India's nuclear power growth must come from home-made heavy water reactors rather than foreign reactors using a variety of technologies in order to avoid Fukushima-style meltdowns, according to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, Mr. Ramesh communicated the concerns of his Ministry regarding the safety of nuclear power as well as the public perception of that safety. He argues that Indian regulators have expertise...

In a system where half the litigants must necessarily lose their cases and where most complaints against judges are frivolous, the Bill, if implemented, would mark the beginning of the end of the judiciary. The last two decades have marked the extraordinary rise of India. This has however been tinged with cynicism about our major democratic institutions and a pessimism about their future. The judiciary, which till now has been looked...

The Fukushima disaster has prompted calls to review legislation passed by the Indian parliament in August 2010 that capped compensation payable, in the event of a nuclear accident, at 320 million U.S. dollars. "Fukushima showed what the potential damage from an accident could be," M.V. Ramana, physicist and well-known commentator on nuclear energy safety issues, told IPS. "The economic damages [at Fukushima] must have certainly exceeded the compensation allowed in the nuclear...

Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday appeared before the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha following his letter to the Speaker about Members of Parliament lobbying for projects in which they have interest or which fall outside their constituencies. Mr. Ramesh was summoned by the Committe headed by Manik Rao Gavit, after the Minister's letter to Speaker Meira Kumar was referred to it. Sources privy to the proceedings at the meeting...

The court presses home its power to intervene when 'little Indians lose their small property' to land acquisition by state governments Parliament has not been able to pass an updated land acquisition law for several years, though this is a burning issue and innocent blood has been shed in many states. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court continues to deliver judgments in which disputes arose several decades ago. Two such decisions in recent...