Anna Hazare and the civil society won a crucial first battle in the war against corruption. There is a possibility that the Lokpal Bill could be passed by Parliament by August 15. However, that is by no means assured: a number of politicians, a part of section of political establishment and a section of bureaucracy will try to derail the Bill or dilute it so much that it is rendered...

Seeking to widen his government's campaign against Endosulfan, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has written to his counterparts in other states requesting them to bring combined pressure on the Centre to impose a nationwide ban on the pesticide. Ahead of a Kerala 'hartal' on Friday called by ruling CPI(M)-led LDF on the Endosulfan issue, Achuthanandan, in his letter, highlighted the ill-effects due to use of the pesticide over the years...

It was indeed an unusual ''social movement''. A group of ''activists'' who had banded together to draft one version of a bill that would establish a statutory institution to investigate corruption in the political establishment sits in protest demanding the acceptance and passage of its version of the bill. The protest has elements of a social drama inasmuch as it fronts an elderly leader, Anna Hazare, with Gandhian credentials, a...

Bill to create independent nuclear authority soon On a day when the world marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, India reaffirmed its commitment to an ambitious nuclear energy plan by pushing ahead with the first phase of the controversial nuclear power plant project at Jaitapur in Maharashtra with additional safety measures and a “generous new compensation package” to be announced soon. But in a concession to heightened public awareness...

India on Tuesday raised objections relating to the “absence of alternatives” and “procedural violations” to the recommendation for a global ban on endosulfan at the conference of parties to the Stockholm Convention meeting in Geneva. However, C. Jayakumar, observer from Kerala, told TheHindu over telephone from Geneva that there was softening in India's approach compared to its position at previous meetings. Though it had said that the health and Environmental effects...