The government has a panoply of legislative measures that can counter Maoists more than strengthening security measures against the ‘criminals’. Principal among these is the provision in paragraph 3 of Part A of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution which vests in the Centre the right to ‘issue directions’ to states with regard to administration in the Maoist-affected tribal areas. Invoking this provision becomes imperative in light of the failure of...

Less than a week after Vedanta University's envIronmental clearance was put on hold, the Centre has suspended the envIronmental clearance issued to another Vedanta group company for an Iron ore mine in North Goa. The Pirna Iron ore mine project, to be established by Sesa Goa at Pirna and Nadora villages, received clearance from the Ministry of EnvIronment and Forests on June 9, 2009. However, following a May 10, 2010 order of...

In India peasantry is under assault. There is a five-pronged attack on this class and the mighty Indian state is sometimes an active and sometimes a passive abettor. The first point of attack is from the corporate sector. The corporate sector is in a land grab mode. Though not justified, one could understand their urge to get land for industry and real estate purposes. Not that they are causing aggressive...

ISRO will launch a dedicated satellite to track such emissions in 2012 “Our expertise on climate change should start influencing global discourse” India has released its first greenhouse gas emissions inventory since 1994 — showing a 30 per cent fall in the emissions intensity of the GDP from that date till 2007 — even as it announced several measures to improve the domestic study of climate change. From ISRO satellites to monitor India's...

Businessmen and society have a strangely contradictory relationship. The economic activity they generate can be an agent of social transformation and progress — a quick look at the changes in Indian society in the last two decades would be one indicator. Yet, businessmen in themselves are rarely conscious promoters of social progress. This is hardly unexpected. Business inherently seeks a stable envIronment in which to flourish, so businessmen tend not to...