India slips 10 spots to 88th on Global Prosperity Ranking Press Trust Of India

India slips 10 spots to 88th on Global Prosperity Ranking

Press Trust Of India

Satyam Case - Cancellation of Bail by Supreme Court

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/oct/26/tech-satyam-sc-cancels-bail-to-raju-in-satyam-case.htm

2G AUCTION - Multiple violations by DoT, says CAG'Mint ePaper

Morning Dispatch: 2G AUCTION - Multiple violations by DoT, says CAG'Mint ePaper

http://epaper.livemint.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=18_10_2010_001_011&typ=0&pub=422

Sunanda Pattnayak - Web site

http://www.in.com/music/search.php?type=album&search_data=Sunanda+Patnaik

Posco hits Green hurdle - Environment panel picks flaws but split on action

Posco hits Green hurdle

- Environment panel picks flaws but split on action

G.S. MUDUR AND ASHUTOSH MISHRA

Oct. 18: Steel giant Posco’s proposal for the largest foreign direct investment in India has failed to pass environment muster with a central panel picking flaws in the process to settle forest rights and approve the shortlisted site in Orissa. Three members of the four-person committee have recommended that the Union forest and environment ministry scrap its approvals while the remaining nominee has suggested that the exercise be carried out afresh. The panel’s recommendations — the final decision rests with the Jairam Ramesh-headed ministry — add a new dimension to the debate on industrialisation and land rights. A mining project by Vedanta in the same state has already been stalled on environment grounds — the issue helping Rahul Gandhi and the Congress showcase their thrust on tribal-friendly policies. The Posco project involves wider issues: Rs 52,000 crore in foreign direct investment that will be seen as a test case for India’s ability to accommodate big-ticket capital from abroad. Unlike the Vedanta project located in a tribal area, the Posco project is scheduled to come up in coastal Orissa where people are perceived to be keen on industrial projects. Korea’s Posco (Pohang Steel Company) plans to build and run the 12-million tonnes-per-annum steel plant at a site about 12km south of Paradeep port. The four-member panel set up by the environment ministry in July this year was tasked with examining whether forest, environment and coastal laws had been followed while giving the approval for the proposed plant. “I’ve got two reports from the panel — both reports raise concerns relating to forest rights, environment and the use of water,” said Ramesh, the environment and forests minister, after meeting the panel members today. The ministry will examine the two reports before taking the final decision. The proposed plant needs about 1,620 hectares, of which 1,253 hectares are forest land that will affect eight villages. The plan for the steel plant has turned a contentious issue with differences of opinion within these villages. The report from anthropologist and tribal affairs expert Urmila Pingle, forest expert Devendra Pandey and civil rights lawyer V. Suresh said the ministry’s forest clearance had “overlooked serious violations” of procedures. The three members have pointed out that the district administration of Jagatsinghpur had not been fair and democratic in implementing the Forest Rights Act in the project-affected villages. They have also identified “serious lapses and illegalities” in the environmental impact assessment procedures. The rapid environmental impact assessment is based on one-season data without taking into account all the components of the project such as water issues and transport facilities, the members said. They also cited “serious lapses” in the public hearing process that left out many communities. Meena Gupta, the fourth member who is a former environment secretary, has also pointed out that the procedure to recognise forest rights “should be redone”. Gupta has recommended a new comprehensive environmental impact assessment to examine both the steel plant and the captive port. “Additional conditions, if required, can be imposed on the project before construction starts,” she wrote. “There is convergence of opinion among panel members on the concerns,” Ramesh said. “They differ on what to do next,” he said. “Gupta has recommended that the existing approvals should continue and Posco should be asked to carry out a comprehensive and integrated environmental impact assessment that has not been done so far. The other members want all existing approvals to be cancelled.” All four members have expressed concern about the huge water requirement for the steel plant, which will be drawn from the Jobra barrage over the Mahanadi river which also provides drinking water to Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and irrigation water to Cuttack, Jagarsinghpur, Khurda and Kendrapada. The assessment process has not addressed the impact of water use on large towns and these districts. An independent environment ministry expert panel had earlier this year indicted the Orissa government for its poor implementation of Vedanta’s alumina project in Orissa’s Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district. But Gupta said there are significant differences between the Posco and Vedanta projects. While Vedanta has nearly completed the construction of its alumina plant, that for Posco’s steel plant is yet to begin as land has not been handed over to the company yet. The Vedanta project is located in the less-developed western Orissa, home to two primitive tribal groups that depend on the forest for their livelihood. But Posco’s plant is in a relatively developed coastal zone of Orissa where there are virtually no tribes, and the 700 families to be displaced belong mainly to agriculture and fishing communities.

