A commission set up to investigate the scourge of rampant illegal mining has slapped a showcause notice on the Jharkhand government seeking an explanation on how four firms were allowed to extract iron ore far in excess of stipulated limits in the Saranda region between 2008 and 2010. In a letter dated April 30, 2012, the commission headed by retired judge M.B. Shah has given the state mines and geology department...

-The Telegraph A survey has identified 1,132 children in the age-group of 6 to 14 from eight districts as victims of seasonal migration who ended up working under woeful conditions in brick kilns outside Jharkhand. The study, conducted by city-based NGO Association for Social and Human Awareness (ASHA) and Tomorrow’s Foundation, Calcutta, covered 50 villages in Gumla, Lohardaga, Latehar, Ranchi, Khunti, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan. A glaring fact that emerged was...

-The Telegraph Reclaimed from Maoists, the natural reserves of Saranda are up against unscrupulous adversaries. At least four mining firms have been extracting iron ore and manganese against their sanctioned capacities in this West Singhbhum region since 2008 right under the nose of the mines department and Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB). The startling fact came to light this January after the two laggard state offices replied to separate RTI petitions filed...

Closed mines and resultant unemployment are still stoking Naxalism in Saranda, a maiden jan adalat (public hearing) held 160km from the steel city insisted today, indicating that more needed to be done to make the much-touted central action plan for the red turf a long-lasting success. More than 1,000 villagers from the Maoist dens of Noamundi, Gua, Kiriburu and Barajamda among others, which fall in the mining belt of Saranda command...

Former chief minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday claimed that all the allegations leveled against him in the Rs 900-crore fodder scam were biased and the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) had acted against him under political pressure to ruin his career.  Lalu was replying to questions of special CBI judge PK Singh in the fodder scam case (RC 20/96) related to fraudulent withdrawal of more than Rs 37...