being long untouched by many scandals. Another just exited. A former Jharkhand chief minister is in jail on charges of looting his state treasury and accumulating funds abroad. The powerful founder of the Nationalist...

Sanction by higher authority for probe to be waived The Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee on Saturday moved towards formulation of a draft with civil society members and government representatives agreeing to set up an independent authority that will be endowed with financial and administrative autonomy. Although the sticky issue of including the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary within the ambit of the Bill was set aside for “further discussion,'' the...

Work on the project was put on hold a year ago Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has lifted the stop-work order on the Maheshwar Hydel Power Corp Ltd., implying that he was yielding to pressure from the Prime Minister's office and Madhya Pradesh Politicians across political lines. However, while project promoters are now free to construct the remaining five spillway gates of the dam, the lowering of the...

India has decided to join a global consensus to end the production and use of endosulfan after being allowed 11 years to phase it out and promised financial assistance. This decision is not irreversible since India has to ratify its own decision. An absolutely final position can be adopted after the results of more elaborate studies on extensive use are available since a causal link between the health hazards in...