Naxalism works

Land alienation, poverty amongst scheduled tribes and dalits and lack of access to basic forest resources have contributed to the growth of naxalism, says the Planning Commission. Its report, Development challenges in extremist affected areas, indicts Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh. The report also critiques sezs and the complete failure of instruments like the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Many takers of a park

Kudremukh was notified a national park in 2001. Protests have ensued ever since and the demand for denotification of the park has intensified over the years. The tribals fear they will be forced out of the park and relocated elsewhere. The state's relocation plans, however, haven't taken off yet. But there are Naxals who operate from the interior areas of the park and allegedly incite tribal communities not to give up

EIA for Jindal coal mine in Chhattisgarh ignores threats

Demanding to be heard Following violence and lathicharge, the venue of public hearing was deserted, but the hearing was not cancelled. (Below) People blocked roads in protest after their objections were not heard at the meeting

Ghana's gold enriches MNCs, not its own people

In 1957, Ghana became the first black African nation to gain independence from European rule. As a British colony, the country was known as the Gold Coast, an unambiguous reference to its most valuable resource. In fact, even before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century, Arab and Jewish traders crossed the Sahara from the north to buy gold in exchange for cloth, salt and spices.

Uttaranchal's pastoralists deliberate over saving their depleting pastures

Simar pasture in Dudhatoli forest division, Chamoli district of Uttaranchal, appears sparkling fresh. The memorial to Chandra Singh Garhwali -- who as a soldier in the colonial army refused to fire on Pathan protesters, and was consequently tortured and incarcerated by his British employers -- has got a fresh coat of paint. A red flag flutters atop a post near the memorial reminding onlookers that Dudhatoli's iconic son was also a communist. Small eateries dot the few shaded edges of the pasture.

In favour of health

In June 2000, seven months after non-governmental organisations demanded that the WTO look beyond trade concerns at the doomed Seattle ministerial, a WTO dispute settlement panel (DSP) ruled in favour of public health and against free trade for the first time, in a case involving Canadian asbestos exports. WTO representatives lost no time in announcing that the decision "disproves charges by radical environmental and human rights bodies that the organisation works in favour of big business by giving free trade interests preference over other concerns".

Running on empty

The auto industry focuses on pollution mitigating devices instead of improvising and improving on the basics of the engine. That is the general impression. But, the emission control equipment companies instal, even on the latest models, is not the best available. It barely passes the tests and the scrutiny of the unsuspecting consumer. It couldn't fool the grp rating process though. They looked deeper into the issue and found the industry's reluctance to provide technological advantage prevalent here too.

Driving on contradictions

Fuel quality -- it's the bogey auto sector has raised every time it has been hauled up for spewing tonnes of pollutants. The industry has consistently taken the public stance that poor fuel quality and fuel adulteration in India is the reason behind high emissions from the vehicle and the attendant medical nightmares that strike the society. The auto industry consistently demands low sulphur fuel for the catalytic converter forgetting to mention that fuel alone makes little difference to the engine efficiency.

The Team

T    H    E       T    E    A   M STEERING GROUP To lend credibility to the entire rating process, a Project Advisory Panel

A perfect model

Choosing a set of parameters is an exercise in precision. The collected data when sieved through the parameters should consistently give similar results and be in consonance with evidence available on ground. Keeping this in mind, grp ensured that the rating criteria were as objective as possible. The robustness of the rating criteria was checked against stringent benchmarks.