The three members central team, constituted by ministry of forest and environment and ministry of Tribal affairs visited proposed POSCO site villages and held public consultation to enquire about the implementation of ‘ The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers and Forest Rights Act-2006 and Rules 2007’ The central team led by Ashish Kothari, a member of a Pune based NGO Kalparvriksh, Dr Ravi Chellam from wild life conservation society...

Anti-Posco agitators on Sunday burnt copies of the new rehabilitation package issued by the company and accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of backtracking from his "promise" to visit the site for taking stock of the situation. Terming the package as meaningless, leaders of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) and others agitators said the residents of three gram panchayat in Jagatsinghpur district would "never allow" the mega steel plant to come up...

In the wake of runaway inflation and the ensuing food crisis, the prime minister constituted three high-powered committees of chief ministers and central ministers to recommend ways of containing inflation, improving PDS and boosting agricultural production. The Working Group on agricultural production was chaired by Haryana chief minister B S Hooda, with CMs of West Bengal, Punjab and Bihar as members. Tucked away, largely unnoticed by the Indian media, as...

The world’s largest study exploring the link between wealth and happiness has revealed a deficit of trust and social-psychological well-being in India that scientists believe could exacerbate the psychological effects of poverty. India ranks low — 85th among 89 countries — on social-psychological strengths assessed through questions such as whether people feel respected or whether they have close family or friends they can turn to for help. Yet India has relatively...

India’s annual monsoon rains should revive in two days after a 10-day lull, the weather office said on Monday, raising hopes for a pick-up in soybean planting in the world’s biggest edible oils buyer. The June-September rainfall, which irrigates 60% of the country’s farms and drives rural incomes, is vital for the trillion-dollar economy. A healthy rainfall despite the slow progress could help Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tame high double-digit food...