SAKHRI NATE (Ratnagiri district): The narrow roads in this fishing village wind down to a crisp blue creek full of frenetic activity. Across the creek is the location of the proposed Jaitapur project being built by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). There is a primary fishing school run by the government and trainees can be seen in the campus repairing bright red nets. Near the creek, Kamal...

Chakrabarti added that accreditation is required as the number of consultants in the business is increasing rapidly Consultants who carry out studies on the impact of an industrial or infrastructure project on the environment will now need to be registered and accredited with the ministry of environment. The move is aimed at improving the quality and integrity of so-called environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports and the ministry has said that after June,...

SEZ have been hurt by the global downturn and contraction in demand for domestic goods and services The commerce ministry has proposed measures to make it easier for developers to exit special economic zones (SEZs) that have been struggling with a contraction in global demand for goods produced at the tax-free enclaves. Specific provisions for the denotification of SEZs have been been put up for public comments till Thursday, after which they...

Much like the tsunami waves that devastated many coastal areas five years ago, the closing weeks of 2009 saw an ill wind sweeping across many of our democratic institutions, highlighting that beneath the veneer of the nation’s aspirations towards great power status was a crumbling institutional core. To look at the fourth estate first. The preface to the Press Council of India’s “Norms of Journalistic Conduct” has a section that...

Seven months into its second innings in power, UPA-2’s report card on key target schemes is just about average. Initiatives like Rajiv Awas Yojana are yet to be fully formulated while some others like the western dedicated rail corridor are stalled and a few other schemes are suffering from end-user glitches. A year-end review of flagship programmes, now scanned by PMO’s delivery monitoring unit apart from Cabinet Secretariat, has highlighted...