-The Hindu   It has unparalleled safety features, says technical team The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) has come up with unparalleled safety features and it has been constructed in such a way that it shall withstand any sort of natural calamity, be it earthquake or tsunami. Also, the fears of radiation and threat to marine life are only hypothetical since the nuclear power plant at Kalpakkam is good evidence to prove that the...

The use of tracker technology to zero in on the misuse of diagnostic techniques for sex determination has evoked mixed reactions. ONE of the least discussed issues in the context of the data thrown up by Census 2011 is the worrisome decline in the child sex ratio (CSR) and the not-too-perfect implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, or PCPNDT Act. There is reason to...

-The Indian Express   Even as the UPA’s effort to introduce 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail fell on its face, the proposal to allow 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail is through. Just before the finance minister goes to the US to speak to investors, this decision is something of a face saver. The department of industrial policy and promotion formally announced the decision, with the condition that in...

-The Hoot The brutally fatal silencing of three journalists along with the sharp rise in censorship of content in online media and the increasing cases of defamation marked the deterioration of the climate for free speech across India in 2011. Attacks on journalists continued to be high, with 24 recorded instances even as writers, journalists and lawyers bore the brunt of the intolerance of vigilante groups to dissenting opinion. The Free Speech...

-The United Nations   The new head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has begun work, pledging today to increase the agency’s support to poor countries experiencing prolonged food crises. “Ending hunger requires the commitment of everyone: neither FAO nor any other agency or government will win this war alone,” said Director-General José Graziano da Silva at a press conference in Rome, where the agency’s headquarters are located. He stressed...