The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested former Jharkhand health secretary Siaram Prasad Sinha in a multi-crore rupee scam in the department. “We are going to prosecute him in the case”,CBI SP S K Choudhary told The Indian Express. The CBI Friday also raided the residence of former health minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi at Bhavnatpur in Palamu in connection with the case. Shahi was not home. Sinha and two other senior...

The Right to Information Act (RTI Act), barring certain exceptions, can be used to get information about decisions taken by public authorities, details of public expenditure, status of projects and many other administrative issues. RTI is also used as an effective tool to prevent corruption, and hence, it is essential that citizens use this Act regularly to keep a check on public authorities. In order to get accurate responses, citizens are...

The GM crops debate rages, but pressure is on to end the moratorium Actively On Hold? Well...     * GEAC meets experts in late April, butthrows no LIGht on safety reviews     * Second report by national science academies supports limited release     * GEAC chairman rejects limited release; assures further discussions     * No decision on further tests or studies to justify Bt Brinjal     * Civil society groups meet GEAC in May, seek...

The cheapest car in the world proved the costliest for a 34-year-old Left Front CPI-M government in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, as the communists lost the elections here by a wide margin. The outcome is the result of an anti-left movement that began in 2006 following the controversial takeover of farmland to create a manufacturing plant for Tata Motors’ small family vehicle called the ‘Nano’. A sweep by a regional...

The polluting cement plant will harm the ecosystem: expert body ‘It is considered a valuable common property resource by the locals' In a victory for the farmers of Gujarat's Bhavnagar district, the Environment Ministry has decided that the site of Nirma Industries' proposed cement plant there is a wetland and an environmentally sensitive area. The plant will have to be relocated, the Ministry told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Ministry accepted the...