-The Times of India Parliament's standing committee on Coal and Steel has indicted the government for "totally abusing its powers" in allotting coal mines between 1993 and 2010 through the "most non-transparent procedure" to "few fortunate ones for their own benefit". "The government cannot give largesse on its arbitrary discretion or its sweet will," the committee, under the chairmanship of Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, said in its latest report tabled in...

-The Hindu     The shortened lifespan of the quarry workers of Uttar Pradesh is spent breaking stones and residing among the pollution- laden boulders Mired with sandy roads and rocky terrain, the landscape in south-western Allahabad creates a remarkable mirage under the blue sky. Some of the larger rocks here have sizeable craters formed in them -- a sign of their depletion over time, by an activity that is hazardous yet critical to the...

-The Economic Times Tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deohas reportedly written to the governors of nine states asking them to cancel mining concessions granted in violation of the law. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 mandates the permission of the gram sabha of a tribal community for using their habitat for purposes other than customary use. So, if mining leases have been granted without the permission of gram sabhas on tribal land,...

-Live Mint CERC calls for a variable ‘compensatory tariff' to be offered to Adani Power till fuel situation stabilizes In an unprecedented move, India's apex power sector regulator offered a bailout package to Adani Power Ltd in a late Tuesday order to offset losses on account of the unexpected increase in the prices of imported coal and the unavailability of domestic coal for the company's 4,620 megawatts (MW) thermal power project at...

-Reuters Global drugmakers, battered by recent intellectual property decisions in the country, are girding for a landmark court ruling on Monday with broad consequences for their ability to sell lucrative patented medicines in the country. Supreme Court is due to decide on April 1 whether or not Swiss giant Novartis AG's cancer treatment Glivec deserves a patent in the country. "Big Pharma is nervous because nothing has gone in their favour in the...