After 10 days of back and forth discussion, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) plans to recommend withdrawal of the clearance granted to the South Korean giant Posco for its Rs.54,000-crore integrated steel plant in Orissa. “It was a conditional clearance that specifically mentioned the need to meet the FRA [Forest Rights Act] requirements,” said an FAC member, who did not wish to be named. “We have agreed that they have not...

Striking workers at Foxconn India in Sriperumbudur near Chennai take on the corporate giant, demanding better wages. WORKERS at Foxconn-India in Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, have been on strike from September 24 demanding better wages. They also want the reinstatement of 24 suspended colleagues and the withdrawal of an eight-day wage cut slapped on some workers. That they have held out for so long is remarkable, not least...

The Karnataka government has made it clear that the ball is in the Centre's court to ensure implementation of Right to Education (RTE). At a conference on RTE organized by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS) on Tuesday, primary and secondary education minister Visweshwara Hegde Kageri said: "Unless the Centre releases its share of funds, it will be difficult to implement RTE." The government has received 1,700...

Even after five-and-half years since its inception, the biggest foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the country, the  POSCO steel project has failed to take off due to widespread opposition from several quarters. Now, the 51,000 crore project has run into more trouble as the environment clearance to the project seems unlikely. But the Orissa government has come to the fore, not just supporting the project but also moving the Supreme Court, filing...

With the aim of bringing transparency in work, Jan Mitra Nyas, a trust constituted by the NGO People’s Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR), organised its social audit at a hotel in Jagatganj area in Varanasi on Wednesday. The trust presented all its balance sheets, account bill vouchers and progress reports, before the people from areas where the trust’s projects are being run, including both representatives of these programmes and...