On September 7, a draft of the Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill of 2011was tabled in Parliament which was different from the one published in July for public comments. The changes in the draft now seem to favour agencies acquiring land rather than the land owners. Certain features …
Madhya Pradesh has opted for the technologically most sophisticated—and costliest—method for revamping its public distribution system (PDS). It is one of a handful of states that is trying to ensure that subsidised food reaches the segment it is meant for, the poorest of the population or those below the poverty …
THE World Health Organization has raised alarm over leprosy spreading across India. With the disease infecting about 120,000 people every year, the country is now the biggest contributor to the global leprosy burden, the UN body said in a press release. The Union health ministry had declared the disease, which …
THE three-year-old peaceful protest of Mavla taluka residents against the laying of a water pipeline turned violent on August 9 when three farmers were killed in police firing. Residents of 75 villages of the taluka in Pune are angry over the Maharashtra government’s decision to lay the pipeline from the …
IT HAS been touted as a healthy, natural sweetener but according to the law, stevia cannot be used. In fact, one may face legal action if caught selling stevia in any form, says the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). On July 26, FSSAI issued a notification clarifying …
MONTHS before its expected date of becoming operational, the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district has earned the ire of people living nearby. On August 15, three gram sabhas passed resolutions asking for its closure. About 60,000 people live within 10 km of the 2,000 MW plant, …
PROMOTERS of Lavasa, India’s first planned hill station, have agreed to accept the pre-conditions imposed by the Union environment ministry over which the project’s clearance was stuck. The ministry had reprimanded Lavasa Corporation Limited for violating environmental laws at the project site near Pune in Maharashtra. In a volte-face, the …
THE Jharkhand government has announced it will give 80 per cent of the amount collected from auction of sand mines in the state to block panchayats. This is the first time a state has decided to share business profits with local bodies. Hemant Soren, deputy chief minister and minister in-charge …
FOR the past two years 1,500-odd families in a small town of Tripura have not received a modest drinking water supply. Reason: a dispute over water withdrawal from the Feni river, the international border between India and Bangladesh. Though the Feni passes through Sabroom, the town entirely depends on groundwater. …
THE NEXT time labourers in Chhattisgarh working for projects under the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority, or CAMPA, get paid, their wages will not be deposited in a bank account. They will be paid in cash. This July 26 order of the state forest department violates a Supreme Court …
We were standing at the edge of what looked like a swamp—grass and pools and streams. On one side was heavily barricaded land with high walls, barbed wires and armed security. A board read: East Coast Energy, Kakarapalli. This was where a bloody battle had taken place a few months …
On many occasions monsoons have failed leading to droughts, but IMD did not predict them. Why? Our predictions for rainfall during droughts were wrong only in 2002 and 2004. Between 1988 and 2001, our forecast for normal monsoon was qualitatively correct. It is true that we were not correct on …
Sunita Narain Director General of CSE and editor of Down To Earth, an environmentalist pushing for changes in policies and practices and mindsets A monsoon warning As I write this my city Delhi is drowning. It started raining early this morning and within a few hours the city has come …
Each year, floods, to greater or lesser degree, affect about 7.5 million hectares in India, a little over two per cent of the country's surface area. What's more, over five times this area is considered prone to floods, caused when rivers breach their banks. But this year, and of late, …
There is no sign of floods abating in Odisha. In the space of a fortnight, the number of people affected by the deluge in the Mahanadi river, the state's largest riverine system, increased from one million to 2.2 million on September 13. Two-thirds of the state's 30 districts are affected. …
Even as 96 dams in Gujarat were put on high alert following heavy rainfall on the evening of September 11, many of them were full to their capacities, including the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam in Kevadia. At least 7,000 people were evacuated in August and September from different parts of …
Leaked documents of correspondence between lobby group FICCI and industry have revealed an unsavoury nexus between the two in funding a roundtable on intellectual property (IP) matters for judges in Maharashtra, many of whom were specially invited because they were hearing cases of IP crimes such as piracy. According to …
On September 12, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by PepsiCo India, questioning increased water charges with retrospective effect from 2001. They must now clear Rs 70 lakh as arrears in water bills. A 2009, the Bombay High Court directive had upheld the Maharashtra government'ss decision to charge industries …
The Centre has decided to modify flagship rural development schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to suit the needs of naxal-affected districts. While the schemes will be made more flexible, funds allocated to them will also increase. The decision was taken at a day-long consultation held …
"National Biodiversity Authority has received a complaint from Environment Support Group on alleged violation by Monsanto and their collaborators for accessing and using the local brinjal varieties for development of Bt brinjal." —— Jayanthi Natarajan Union Minister of Environment and Forests Members of Parliament cornered Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan …
