Following allegations of plagiarism, top Indian science academies have come out with a new report on Bt brinjal, reiterating their earlier claim that the genetically modified (GM) crop is safe and fit for commercial release. A coalition of environmental groups had alleged that key parts of an earlier report prepared by the science academies were plagiarized from a pro-GM newsletter of the department of biotechnology, Mint reported on 27 September. Last week,...

If it was the inability to resettle 450 families that sealed the fate for Korean steelmaker Posco in Orissa, the failure to give jobs to another 500 families in and around the Vedanta project in Niyamgiri put paid to the aluminium major’s plans, said National Advisory Committee member NC Saxena, who wrote the report that resulted in cancellation of Vedanta’s project. On being asked about the contradictions between development and growth,...

In a jaw-dropping move, the Uttar Pradesh government has converted 2,367 sq km of the countryside along the Yamuna Expressway, connecting Greater Noida with Agra , into urban land. In a country where policy to create new towns has not ventured beyond the 50 sq km allowed as the maximum area of a Special Economic Zone, this is welcome. But not so, the manner in which the changed land-use is going...

Top ICMR scientists transferred Rs 70- crore tract  of govt land to themselves to build society flats If Mumbai's Adarsh scam saw former service chiefs, politicos and bureaucrats help themselves to flats meant for Kargil heroes and war widows, a multi- crore realty fraud allegedly involving senior scientists has been unearthed in Noida.The CBI has homed in on the retired top brass of the Indian Council of Medical Research ( ICMR)...

Farmers affiliated to the Trinamool Congress whose agricultural land was acquired for a railway project are threatening a major agitation if their family members are not provided with jobs immediately. Their land was acquired for the proposed 20 km Dankuni-Furfura Sharif track in West Bengal and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised a job for every family whose land was taken.Agricultural landowners of Furfura Sharif, a major Muslim pilgrimage site...