-The Hindu “Environmental impact assessment tends to ignore wider impact on biodiversity” In a move that will bring cheer to wildlife lovers but could dismay industry lobbyists already complaining about the difficulty in obtaining green clearances, the government plans to add biodiversity conservation as a new criterion to grant environmental and forest clearances. “There is no biodiversity clearance till now,” admitted Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, speaking ahead of the United Nations summit...

-The Hindustan Times The fragile peace at Kudankulam lasted through Sunday, but elsewhere in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala, it was a day of protests and arrests. In Tuticorin, around 250 protesters on way to Kudankulam were arrested. They included Periyar Dravida Kazhagam leader Kolathur Mani and leaders of Naan Thamilar Iyakkam and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. In Kerala's Parassala, police stopped a "solidarity march" by cultural leaders to Kudankulam. For Tamil...

-The Indian Express Political parties in India have 'earned' a whopping Rs 4,662 crore through donation and other sources since 2004 with the ruling Congress at the top with an income of Rs 2,008 crore followed by BJP at Rs 994 crore, two NGOs claimed today. Relying on the IT returns and list of donors submitted to the Election Commission for the period 2004-2011, Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch...

-The Hindu Imperative to collect and analyse data in such cases India calls them its future. But as lakhs of children are kidnapped across the country each year, pushed into sex or organ trade or bonded labour, precious little is being done to find and restore them to their parents. For these children, it is living through the worst nightmare. Getting lost in markets and seeing strange faces all around may put a...

-Frontline Health activists say the health chapter of the Twelfth Plan document exaggerates the role of the private sector in providing health care. The draft chapter on health for the Twelfth Five Year Plan document not only is grossly inadequate in its approach but exaggerates to unrealistic levels the role of the private sector in providing health care. It invokes the concept of universal health care (UHC), but, critics say, it...