The southern Indian state of Kerala has passed a new law that will allow people to seek compensation from the soft-drink giant Coca-Cola. The company is mired in controversy over its bottling operation in Palakkad district, which campaigners say has caused environmental damage. They say it has also led to a severe water shortage in the area. Coca-Cola's Indian subsidiary - Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) - has rejected the charges. In a statement, it...

The Supreme Court on Thursday observed there was nothing wrong in the government’s attempt to provide 25% in private institutions for the economically weaker section. During the hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the Right to Education (RTE) Act, a bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia verbally told the senior counsel for an institution that such bodies should not have any complaint as such a reservation was an investment...

Terming the food wastage at weddings and social gatherings as “criminal”, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas today said the government could bring a new law in this regard and also launch an awareness campaign to curb this. The minister said although the government has not conducted any study to determine the level of wastage of food at such functions like marriage events, there are reports that wastage is...

The government has taken the first concrete step to start disbursing subsidies for things like kerosene, cooking gas and fertilisers to individuals, families and farmers by direct cash transfer. A task force under the leadership of Nandan Nilekani, who heads the Unique Identification Authority of India, has been given the target of getting a pilot going by the end of the year. The transfer system will piggyback on the solution...

Given the doubts raised by a section of chief ministers, the Centre is planning to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act to curb its misuse. "Our information is that a group of chief ministers has approached the Centre for amending the RTI Act. In several cases, it was used to settle personal scores by rival businessmen, builders and politicians," a senior information commissioner told TOI on Wednesday. The information...