Monsoon rains, which have entered the key soybean-growing areas, are likely to be weak in the next three days, weather officials said on Monday. But industry officials said sowing of soybean, the main summer-planted oilseed, would not be hit due to good soil moisture after recent pre-monsoon showers in the region. Weather officials said rains are likely to gather momentum from 25 June. “We expect monsoon flow to strengthen over central India from...

India has the most inefficient bureaucracy in Asia and red-tape is much worse than in China, says a survey. In the ranking of 12 countries, India has been named as having the most inefficient bureaucracy followed by Indonesia and the Philippines, according to the survey of expatriate business executives conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC). Quoting the consultancy, news agency AFP has reported that bureaucratic red-tape is...

Posco, the world's fourth largest steel maker, was in January ranked among a global list of 100 companies that will last for the next 100 years. Interestingly, governance, transparency and capacity to handle environment-related issues are taken into account in selecting these 100 companies "Posco will not only last the next 100 years, but will go beyond, and India will play a big part in our story of survival and growth", CK...

The Jagatsinghpur district administration will start a field-survey for the proposed steel plant of South Korean major Posco from tomorrow. “We have already completed the groundwork. Six teams have been constituted for this and survey will begin at the proposed site from Tuesday,” Jagatsingpur district collector Narayan Chandra Jena said. According to the government order, the district administration would exclude Dhinkia village, the epicentre of the anti-Posco movement, from the survey. Posco requires...

Says India is obliged under international law to protect right to life  Wants impartial inquiry into reports of excessive use of force by police ‘Force must be used in accordance with international standards' Amnesty International (AI) has urged the authorities in Orissa to halt immediately unnecessary and excessive use of force by police and private civil militias on Adivasi (indigenous communities) and peasants protesting against the acquisition of their lands and habitats...