-The Times of India The Centre on Thursday asserted that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was safe enough to withstand a Fukushima-type disaster but the Supreme Court said it would not hesitate to stop the project irrespective of the amount of money spent on it if the installation was found wanting in safety aspects. During the hearing on a petition filed by G Sundarrajan alleging that 17 safety recommendations by the Centre's...

-PTI Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and six other states having literacy levels less than the national average will get enhanced Central share under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan programme, with the Planning Commission approving a proposal to this effect. These states will be getting funds in the ratio of 75:25 as against the existing ratio of 65:35. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will also be included along with the northeastern states where funding...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Loading of uranium fuel in the first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant started on Wednesday, the Vinayaka Chaturthi day, as the controversial project took a major step towards becoming operational. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had given its final clearance for loading fuel on Tuesday night. "Fuel loading has started and it will take at least 10 days for the process to be completed,"...

-The Hindu The government’s ill-conceived urban development schemes are threatening the future of Delhi The Delhi Urban Arts Commission was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1972 with the sole intention of acting as a supra urban body to guide the future development of Delhi. After 40 years of its existence, chaired by a galaxy of bureaucrats and, more recently, famous architects, it is still difficult to evaluate whether it has...

-Economic and Political Weekly  The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...