‘How can India be a defendant, and not a claimant in the Bhopal case’
Union law minister, Veerappa Moily, on October 27, announced the government will not pursue the ongoing lawsuit in the US for compensating Bhopal …
Affected people can even approach the criminal court
JUSTICE N VENKATACHALA former judge of the Supreme Court, is currently chairperson of the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA). Set …
In search of the missing
In the undivided Koraput district of Orissa, there exist 190 villages that have slowly been pushed off the map of India. Hurled by fast-track …
Beyond Bhopal: incentive for unsafe industries
A judgement by a Bhopal court has brought the worst gas tragedy into spotlight. It has galvanized the media and the government into action. A …
‘Forest department is the encroacher’
When V Kishore Chandra Deo became the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs three months ago, both the ministries were in inertia.…
Treasure in troubled land
International aid has supported the economy of Afghanistan for 12 years. With aid flow gradually declining, the war-torn country will now have to …
Investment terror
Since the 1990s developing nations have been on a treaty spree, signing a vast number of bilateral and regional investment treaties to attract …
Flat in 20 days
Global climatic anomalies allied with local weather conditions produced the most freakish hailstorms in central and north India in February and …
Secretive tribunals, hidden damages
Canadian academic Gus Van Harten is well known for his efforts to reform the global investment treaty regime through his research papers, …
India’s many investment treaties make it vulnerable
Senior international lawyer Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, who heads the investment programme of the International Institute on Sustainable …
Road to disaster
Fertile land is up for grabs in western Uttar Pradesh. Private developers are acquiring it to build apartments, industries, IT institutes, and …
Needs more teeth, say critics
The widely-criticised draft policy on rehabilitation and resettlement has a major loophole -- it does not provide for any legislative backing
Damned forever
Participants at the first international conference of dam-affected people in Brazil vow to intensify their fight against large dams
Compensation be damned
As the Laos government basks in the glory of building a "model" dam, thousands of villagers are unlikely to be compensated
Carry on polluters
Some factories in Delhi are flouting a Supreme Court order to relocate polluting factories. Meanwhile, over 50,000 workers have been rendered …
Government sets limited role for proposed tribunal
The government's decision to set up a tribunal to decide compensation cases is being seen as an attempt to compromise the establishment of …
From riches to rags
The wealthy people of Nauru face a future of poverty because most of their only natural resource, phosphates, has been exploited ruthlessly by …
No headlines, no rehabilitation
Oustees of the Kutku and Auranga dams in Bihar complain media attention is the only way of getting justice from the government, but the media …
Dark arena
The people of Kalahandi may have survived droughts and floods. But they see little hope in their battle against exploitation
Labour pains
Birla Textile Mill in Himachal Pradesh is yet to pay dues to 2,300 workers. The unit was 'shifted' from Delhi for causing pollution
Avoiding harm - how simple a duty is it?
The London High Court judgment on arsenic poisoning cases in Bangladesh explicity clears the way for affected people to claim compensation. …
The problem with Kerala’s compensation rules for human-wildlife conflict
Lack of accessibility and clarity and red tapism are some of the lacunae in the State law
Burn baby burn
The use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war maimed US soldiers as well. A first hand account
Patkar populism lights sparks on Zee TV
Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar fended with dexterity the provocative questions posed to her in Zee TV's Aapki Adalat.