-PTI   The Supreme Court today asked an expert panel appointed by it to explore the possibility of exporting the unused stock of Endosulfan manufactured here to other countries. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said the panel would also consider how much of the Endosulfan stock can be exported against the orders for supply of the pesticide from other countries. It also said the committee will also look into the...

The past couple of months have seen a renewed attack on the National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC has been decried as an unConstitutional, undemocratic, “super-cabinet” where unaccountable “jholawalas” hatch harebrained schemes guaranteed to run the government aground. Another line of criticism has focused on the process of the formation of the NAC, its space within the Indian Constitution, and its capacity to influence policy. The two criticisms merge with...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Right to Education Act, 2009, which guarantees free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till completion of elementary education for all children between 6 and 14 years of age in the country. A three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar reserved verdict at the conclusion of...

-The Hindu   The Coalition for GM-Free India has expressed concern over the way field trials for genetically modified crops and seed production were being allowed in the State. At a national meet here, the Coalition wanted the government to disallow these trials as was done by States like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh. Cautioning against any move to revoke the requirement of State's no objection certificate (NOC) for any...

Tribal affairs minister K.C. Deo feels the draft land acquisition bill does not adequately protect the Scheduled Tribes’ rights in case they have to be displaced to a non-scheduled area. Deo told The Telegraph he would write to rural development minister Jairam Ramesh about this. “Tribal people enjoy Constitutional protection in the scheduled areas. If they are displaced for a certain project and resettled outside the scheduled area, the question is whether...