Civil society groups and organisations on Tuesday condemned attempts to malign co-chairman of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee Shanti Bhushan and its member Prashant Bhushan. Expressing “full solidarity,” the organisations said they would oppose all efforts to sideline the central issue of establishing a strong and effective mechanism to tackle endemic corruption in the country. Describing Mr. Shanti Bhushan as “a tireless defender of civil liberties and the rule of law,”...

Prashant Bhushan seeks CBI probe into financial irregularities Scrap power purchase agreement with State government Land acquisition orders served on 46 villages The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to reverse the stop-work order imposed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on the construction of the Maheshwar dam for “non-compliance” of various norms. The dam is being built by S. Kumars group in Madhya Pradesh. Addressing a joint...

Fukushima has become part of the local lexicon at Jaitapur. As news of the apocalypse-like situation in Japan reaches the far corners of villages in and around the area, residents have increased their agitation against the proposed 9,900 mw nuclear power plant. Jaitapur area falls in the seismic zone 3 category, and data from the Geological Survey of India shows that between 1985 and 2005, there were 92 earthquakes. The biggest earthquake...

India’s Supreme Court has questioned clearances to industries on the basis of environment impact assessments (EIAs) carried out by private consultants in the pay of project proponents. A special bench of the court led by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, that is hearing a petition challenging approvals granted to the French company Lafarge to mine limestone, likened the practice to "paying the piper to call the tune." Kapadia’s bench noted that every report...

The Kerala Assembly has passed a landmark law that makes Coca-Cola liable for damages of up to Rs 216 crore for alleged pollution and exploitation of groundwater at its bottling plant in northern Palakkad district. A committee appointed by the state government has quantified the loss caused by the plant to the local community at Rs 216 crore since the soft drinks maker set up the unit in arid Plachimada. The previous...