-The Hindu Proposed NIB would be illegal, she says Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan has expressed “very serious concern” at the setting up of a National Investment Board to fast-track clearances of major infrastructure projects, saying the “concept is unacceptable,” documents exclusively obtained by The Hindu reveal. In a five-page letter sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 9, Ms. Natarajan said the proposal would upturn established procedures...

-The United Nations Almost 870 million people, or one in eight, are suffering from chronic malnutrition, according to a new United Nations report released today, which shows a sharp decline in the number of undernourished people over the past two decades, but warns that immediate action is still needed to tackle hunger particularly in developing countries. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 (SOFI), which was jointly published by the Food and...

-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...

-The Hindu A sea-based agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project passed off peacefully on Monday, with around 700 boats, including 150 mechanised vessels, carrying more than 3,000 fishermen participating in the protest. With black flags fluttering on their boats, protesters raised slogans against the ready-to-be-commissioned nuclear complex and the Central and State governments. “We can never live in peace with this nuclear power project sitting on our doorsteps, threatening to wipe out...

-The Indian Express The long-standing tiff between the National Human Rights Commission and the National Conference-Congress led government in Jammu and Kashmir on the issue of jurisdiction in cases involving alleged human rights violations is yet to be resolved. The latest flashpoint is the high court stay that the government has managed to get on NHRC proceedings in 34 pending cases of alleged human rights violations, most of them against security forces...