-The Hindu Chennai: When contacted on the allegations of environmentalists that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, prepared by Engineers India Limited (EIL), withheld “crucial information” on the safety of the AP-1000 reactors that would come up at Mithivirdi, N. Nagaich, Executive Director (Corporate Planning and Corporate Communications), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said four AP-1000 reactors were under construction in China. The construction of each of these reactors...

-The Indian Express Setting up women-only banks overlooks the reasons for their exclusion The women-only bank mentioned in the finance minister's budget speech is like flowers and chocolates — a sweet thought but just as unsubstantial. Financial exclusion of women is a real problem. It deserves far greater effort than sops like a women-only bank. Such a bank also runs counter to the logic of mainstreaming, rather than ghettoising, gender issues. It is...

-PTI Castigates the company for fraudulent practices in winning an aided project in Tamil Nadu The World Bank has barred Larsen & Toubro (L&T) from doing any business with it or the projects funded by it for six months, after finding that a senior executive of the conglomerate has indulged in fraud. The debarment will continue till September 6, making L&T ineligible for being awarded contracts for any World Bank-funded projects, from receiving...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: At least 100 sex workers who died more than two years ago continued to be listed by non-governmental organizations as beneficiaries of Tamil Nadu government's AIDS control programmes. A report compiled by Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (Tansacs) in November 2012 showed that several NGOs working with high-risk populations were fudging documents and names. Many sex workers were on the list for more than 15 years,...

-The Indian Express Pune: Indians are living longer lives than earlier, but illness, disability and relatively early death remain severe healthcare challenges. And India appears to be lagging behind many of its neighbours including China on both life expectancy and death rates, according to the findings of a study that used new online tools announced by the Bill Gates and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. On December 15, The Lancet...