Fukushima has become part of the local lexicon at Jaitapur. As news of the apocalypse-like situation in Japan reaches the far corners of villages in and around the area, residents have increased their agitation against the proposed 9,900 mw nuclear power plant. Jaitapur area falls in the seismic zone 3 category, and data from the Geological Survey of India shows that between 1985 and 2005, there were 92 earthquakes. The biggest earthquake...

With political parties across the spectrum asking the government to conduct a socio-economic Survey of different communities, the government is considering clubbing the below poverty line (BPL) Survey with the caste census. “A recent meeting between the Rural Development Ministry and the Registrar General of India (RGI) explored the possibility of carrying out the BPL Survey along with the caste census as an alternative to the community wise socio-economic Survey,” a...

Heavy damages estimated for in cotton, chana, castor crop. Unseasonal rains in the state of Gujarat during September - November, 2010 has cost the state agriculture sector Rs 3,312 crore with key cash crops including groundnut, cotton, castor seed and pulses taking a major blow among other agriculture commodities. The state minister for agriculture, Dilip Sanghani on Thursday informed that as of December 31, 2010 the total damage to the state agriculture...

A recent Survey by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has revealed that 18% of the water supplied by Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is unfit for drinking. Every fifth person in the city is consuming contaminated water, the report indicates. The civic agency tested 616 samples from different parts of the city, of which 111 were found unfit for drinking. The worst affected areas were the south and Karol Bagh zones. In...

There’s no evidence that India’s growing prosperity has led to less malnutrition among Indian children, according to a new study by scientists from Harvard and the University of Michigan. One plausible explanation, the authors wrote, is that India’s rapid economic growth “may have benefited only the privileged sections of society.” Technology jobs have driven the boom, but 75 percent of the population is supported by farming or manufacturing, noted S. V. Subramanian,...