The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has given environment clearance to the controversial Jaitapur nuclear power project slated to come up in Madban village (Ratnagiri district) along the Konkan coast. This is the second major project, after the Navi Mumbai airport, to be cleared by minister Jairam Ramesh in a week. The 9,900-mw Jaitapur nuclear power plant, the country's largest, will be set up in collaboration with the French...

The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union ministry of environment & forests will submit its report soon to the ministry on the Posco project after scrutinizing the Comprehensive Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by the company. "The EAC would submit its report soon to the MOEF after scrutinizing the Comprehensive EIA submitted by Posco India. The EAC met yesterday for over three hours and there we reiterated our stand on issues...

The Karnataka High Court on Friday upheld the State Government's ban on transport and export of iron ore. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice S. Abdul Nazir passed orders upholding the Government Orders of July 26, 2010, and July 28, 2010, banning transport of iron ore and its export from ten minor ports. Thirty-two companies, including V.S. Lad and Sons, Kumaraswamy Minerals, Sesa Goa and others had challenged...

The government must stop dilly-dallying over the project and apply the law regardless of the fact that it is India's single largest foreign investment proposal. TWO giant metallurgical projects, both in Orissa. Both promoted by big multinational corporations with tremendous influence. Both opposed by environmental and tribal rights activists because they would displace vulnerable people and destroy fragile ecosystems. Both backed strongly by State-level and national lobbies that claim they...

The CAG indicts Uttarakhand for pursuing hydel power projects indiscriminately without concern for the environment. IN a severe indictment of the Uttarakhand government, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said it was pushing the State towards a major environmental catastrophe by following a highly ambitious hydropower policy. In a report titled “Performance Audit of Hydropower Development Through Private Sector Participation”, which was released recently, the CAG substantiates the allegations...