Activists opposed to the Posco project in Orissa have decided not to give "an inch of land" for the mega steel venture, even as the BJD government was gearing to start land acquisition over the next two weeks. Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Chairman Abhaya Sahu said that anti-Posco movement was passing through a very "critical stage" after Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave clearance for the project. "We have been fighting...

Nitish calls for balanced view on proposed plant in Chainpur Agitators allege misinformation on perceived hazardous fallouts of proposed plant “17.8 acres of land acquired to set up the factory is cultivable, fertile” Taking note of the mounting public uproar against the proposed asbestos factory at Bishnupur-Chainpur village in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said “there was no ban on setting up asbestos factories in India.” Mr. Kumar, however, said...

Buoyed by high foodgrains production, the country's farm sector is expected to grow at 5.4 per cent in the current financial year, as against 0.4 per cent a year ago. A likely growth in the "agriculture, Forestry and fishing sector" is due to an estimated higher production of rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane and some horticultural crops, according to Advance Estimate released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). The foodgrains production...

Many Indian laws do not reflect modern and enlightened concepts of justice and require major revision. The recent campaign in support of Dr. Binayak Sen has received much publicity. The mainstream media has enunciated his cause and dissected the evidence, conviction and judgment. Amnesty International argued that the case violated international standards for a fair trial. While Dr. Sen's conviction has received much attention, there is a need to foreground the...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's observation that enforcement of environmental regulatory standards should not lead to a throwback to the days of the licence-permit raj strikes a jarring note in an era of enlightened, science-based conservation. By projecting regulation as a threat to economic development, he has brought needless pressure to bear on the nascent efforts of Minister Jairam Ramesh to bring accountability and transparency to the Ministry of Environment and...