Days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of the role of foreign-funded NGOs in instigating protests against genetic engineering in agriculture, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has asserted that his controversial decision to put the release of genetically-modified brinjal on indefinite hold in 2010 was not influenced by any NGO.   As the then environment minister, Jairam had blocked the commercial release of Bt brinjal, citing a lack of scientific consensus and...

-The Times of India   Denying charges that their campaign against the Russian-aided Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project was being funded by United States-based groups, the People's Movement against Nuclear Energy convener S P Udayakumar on Saturday threatened legal action against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union minister of state in the PMO V Narayanasamy.  The Union minister told TOI on Friday that the licences of three NGOs backing the anti-nuclear protests have been...

-AP India has shut down three aid organizations it says were diverting foreign funds toward rallying protests against a Russian-built nuclear plant in the south, but one group on Saturday denied any involvement in the protests while another said its efforts were entirely homegrown.  Activists opposed to an expansion of India's atomic energy portfolio argue that Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami last March showed that such...

Conservation measures have taken away the traditional livelihoods of nomadic tribes in Karnataka. AT a short distance from the world famous monuments at Hampi is the village of Hulihaidar in the fertile region of the “rice bowl of Karnataka” in Gangavathi taluk in Koppal district. Local residents say it was an important town in the Vijayanagara empire (1336-1646 C.E.) and the seat of a local lord. Today it is home to...

Decoding the 'mystery' behind Maoists, the Centre has for the first time brought out in open many facts that have hitherto remained in official papers and urged aam aadmis to expose true colours of Red rebels in whatever ways they can, including use of social media like Facebook and twitter. In a document, brought out in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) last week, the Union home ministry has classified...