-The Times of India After being dormant for nearly a year, the H1N1 virus has made an appearance in Mumbai. A six-year-boy from Mulund tested positive for the virus that claimed several lives during and after the 2009 pandemic, and still continues to haunt neighbouring Pune. The virus had remained 'underground' for the better part of 2011, but suddenly struck Pune in March this year killing five and affecting 95 people in...
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Railway minister Mukul Roy announces rollback in railway fare hike
-The Economic Times Newly appointed railway minister Mukul Roy announced a rollback in some of the rail fares that were announced last week in the Rail Budget. Mukul Roy told Parliament that fares for first and second class passengers in air-conditioned carriages would still go up, but there would be no increase for other classes of travel more commonly used by the poor. "The proposal to increase (fares) will impact the...
More »Pranab banks on indirect tax hike-Ashok Dasgupta
Token relief to individual taxpayers will cost the exchequer Rs. 4,500 crore In a “pragmatic and domestic growth-oriented” budgetary exercise aimed at shoring up investor confidence and investment, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday sought to tap indirect taxes, especially service tax, to rake in an additional Rs. 45,940 crore into his kitty. Presenting the budget for 2012-13 in Parliament, Mr. Mukherjee provided a token relief to individual taxpayers that will cost...
More »TRAI gets govt approval to act as civil court by Joji Thomas Philip
The apex decision-making body of the communications ministry has cleared the proposal to grant more powers to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and enable the watchdog to act like a civil court. This puts TRAI on par with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Competition Commission of India and permits the telecom regulator to 'summon persons, examine them on oath, demand documents and evidence on affidavits...
More »The Dangerous Myths of Fukushima-Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman
The myth that Fukushima radiation levels were too low to harm humans persists, a year after the meltdown. A March 2, 2012 New York Times article quoted Vanderbilt University professor John Boice: “there’s no opportunity for conducting epidemiological studies that have any chance for success – the doses are just too low.” Wolfgang Weiss of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation also recently said doses observed...
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