A transparent assessment of the costs and risks associated with India's ambitious nuclear plans must be made before any ground is broken at Jaitapur or elsewhere. You really have to hand it to the nuclear industry. In any other sphere of the economy, a major industrial disaster is likely to have adverse, long-term financial consequences for the company or companies whose product or activity was involved in the accident, regardless of...

Civil society member on the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Arvind Kejriwal said at a news conference here on Saturday that all the members on the panel were ready for an independent inquiry into allegations against them. Asked whether Mr. Shanti Bhushan had offered to step down from the panel at Saturday's meeting, he said, “Nothing is going to come out from his leaving the panel. We have offered ourselves to any...

A three-day Tarapur-Jaitapur anti-nuclear plant yatra was stopped the moment it began and hundreds of activists were detained at Boisar in this district on Saturday. Activists and supporters, including Justices (retired) B G Kolse-Patil and P.B. Sawant, social activist Vaishali Patil, and Admiral (retd) L Ramdas, were whisked away in police vans from Panchmarg Tarapur, where they had addressed a public meeting in the morning. They were brought to the Boisar...

Government undecided on criteria to identify families below poverty line A survey by the Indian government in 2002 to determine households below poverty line (BPL) left out many poor families. Nearly a decade later, the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) is trying to set the wrong right. But it is unable to decide on the criteria for identifying poor households. As a consequence, the BPL survey that was to...

Scientists have launched a project to develop India’s first personal genetic data cards — credit card-sized plastic-and-magnetic devices that could dramatically expand access to personalised predictive medicine. In its first phase, the project will capture genetic data to predict a person’s likely response to more than 100 drugs to help him avoid taking medicines that may not benefit him or may cause him serious side-effects. Scientists also hope to use genetic data...