The business of settling new-formed land, rehabilitation of environmental refugees and building and maintaining embankments is subject to much political manoeuvring. Anthropologist Amites Mukhopadhyay of Kalyani University, West Bengal, who's researched these machinations extensively, calls it " char politics'.

Oil lease sale blocked: In a preliminary ruling, a US federal court has recently blocked the US administration's plan to allow oil companies, access to the sensitive wetlands near the vast Teshekpuk

No remorse: Counsel for major US chemical companies have demanded the dismissal of a civil lawsuit which claims that nearly four million Vietnamese people suffered dioxin poisoning due to the use of

Asbestos crimes: In an exemplary verdict in the US, seven present and former executives of WR Grace & Company, an asbestos firm, were recently indicted for a 26-year conspiracy. They were charged

common concern: A Montana jury ordered ChevronTexaco Corporation to pay us $40.3 million for environmental damage from a gasoline pipeline leak in 1955.