Unfettered coal mining is causing unchecked underground fires that threaten human habitation and the environment, writes geologist Dr Nitish Priyadarshi. The haunting inscription that marks the gates of hell in Dante's Inferno could well be true for Jharkhand. For, the underground fires that have been raging in the coalfields of this state over several years are now beginning to engulf its thickly inhabited areas as well. An underground mine fire that has...

Conflicting recollections on Bhopal tragedy highlight need to make old government papers public I was on the last unaffected train out of Bhopal that night, or so I was told. It was the Dakshni Express from Hyderabad to Delhi. There was nothing unusual at the station and next day in Delhi, I went through an entire working day unaware of that night’s news. It was not the age of 24x7 television...

Central Industrial Security Force jawans today allegedly opened fire on villagers who stoned them when asked not to collect money from IISCO Steel Plant-bound trucks at Burnpur. Ramesh Bauri, 23, took a bullet in his stomach. At the Asansol Subdivisional Hospital, his condition was said to be critical. An officer of the force claimed that the jawans had fired in the air but police said Bauri was injured in the CISF firing. A...

Bombay High Court today noted the rise in murderous attacks on social activists and asked the state police chief to report within a week what the government was doing to protect them. Yesterday, Right to Information (RTI) activist Satish Shetty, 38, was stabbed to death by two attackers close to his home at Talegaon Dabhade near Pune, where he had exposed a series of land scams. Last week, two gunmen had fired...

The following piece was written for the UNIDO’s General Conference that took place in Vienna this month but could not be carried by any of the international papers because of a slight delay, although some feel its contents may not be ideologically palatable to them. Hence it is being carried here for the benefit of our readers. —Editor A highly positive sum game awaits the community of nations if an internationally...