Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan will convene a conference of officials on November 18 to review relief measures undertaken by the government for victims of Endosulfan in Kasaragod district. The conference will review the effectiveness of assistance provided by government to the victims. Besides welfare pensions for the disabled, the government is providing monthly assistance for bystanders of bed-ridden victims, rice at Rs.2 a kg and medical assistance. The meet may also look...

A senior government official told reporters here on Thursday that Posco might shift to Karnataka, which was making active overtures to the Korean company. This gives a new twist to the ongoing tussle between the Ministry of Environment and Posco. The Ministry had recently asked Posco to stop work in Orissa, where the company has been trying to start operations for many years. Asked about the delays and Posco's predicament, the official said...

Just as the Union Cabinet approved a Bill seeking to protect women from sexual harassment at workplaces, a survey by a non-government organisation has claimed that nearly 88 per cent of the female workforce in Indian Information Technology and business process outsourcing and knowledge process outsourcing (BPO/KPO) companies reported having suffered some form of workplace sexual harassment during the course of their work. Close to 50 per cent women had been...

Few will take very seriously the undertaking given by the government in the Supreme Court that River Ganga will be pure and free of pollution by 2020. Similar commitments were made to the public 25 years ago when, in 1985, the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) to clean this most treasured of the sub-continent’s rivers was launched. Even after spending several thousand crores of rupees on the project, the Ganga is...

In what will be a first for an Indian company, the local unit of beverage giant Coca-Cola has applied to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for permission to use stevia, a natural sweetner, in its products. Coca-Cola, in a joint application with Malaysian company, Pure Circle, which specialises in extraction of natural goodness from plants, has requested for use of stevial glycosides (commonly called stevia) singly or...