Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra chairperson Avdhash Kaushal lashed out at the government on Wednesday for flawed policies that had retarded the development process in Uttarakhand in the name of environment conservation and made life miserable for both humans and wildlife. “There is an urgent need to change the Forest Conservation Act and Wild Life Protection Act which are colonial in nature and are also creating problems for people of Uttarakhand,”...

Jairam Ramesh's order of May 6 rescinding his earlier stop-work notice with regard to the Maheshwar dam surprises many. ON May 6, Jairam Ramesh, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, made a confession while responding to a questioner at a public meeting. He said he had been under “pressure” to overlook environmental violations while clearing certain projects. “Regularisation of illegality is a peculiar Indian characteristic. First you...

International fund Floodgates that stayed locked during the Left front regime are now opening up for Mamata Benerjee. Latest in the "parivartan" syndrome is the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has given the green signal to go along with one of the state's most ambitious roadway projects - the 271 km express corridor connecting North and South Bengal. It is a Rs2,270 crore project, which World Bank had refused to fund in...

Even as she said that she would welcome the Tatas setting up a unit at Singur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Wednesday that the agreement signed between Tata Motors and the previous government for the Nano project would be put in the public domain within a day or two. Briefing the Press after her second Cabinet meeting since assuming office last weekend, she said: “As a reciprocal gesture, I...

Sticks to his decision to frame two separate laws Linking Bills at this juncture will not be proper, he says Even as the National Advisory Council accepted the suggestion of some of its members for a composite legislation on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement, Union Minister of Rural Development Vilasrao Deshmukh on Wednesday spiked their suggestion and stuck to his decision to frame two separate laws during the monsoon session of...