Amendment is aimed at ‘intermediaries,' but it will end up targeting bloggers The draft proposal to amend the Indian IT Act so as to impose restrictions on intermediaries has provoked a huge outcry in the country, especially among its vocal bloggers. While the proposed rules seek to control the ‘intermediaries' such as telecom networks, web-hosting sites and Internet service providers, search engines, online payment, cyber cafes and auction sites, it is the...

To many, ecology clearances coming in quick succession first for the 12-million-tonne steel project, including a captive power complex and a minor port that the South Korean Posco is diligently pursuing for close to six years and then for SAIL’s three mining leases at Chiria in Jharkhand appear as history bending revolutions. This is because the ministry of environment and forests, led by environment zealot Jairam Ramesh was till the...

The Environment Ministry's clearance of projects such as Posco, Jaitapur and Lavasa will cause havoc in our gravely endangered environment. EVEN the worst pessimist could not have imagined that the January 31 order of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) approving the South Korean-origin company Posco's steel project in Orissa would be as bad as it actually is. Construction of the Rs.54,000-crore steel plant, its captive power unit and private...

Many Indian laws do not reflect modern and enlightened concepts of justice and require major revision. The recent campaign in support of Dr. Binayak Sen has received much publicity. The mainstream media has enunciated his cause and dissected the evidence, conviction and judgment. Amnesty International argued that the case violated international standards for a fair trial. While Dr. Sen's conviction has received much attention, there is a need to foreground the...

India's environment ministry has given conditional approval to South Korean company Posco's plan to build a steel plant in the eastern state of Orissa. The ministry has also cleared the plant's captive port and power plant if certain conditions are met. The $12bn plant is India's largest foreign investment project. Last year, a government panel said that environmental clearances for the plant be scrapped. Critics say the project will exhaust iron deposits in...