A court in the Indian city of Bhopal has sentenced eight people to two years each in jail over a gas plant leak that killed thousands of people in 1984. The convictions are the first since the disaster at the Union Carbide plant - the world's worst industrial accident. The eight Indians, all former plant employees, were convicted of "death by negligence". One had already died - the others are expected...

The proposed land acquisition Bill should adopt scores of suggestions coming from judges. Few laws have drawn criticism from the Supreme Court with such regular frequency as has the Land Acquisition Act, all the more so in recent times as the weak links in the archaic law have led to continuing legal and political battles and bloodletting. Last month, the Supreme Court identified five areas of conflict arising from the inadequacies of...

Posco, the world's fourth largest steel maker, was in January ranked among a global list of 100 companies that will last for the next 100 years. Interestingly, governance, transparency and capacity to handle environment-related issues are taken into account in selecting these 100 companies "Posco will not only last the next 100 years, but will go beyond, and India will play a big part in our story of survival and growth", CK...

THE MURDER of Right to Information ( RTI) activist Dattatray Patil at Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra has left the community worried, which wants the state government to take some firm action. This is the third such incident in the state where RTI activists were either killed or threatened with dire consequences after their exposes made local politicians uncomfortable. Unidentified assailants threw chilli powder on Patils face before stabbing him to death last week....

Leading a 15 member delegation on Seeds Bill 2004, comprised of MPs, MLAs, former Ministers and farmers leaders from Andhra Pradesh, the State Agriculture Minister, Mr. Raghuveera Reddy met all the important leaders in New Delhi yesterday, starting from the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Agriculture Minister, Mr. Sharad Pawar, Law Minister, Mr. Veerappa Moily, Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, renowned scientist and MP, Dr....