Chakrabarti added that accreditation is required as the number of consultants in the business is increasing rapidly Consultants who carry out studies on the impact of an industrial or infrastructure project on the environment will now need to be registered and accredited with the ministry of environment. The move is aimed at improving the quality and integrity of so-called environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports and the ministry has said that after June,...

At a time when there is growing concern about the causes of increasing discontent and alienation among tribals, it is important to recall a very important law for improving the governance of the Scheduled Areas in such a way as to protect the interests of tribals. The reference here is to the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 (briefly called the PESA law). If this Act had been properly...

This small and readable book is a layperson’s introduction to India’s economic catastrophe. Since many people believe in an ongoing economic miracle, such views are often dismissed as doomsday talk. But it is better to be aware of reality than to live in an illusion. The title is apt—Bhaduri offers us an unsettling vision of what awaits us if we continue along the current path. He alerts us to the...

Around a third of India Inc’s investment plans are in states affected by Naxalism. Anyone who’s been reading Mahesh Vyas regularly, including his piece on today’s OpEd page, knows India Inc’s investment juggernaut has rolled on relatively unchecked, despite the global crisis, for the past five years. The investments on hand, the CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) chief’s calculations show, have the potential of increasing India’s GDP by 50 per...

Chhattisgarh announced a proposed investment of more than Rs 1,77,000 crore in the state. Until October 2008, it had signed over a hundred mous with companies like Jindals, Tata Steel and Essar. After a couple of months of this announcement, a bureaucrat heading the state environment regulatory body resigned. “Development is the preferred option, provided the carrying capacity is available. There cannot be a trade-off at the cost of the health...