Into the void

Uranium reserves almost over, little plutonium and chased away by people from digging new mines -- India's nuclear establishment is under tremendous pressure. By 2020, it has to prepare for the thorium-based third phase of the nuclear programme. If this doesn't begin on time, the programme would turn out to be a colossal waste of national resources since Independence. Thorium, the government says, is a boon.

Infamy and after

japan had woken up to the Minamata disease way back in 1956, signalling the beginning of one of the worst pollution cases to have hit it in the post-World War ii era. In 1995, a 40-year-old saga of bureaucratic evasion, corporate high-handedness and judicial foot-dragging finally reached its culmination.

Displaced by fencing

THE Mizoram and Tripura administrations have served notices to families occupying land along the India-Bangladesh border. The land has to be vacated for fencing the border. Nearly 3,900 families along nine border sub-divisions in Tripura have been left homeless as state government failed to rehabilitate and compensate them. The remaining 500 families of Tripura and 700 families of Mizoram have refused to move out. They are demanding they first be paid compensation.

Endangered in Sariska

THE DEATH of a tiger last month, two and a half years after it was brought to Sariska, proves the National Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan is not safe for the big cat. The death also brought to light little action has been taken on the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force, set up in 2005 to look at tiger conservation in the country. That was the year when Sariska lost all its tigers.

Relief for endosulfan victims

CHIEF minister of Kerala V S Achuthanandan on November 23 announced a relief package for the victims of endosulfan in Kasaragod district.

Will seeds bill make it this time?

IT HAS been drafted several times in the past six years. The Union agriculture ministry is confident the seeds bill will make it through Parliament this winter session. But opposition parties, and some MPs from the ruling Congress Party, are getting ready to corner the ministry over legislation.

Oil’s crude touch in Gujarat

Oil wells fitted with pumping devices are a common sight in Mehsana district, north of Ahmedabad. For the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) the district is the most prized onshore oil asset in India, producing about 40,000 barrels crude oil a day. But for farmers the wells spell ruin.

India signs nuclear convention

India signed the international convention on compensating nuclear accident victims on October 27. The convention, to a large extent, shields suppliers of nuclear energy technology from paying damages.

New insurance lets farmers down

COME winters, farmers in 50 districts of the country will be covered by an experimental crop insurance scheme by the Centre. The new scheme is a modified version of the current programme with new features like providing indemnity and advance relief to farmers. The unit area for the new insurance scheme has been reduced from a district to a panchayat. Farmer unions said the government should have covered individual farmers.

Demand for endosulfan tribunal

A division bench of the Kerala High Court on September 13 admitted a writ petition that sought the constitution of a tribunal to identify endosulfan victims in Kasaragod and paying compensation to them. The writ petition was filed on the same day.