26 years after the world's worst industrial disaster that had left over 15,000 people dead, a local court on Monday convicted all the eight accused including former Union Carbide chairman Keshub Mahindra in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari pronounced the verdict in a packed court room convicting 85-year-old Mahindra, and seven others in the case relating to leakage of deadly methyl isocyanate gas in...

The European Union is to radically overhaul its approval system for genetically modified (GM) crops from next month, opening the way to large-scale GM cultivation in Europe, EU sources said on Friday. With most Europeans showing no appetite for GM produce in food, EU politicians have approved just two varieties for growing in 12 years, compared with more than 150 worldwide. Under proposals due to be adopted on 13 July,...

A tussle between the Chhattisgarh government and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over an elephant reserve has reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). And the dispute is emblematic of the way the richly forested state is hurtling to get the developed tag by shaving off its pristine tree cover. Since 2004, the Chhattisgarh government has signed 102 memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with industrial houses for production of steel,...

THE Centre could make changes to the new Nutrient-based Subsidy (NBS) for fertilisers, as part of a concerted move to prune its subsidy bill after global prices of fertiliser nosedived recently. Under the NBS, subsidies for nutrients are currently fixed for a whole year but could now be reviewed every six months to take into account changes, especially price drops, in import prices. The Union Cabinet, while approving the NBS...

The proposed land acquisition Bill should adopt scores of suggestions coming from judges. Few laws have drawn criticism from the Supreme Court with such regular frequency as has the Land Acquisition Act, all the more so in recent times as the weak links in the archaic law have led to continuing legal and political battles and bloodletting. Last month, the Supreme Court identified five areas of conflict arising from the inadequacies of...