-PTI   The first unit of the Kundankulam nuclear power project is expected to start generating electricity in the next 40 days, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said on Monday. He said the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) officials were at the Kudankulam project site and inspecting the plant. "The first reactor of 1000 MW will be operational within 40 days from today," Narayanasamy told reporters here. He said the...

-The Times of India   LOHARDAGA: The Right to Information (RTI) Act has exposed a scam worth over Rs 32 lakh. The report received under RTI has been submitted as supportive evidence in the case that was lodged recently with the Senha police station (Case No. 13/12) under various sections of IPC for cheating the government and the public. The complainant, Ganesh Sahu, a social activist has accused three concerned Engineers in the...

-The Times of India The building of school infrastructure as per norms set by the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, is moving at a rather slow pace in the neighbouring Satara district. This, despite the substantial financial allocations made through the central government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) programme. An independent assessment of 146 schools across Satara district, carried out by the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR), has...

Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources, has been a consistent critic of the idea of interlinking rivers (ILR). In this interview, he shares his concerns about the Supreme Court's judgment directing the government to implement the project, and explains why it is deeply flawed. Excerpts In your article in “The Hindu”, you have claimed that the government's stand on the project is ambiguous. The amicus curiae has,...

Experts agree that the economic and environmental costs of interlinking India's rivers far outweigh its projected benefits. Some people believe it is the one-stop solution to prevent floods and droughts, reduce water scarcity, raise irrigation potential and increase foodgrain production in the country. But others say it is just another grandiose scheme involving huge costs and leading to long-term ecological consequences. The contentious idea of interlinking India's rivers has come...