Just two and half years ago, Kandhamal was India’s shame as a communal violence triggered by the killing of a Hindu seer left 38 people dead, thousands of houses and hundreds of churches burnt and vandalised and several thousand people scurrying to relief camps for safety. As Christian were slayed and attacked by VHP and RSS goons across the district, it forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call it a...

The environment minister promised much, but his flip-flops of late raise concern Mr Compromised     * Vedanta In ’09, Jairam said no to mining. Now says yes to refinery expansion though water is scarce.     * Polavaram dam Gives forest clearance, then seeks explanation     * Posco Under litigation as the ministry says yes to forest clearance for iron ore/steel plant     * Lavasa township Ministry report says ecologically sensitive Ghats will be affected....

As government, corporates seek to engage with NGOs, they gain new significance Brave NGO World?     * The Planning Commission is courting NGOs for policy inputs, views on how to make plans work     * NGOs and local activism forced govt to stall Vedanta, Posco plans     * NGO opposition to snacks being served in schools changed plans to scrap hot meals     * NGO have made the government rethink the Polavaram dam project    ...

As a part of Statewide visit in crop affected areas, the Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan today reached Daiyarpur village in Vidisha district and comforted crop affected farmers. He informed that the State Government has increased relief amount from Rs 500 crore to Rs 600crore in order to extend maximum financial help to crop affected farmers. No different yardstick will be applied in distribution works. Every affected farmers will...

Deforestation, poachers, illicit liquor-brewers forcing them to migrate Large-scale deforestation and the disturbances caused by poachers and illicit liquor-brewers could be forcing king cobras to migrate from their natural habitat in bamboo-rich dense evergreen forests to villages nearby. A study conducted by the researchers of the Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, and the Reptile Study Group, Thiruvananthapuram, has revealed that the king cobra, the world's longest venomous snake, is under...