The tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis in Japan will not slow down India's nuclear power plans. The Government on Tuesday made it clear that there would be no rethink on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who has been criticised by civil society groups, for clearing the proposed 9,900 MW nuclear power project in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats, said his ministry would put in additional safeguards as part...

Out of 400 government offices in the Pune district, till January 2010, not even a single one had a board displaying the names of the Public Information Officer (PIO) or the Appelate Authority. However under the Right to information Act (RTI), 2005, it is mandatory for all offices to display such information prominently. A year later 240 of them have put up the boards with names, addresses and contact numbers of...

For the 6,000 people marching to Mumbai from the forest villages of Jalgaon and Nandurbar demanding their rights over forest land, there is some hope. Maharashtra Minister of State for Tribal Development Rajendra Gavit visited the protesters in Kasara taluka near Nashik on Friday and agreed to concede some of the demands raised by the Adivasis. Mr. Gavit went as a representative of Chief Minsiter Prithviraj Chavan, who on Thursday promised...

Promises action “to allay fears and insecurity Christians are experiencing” Chief Ministers will be asked to deal firmly with anti-Christian violence Promises to act on the Saldanha report on violence against minorities in Karnataka Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured a Christian delegation on Saturday that he was trying to evolve a consensus on granting Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. He also said he would ask Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram...

The policy is to promote specific high-value segments within agriculture, where corporate houses have major profit interests. A COMMON compliment that Pranab Mukherjee's Union Budget for 2011-12 received from the media was its proclaimed “friendliness” to agriculture and rural areas. It was not just the media; members of India Inc. welcomed the Budget as “focussed” on agriculture. However, a close look at the Budget estimates reveals a different picture. Public...