Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
orissa's rich mineral resources have turned the state into a veritable battleground. On May 11, 2007, three Pohang Steel Company (posco) officials were kidnapped in Govindpur village in Jagatsighpur district. One of the officials was released immediately and two others were released after 10 hours of grilling and after giving …
Gujarat has received encomiums from many quarters for its rapid industrialisation. Industries have mushroomed all over the state, thanks to investment campaigns like
Nandigram in West Bengal continues to witness sporadic outbreaks of violence between anti- and pro-land acquisition forces. On April 29, one person was killed and two others injured in clashes between ruling CPI-M activists and members of the anti-land acquisition Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC). While police say one person …
entry of government officials in Chandan Nagar in Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh has been banned with effect from May 1, 2007. This comes after series of long-standing protests by people against a proposed 1,000-mw thermal power plant in the district. iffco Chhattisgarh Power Limited (icpl) is a joint venture between …
kujang, Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa, April 15, 2007: a contingent of armed policemen at B B High School testifies to mounting tension. The school is the site for a public hearing organised by the Orissa Pollution Control Board. The environmental ramifications of the contentious Posco steel project is up for discussion. …
the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) lifted the freeze on special economic zones (sezs) on April 5, 2007, with some policy dilutions. It fixed the upper limit for sezs at 5,000 hectares. States will decide on the lower limits. The minimum processing area for multi-product and sector-specific sezs will be …
On March 28, 2007, West Bengal's chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced that the state had scrapped the proposal to build a special economic zone in the state's Nandigram block in East Midnapur district and took responsibility for the March 14 police firing (see
On March 8, 2007, tribals lifted a blockade in Orissa's Kalinga Nagar steel complex in Jajpur district. The move came after assurances from the district administration that some demands of the tribals will be met. Tribals had been blocking the highway since January 2, 2006, when 13 protestors were killed …
I wrote last fortnight about how mining in Goa for iron ore was ripping its forests and devastating its people. I wrote of the violence and protests I saw in its villages, where miners were pitted against people angry at the loss of their cultivable lands and their water bodies. …
To reach Hairpur, a remote fishing village along the West Bengal coast, one has to get off the main road and walk 2.5 km over a broad mud dyke. Access to this path is blocked by a log barrier. Outsiders are not welcome. Haripur villagers have been protesting since last …
Moving towards privatisation of mining in India, the Union government granted Essar Steel Limited a prospecting licence in February 2007 to mine iron ore reserves in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. The licence was given after the National Mineral Development Corporation's 30-year lease expired on February 3, 2007, without any excavations having …
On March 14, 2006, about 3,000 police personnel forced their way into West Bengal's Nandigram block, injuring and killing many villagers. Villages in the block, in East Midnapur district, have been resisting the state government's plan to set up a special economic zone (sez) in the area. The official death …
the massacre at Nandigram came as a shock to most. In retrospect, though, it needn't have. cpi(m)'s unrelenting drive to industrialise and urbanise West Bengal has had the makings of a disaster for some time now
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are still seen as tourist havens, even after being ravaged by the tsunami in December 2004. The tourism policy of Andaman and Nicobar Island 2003 listed its objectives as large-scale, resource-intensive tourism, opening more islands for tourism, attracting private investment for high-end eco-tourist resorts and …
West Bengal industrialisation plans on hold as centre reviews SEZs The West Bengal government's industrialisation ambitions received a series of setbacks in the past month with the Union government deciding to put additional special economic zones (SEZs) on hold until a review; Left Front allies rejecting a proposal to relax …
Violators make hay, regulators don't shine Nauxi is a small village, close to the capital city of Panaji. People here are angry. They say the hill adjoining their homes is being flattened. A builder has acquired the land and is constructing holiday homes, whose buyers are rumoured to be the …
A land deal, much whispered about, is allegedly by UK-based Claremont Group. Nobody knows too much about it. But UK papers in February reported: "Birmingham-based Claremont Group has launched a