Indian-American sworn in as U.S.'s top science official

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article838174.ece

Orissa Gold & Silver Sparkle in Durga - in Cuttack

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/oct/15/orissa-gold-and-silver-sparkle-in-durga-puja.htm

The man behind Aerostat at CWG

http://sports.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/15/slide-show-1-mark-fisher-created-the-aerostat-at-commonwealth-games.htm

CWG - Bharat Bala the Creative Director Games ceremony

http://sports.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/16/slide-show-1-cwg-bharat-bala-creative-director-games-ceremony.htm

Hunger Index 2010 - India 68, Pakistan 52, China 9

http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/11/slide-show-1-hunger-index-india-ranks-below-china-pak.htm

India drops two places in hunger index

INDIA has dropped two places to rank 67th amongst 84 developing nations in the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2010, with alarmingly high levels of hunger, undernourished and stunted children and poorly fed women.RAHUL BEDI in New Delhi

It is home to 42 per cent of the world’s underweight children under the age of five, based on data from 2003-2008 in the report released by the Food Policy Institute in Washington on Monday.

Even Sudan, North Korea and Pakistan ranked higher than India, despite its booming economy and much touted annual growth rate averaging over 8 per cent for several consecutive years.

Food insecurity was so rampant across India even though it was the world’s largest producer of milk and edible oils and the second largest producer of wheat and sugar, that it was clubbed with minor economies like Bangladesh, Timor-Leste and Yemen.

The report also revealed that the increase in hunger in India was in inverse proportion to its economic growth. At the beginning of the liberalisation era in the early 1990s, for instance, when India broke free of its state-dominated economy opting for the free market model, 24 per cent of its population of over one billion people was undernourished.

The situation marginally improved to 22 per cent between 2004 and 2006 but it deteriorated further as the latest figure shows a 43.5 per cent decline between 2003-08.

The analysis also revealed that economic growth in India’s agricultural sector lagged seriously behind that in other sectors, resulting in a negative impact on poverty alleviation and hunger across local rural communities.

In addition, the lower castes and certain ethnic minorities were discriminated against, pushing them further into impoverishment and starvation. Gender discrimination too impacted adversely on the situation.

Officials concede that the fruits of these achievements have remained confined to just a handful with social justice not even a mirage for the vast majority of Indians.

Google Automated Cars

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/09/google-automated-cars/

Rapid action: PMO orders Games probe SANJAY K. JHA AND ARCHIS MOHAN

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101016/jsp/nation/story_13064556.jsp

Rapid action: PMO orders Games probe

SANJAY K. JHA AND ARCHIS MOHAN

Winning Paintings of Vednath Dhal

http://www.elanguages.org/page/92080

Ethics investigation of Kalamadi family - Indian Express

http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/ethic-of-an-investigation-of-suresh-kalmadi-family-cwg-organising-committee-by-indian-express-3379430.html

Ethics investigation of Kalamadi family - Indian Express

http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/ethic-of-an-investigation-of-suresh-kalmadi-family-cwg-organising-committee-by-indian-express-3379430.html

CWG over Let the audit begin

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Commonwealth-Games-over-let-the-audit-begin/articleshow/6749802.cms

The Hindu :Nothing moves without money: Supreme Court

The Hindu : News / National : Nothing moves without money: Supreme Court

The Pioneer :: Home : >> Alumnus accuses NIST promoter of forgery

The Pioneer :: Home; Alumnus accuses NIST promoter of forgery

Substandard is the accepted norm in India : Rediff.com Business

Substandard is the accepted norm in India : Rediff.com Business

Announcement of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Media Player at Nobelprize.org

2. Announcement of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Media Player at Nobelprize.org

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010

1. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010: "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010: Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, Akira Suzuki"

2.

Graphine

Graphine

http://www.blogger.com/blog-this.do?zx=1r7cfqf028mc9

The Telegraph - Railways line up 5 wagon facilities

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Business | Railways line up 5 wagon facilities

Ayodhya Verdict: Musings Of A Now Hardened Agnostic

Ayodhya Verdict: Musings Of A Now Hardened Agnostic

The Telegraph - Flyover project yet to take off

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Orissa | Flyover project yet to take off