A senior forest official from the Centre is visiting Jharkhand tomorrow to review a state proposal to declare Dalma forests and its adjoining areas in the Singhbum region an eco-sensitive zone, a move that has been opposed by Tata Steel. In March, the state forest department had drafted an exhaustive plan to create a protective zone around 10km perimeter of the Dalma forests to protect the area that is a natural...

Protest against government attempts to suppress democratic resistance by villagers Police avoid confrontation; no work on construction of boundary wall As Orissa on Wednesday made failed attempts to acquire land for the Posco steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district, five political parties announced that they would begin an indefinite dharna opposing the Naveen Patnaik government's attempts to suppress democratic resistance by villagers who oppose establishment of the project in their locality. The dharna would...

Conditional cash transfers are necessary but not sufficient for improving health. Good government-funded health care is essential, as are schemes which address social determinants of health. The march of capitalism, with its reduced emphasis on public spending, while improving many national economies has also widened the gap between the rich and the poor. For millions of Indians, hunger is routine, malnutrition rife, employment insecure, health care expensive and livelihoods are under...

The Orissa government suspends the land acquisition for the Posco project in the face of stiff opposition from the people. SIX years ago, when the South Korean steel giant Posco arrived in Orissa with the biggest ever foreign direct investment that had come the country's way, it was expected to help rid the economically backward State of its ‘poor' tag and bring prosperity. Posco had won the $12 billion deal at...

Being trained as solar-power engineers enables women from rural India and Africa to introduce electricity in isolated areas Securing the end of her bright yellow and orange sari firmly around her head, Santosh Devi climbs up to the rooftop of her house to clean her solar panels. The shining, mirrored panels, which she installed herself last year, are a striking sight against the simple one-storey homes of her village. No...