Before the environment minister Jairam Ramesh takes a call on Posco by the end of January the ministry is expected to put up the last of the three reviews of the Rs 54,000 crore project for his perusal – on the Coastal Regulation Zone clearance for the steel plant and the planned port. The review of the CRZ clearance for the project may land the Korean giant in trouble with...

It came as a rude shock for parents of economically weaker sections (EWS) whose wards were denied admission under the Right to Education Act, which guarantees 25% reservation in schools at entry level. Most schools don't seem inclined to implement the provisions of the RTE Act as the state government has failed to frame rules in this regard. A few schools are not even accepting the forms under this category,...

Turns down Sonia's proposal for statutory minimum wages The battle for statutory minimum wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) seems to be on a slippery ground with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicating that the government could at best cover inflation-induced erosion of wages. In his December 31, 2010 letter, Dr. Singh has turned down the proposal of National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi to pay MNREGA workers...

After a gap of five months, the West Bengal Information Commission held a meeting on Monday. But even as chief information commissioner (CIC) Sujit Sarkar promised to "streamline" things, the panel's performance since its inception in 2005 has been nothing to write home about. Among those who keenly studied implementation of the Right to Information Act, 2005, in Bengal is Magsaysay awardee Arvind Kejriwal. Findings by Kejriwal's Public Cause Research...

Bauxite Mining of the sacred hill of Adivasis in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi district, Orissa, had been stopped by a decision of the India Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoE&F) on August 24th, 2010. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had constituted an enquiry panel – which in its report recommends that bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills should not be allowed for mining unless the local Adivasi communities give their consent. According to this report,...