Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has assured a delegation of J&K MPs that the government will oppose a disclaimer clause put up by World Bank in return for a Rs 740 crore loan it has sanctioned for a watershed project in the state. The Bank has asked the state government to give an undertaking that the loan would not be treated as a certificate that the "disputed territory" was an integral...

Noting that the Right to Information (RTI) Act has ushered in the beginning of participatory governance, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said the movement must be strengthened at all levels and the support of the government, civil society and citizens was vital for its success. Delivering the inaugural address at the first “National RTI Awards-2009” organised by Public Cause Research Foundation and NDTV here, Mr. Ansari said: “I must confess...

Environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna on Sunday pitched for framing a sustainable Himalayan development policy to prevent receding of glaciers, a development, he said, is leading to climatic problems and triggering unrest among the people. Mr. Bahuguna, who led a delegation to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and other north-eastern states to create awareness on decreasing water level in rivers, said the Himalayan policy should keep in mind the native...

Monsoon this year has failed most of India, causing drought in even well-irrigated and rainfed areas. Ravleen Kaur reports how our food preferences are making us vulnerable to drought Hari Achal Singh has been a farmer for as long as he can remember. And that’s as long as India has been independent. He recalls his childhood when his family depended on rain for irrigation. “We grew arhar (red gram), bajra...

Hydrodollars-in-spate may choke off the artery to a whole region    On August 11, the theatre of the absurd came to Tezu, headquarters of the Lohit district in Arunachal Pradesh. A public hearing, as required by environment laws, was organised that day to discuss with the locals the impact of the 1,750 MW Lower Demwe dam, being built by Athena Power Pvt Ltd. It was notable for its meaninglessness, since the...