-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Vedanta Group's bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa will have to get the gram sabha's clearance on whether it affects the cultural and religious rights of the tribals and forest dwellers living in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. While the gram sabha's nod is compulsory under the Forest Rights Act, the court made it clear that the Act confers...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the omnibus ban on iron ore mines in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of Karnataka and permitted 81 lease owners, who had committed minor violations, to resume mining after compliance of stringent conditions laid down by the courts. Moving forward from its reference to illegal mining activity for decades under active political patronage as "a shocking state of depredation of nature's bounty...

-The Economic Times Vedanta's alumina project in Odisha's Lanjigarh will be stuck for at least five more months, with the Supreme Court today referring the controversial issue of mining the nearby Niyamgiri hills back to the gram sabhas. A bench, comprising justices Aftab Alam, K.S. Radhakrishnan and Ranjan Gogoi, said that the issue of tribal rights, especially their religious rights, had not been determined before grant of permission to mine the hills...

-The Hindu Pressing a button in the EVM will enable the voter know who he is voting for through a printing slip The Election Commission on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it would convene an all-party meeting in May after the Karnataka Assembly polls to decide on changes to be made in the electronic voting machine (EVM) for introducing the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system. Under the system, a voter,...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and environmentalists whether they want tribals to live in “abject poverty for the next 100 years” by insisting a Vedanta bauxite mining project shouldn’t come up in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills. “If the tribals are offered modern benefits, will they not accept? Do you want them to remain like that for 100 years, collecting firewood and tendu leaves,” Justices Aftab Alam, K.S. Radhakrishnan and...