-The Business Standard Providing clean water to Delhi is no rocket science. What is missing is some political will and competent leadership In the early 1950s, the quality of urban water services in Delhi was similar to the best of other major urban centres of Asia. In fact, in 1950, shortly after the second World War, water provisioning in Delhi was better than Tokyo or Osaka. At that time, Tokyo was...

-The Telegraph Jamshedpur: Residents of 23 villages in Seraikela-Kharsawan have alleged that Kandra-based thermal power plant Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Limited (APNRL), which started production over a year ago, is ruining their lives with the toxic fly ash it generates, creating yet another conflict between industry and community. The Adhunik power plant, located at Padamdih village in Kandra along Tata-Kandra road, only 15km from Jamshedpur, commissioned its first two phases of...

-The Indian Express There is still no compelling rationale for the lokpal. It is either too much or too little Even as the Lokpal Bill began its journey through the Rajya Sabha, the two men who had crusaded most ardently for it expressed diametrically opposed views on it. Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader, called it a "jokepal", and said that the final version approved by the cabinet was so feeble that it could...

-The Hindu There has been a systemic breakdown in the justice delivery system The critics of the Aarushi murder case seem unable to see the wood for the trees. The focus of endless debate on the case has been on an inadequate appreciation of evidence and the role of the media in cases of this nature. The main issue appears to have been missed - the fact that the overcooked scrutiny is...

-The Hindu In addition to ailments caused by poverty, salt pan workers across the country suffer from several occupational diseases, including chronic dermatitis, loss of vision and hypothyroidism In Adivasi Colony, a remote hamlet off the road from Vedaranyam to Kodikarai in Tamil Nadu, most of the adults in the 200-odd households work in salt manufacturing. They prepare salt pans manually, irrigate them with saline water which is three times saltier than...