Bidders for upcoming ultra mega power plants in Odisha and Chattisgarh will have to pay a reserve price to the state government for coal mines that come bundled with the project, ending a long established policy regime in which the mines were allotted free. The coal ministry is in the process of finalizing norms for calculating the reserve price for the mines, bidding norms and a model agreement for which it...

-The Times of India A woman tehsildar had a narrow escape from being mowed down by an earth extractor machine in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district on Tuesday when she tried to stop illegal mining. The incident comes barely a month after an IPS Officer Narendra Kumar was crushed to death by the mining mafia in Morena. Acting on a tip-off on largescale illegal mining in the district, the tehsildar, Meena Pal, rushed...

Natives of Niyamgiri feel that the police is acting as an agent of the Vedanta group, playing dirty tricks to help the company go ahead with its plans to mine bauxite from the sacred hills ONE OF the world’s most controversial mines is back in the spotlight after hundreds protested against renewed efforts to mine Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills. Dongria Kondh and Niyamgiri supporters held their own ‘public hearing’ in Odisha...

The Centre for Science and Environment has extended its deadline for media fellowships 2012. If you have interest in environmental issues please go through the enclosed notification from the CSE and apply for the media fellowships. Terms and conditions are given below and can also be found on the CSE website (http://www.cseindia.org/).  For any clarification or more information please email or phone Papia Samajdar, or Souparno Banerjee at souparno@cseindia.org / 9910864339. The...

A panel set up to review norms for no-go areas that will protect certain areas from commercial activity is likely to recommend mining should be disallowed in all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country. Sources in the government told TOI that the committee, headed by the Union environment and forests secretary, is likely to close the debate over no-go areas as it is not inclined to reassess protected areas...