-PTI   Chennai: With environmentalists citing ecological degradation as the reason for the natural disaster in Uttarakhand, the Centre on Sunday said it would take stock of the situation and study such concerns once rescue operations were completed. "We have to wait till the rescue operations are over and then we have to take stock of the situation before we decide on anything," the Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in Chennai. She...

-IANS LONDON: The future of the private sector will increasingly hinge on the ability of businesses to adapt to the world's rapidly changing environment, according to a UN report. The report titled "GEO-5 for Business: Impacts of a Changing Environment on the Corporate Sector" was released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in the British capital, Xinhua reported. It analysed the potential risks to 10 different sectors of the economy, and also the...

-The Indian Express The immediate effect of the Supreme Court order has been that it has cleared the legal cloud over the nuclear power reactors at Kudankulam. But the real significance of the judgment lies in the manner in which it has dealt with the subject of harnessing nuclear energy for public good. In the most comprehensive verdict yet on the subject, it addresses almost every issue that is raised against...

-The Indian Express SC has usefully separated valid safety concerns from generalised fears of nuclear power In clear and ringing terms, the Supreme Court has backed the operationalising of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Nuclear energy is necessary for the larger public interest, for "present and future generations", it stressed, while ordering the government to comply with all safety measures. The court had been hearing a string of petitions that said the...

-Tehelka The new biotechnology Bill will allow biotech firms to tamper with our food In March, US President Barack Obama signed the HR 933 continuing resolution - popularly known as the Monsanto Protection Act - that effectively divests the federal courts of their constitutional power to stop the planting or sale of genetically modified (GM) seeds and crops regardless of the health and environmental consequences. In other words, whether you like...