There is clearly a direct trade-off between exploitation of natural resources and conservation of environment and human habitat . In the past, due to lower environment consciousness, the trade-off was always decided in favour of exploitation. This is deplorable. Yet, environmental fundamentalism can also exact a high cost that will prevent a number of people to remain without access to basic necessities of life. This apparently intractable trade-off has to be resolved....

ALMOST all the maladies afflicting the Indian mining industry have manifested themselves forcefully in the mineral-rich State of Jharkhand. Indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, large-scale displacement of tribal people, and the rise of a mining lobby with immense political clout are only a few of these. Of course, in the last decade the State has also witnessed the rise of a number of people's resistance movements against displacement and environmental degradation...

Is it possible to operate hundreds of illegal mines in India for years on end without being detected or prosecuted? And can their illegal operations be legitimised in one stroke and turned into "legit" business without anyone being booked for the stealthy extraction of millions of tonnes of precious ore? If the questions pertain to Orissa, the answer to both questions is yes. The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC)...

Take a look at the accompanying map and you can’t but notice the extent of overlap between India’s thickly forested areas, the regions with the bulk of the country’s most important mineral wealth and the territory over which Maoists are dominant. Is this just a coincidence? No, that would stretch credulity. So what connects the Maoist menace with forests and mining? Clearly, forests give a guerilla force its best chance...

The world is consuming too much energy and materials to sustain itself and the global community must summon the political will to tackle a whole raft of challenges, from Mineral Extraction to waste recycling to the more than 200 toxic chemicals entering the blood of foetuses, the head of a United Nations commission warned today. The central question is “how to achieve green and equitable growth and development for a growing...