-The Hindu   It is not a car factory where you can switch off the systems: NPCIL chairman The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) ran the risk of being seriously damaged with blockades creating a major impediment in ensuring that the plant systems functioned at a minimal level, scientists warned on Friday. “In a recent road blockade, work on the plant was halted. It is not a plant which can be just switched on...

The pointlessness of the debate over Indian measures of poverty becomes clear when we look at the country’s human development record. If per capita real incomes have risen so well during the last two decades since reforms were introduced, surely that should mean better lives for most Indians. Forget about catching up with China, there is increasing evidence of India falling behind Bangladesh in terms of key human development indicators...

With institutional healthcare being prohibitively expensive, more women in rural India are choosing to deliver at home than in hospitals and healthcare facilities, says a new report brought out by Chittorgarh-based NGO, Prayas, in partnership with Oxfam India. The 'Study of the trends in out-of-pocket payments in healthcare during National Rural Health Mission period (2005-2010)', released on October 12 in the national capital, was conducted across five Indian states - Assam,...

It was once a sleepy hamlet with rolling stretches of barren land, little agricultural activity and hardly any economy to boast of. But the nuclear power project transformed Kudankulam drastically. There was a minor real estate boom, income levels rose and lifestyles changed. Today, in the place of a small vegetable shop is a market place selling a wide variety of vegetables. All that is set to be reversed.  The anti-nuclear...

Nearly one-fifth of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the country -- including police chiefs of Delhi, Bihar, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh - have not declared their annual immovable property returns (IPR) for 2010 despite three deadlines given to them by the home ministry. Their action will now put them in the negative list of vigilance clearance for future postings. After the latest deadline of October 10 went by, the ministry...