Ratnagiri Collector Madhukar Gaikwad has denied permission for the two-day Independent People's Tribunal ‘public hearing' on the Jaitapur nuclear power project proposed to be held on March 6 and 7 at Niveli, one of the affected villages. Deepika D'Souza of the Tribunal said that Mr. Gaikwad, in a letter on Friday, refused permission as per orders from the police. No grounds for disallowing the meeting were given, she said. Ms. D'Souza said...

Right to Information (RTI) activist, Santosh Daundkar, has filed a police complaint saying he was assaulted, allegedly by a builder’s men, at Mumbai Central on Saturday. Daundkar, 38, filed a first information report (FIR) with the Nagpada police on Saturday night claiming that he had been assaulted for trying to expose the builder’s illegal activities. The police have arrested 51-year-old Daniel Abraham in the case and are investigating Daundkar’s allegations. “At around 10.30pm,...

Right to Information (RTI) activist, Santosh Daundkar, has filed a police complaint saying he was assaulted, allegedly by a builder’s men, at Mumbai Central on Saturday. Daundkar, 38, filed a first information report (FIR) with the Nagpada police on Saturday night claiming that he had been assaulted for trying to expose the builder’s illegal activities. The police have arrested 51-year-old Daniel Abraham in the case and are investigating Daundkar’s allegations. “At around 10.30pm,...

More than 2,000 farmers and farm widows on Tuesday participated in a day-long hunger-strike in Vidarbha to demand the sacking of union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, an activist said. In the agitation called by the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), farmers in Pandharkawada village of Yavatmal district, some 150 km south of here, also said that they would go on an indefinite hunger-strike to press for their demand. "The Supreme Court...

Maharashtra government would soon set up special courts in every division for speedy trial of atrocity cases keeping in view the huge pendency, which has jumped to over 5,000 and the low conviction rate. A decision in this regard was taken yesterday by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in the backdrop of Union social justice and empowerment minister Mukul Wasnik's visit to the state last week, to review the implementation of the...