The much-awaited Bill on sexual harassment at workplaces gets the Cabinet nod for presentation in Parliament. ON November 4, the Union Cabinet gave the go-ahead for the enactment of a law on protection of women from sexual harassment at the workplace. Titled Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010, the draft law is basically a new avatar of the ones prepared in 2004. This development has been...

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh will fly out to Cancun tonight, as will his counterparts from their respective countries. The ministers will try to draft a collective action plan to save the world from the debilitating effects of climate change. However, the lack of excitement in the run-up to the meet indicates that a deal is unlikely; quite unlike the expectations preceding 2009’s meeting in Copenhagen organized under the United Nations Framework...

A projected global population of 9 billion concentrated mostly in the developing world and a higher income level alone are enough to put pressure on world’s supply of food grains. But with changes in temperature levels and rainfall pattern beyond an acceptable limit on account of climate change, the pressures on food prices can be expected to enormous. World prices of staple food grains are projected to rise from anywhere...

Rules restrict construction, dumping of untreated waste, industrialisation Harvesting, dredging can be carried out in wetlands with permission from authorities The Union government on Thursday notified rules for conservation and management of wetlands that restrict harmful activities such as construction, dumping of untreated waste, and industrialisation, to prevent damage to these sensitive ecosystems with high biodiversity values. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, are aimed at ensuring better conservation and preventing degradation...

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today said the government should take note of Ratan Tata’s statement that India risked turning into a “banana republic” and cautioned against the excessive use of the CBI. Pawar’s statement came in the middle of a CBI crackdown on an alleged bribes-for-loans scandal involving several top financial officials and real estate players in Maharashtra. Another real estate project, which was once associated with Pawar’s relatives, has been...