-IPS News RAYAGADA- The deafening din of the lunch gong is sweet music to the 200-odd tribal girls rushing down the stairway, clutching stainless steel plates and tumblers. Sikhsya Niketan (House of Education) in Chattikona administrative block of Rayagada district is a residential school meant exclusively for girls of the Dongria Kondh tribe in eastern Odisha state. The school is part of the federal government’s intensified efforts to take universal education to...

-Outlook Alleging a Rs four lakh crore scam in iron ore Mining as the state government kept renewal of licenses in abeyance, Union Minister Srikant Jena today demanded exclusive rights to Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) over minerals. "The scam relates to renewal of licenses. Official documents show of the 107 iron ore mines in Odisha, 83 are operating by using 'deemed to' clause of the Mining law," the senior Congress leader told...

-The Hindustan Times Environment ministry will set up an expert committee to find out the Mining companies, including in coal sector, who have failed to start Mining despite getting environment clearances and to strengthen the ministry's monitoring process. The ministry has given environment clearance to 530 million tonnes to coal but operations to mine only 200 million has started. Many companies have failed to start Mining despite getting the clearance years ago. There is...

-PTI The CBI has registered five cases in connection with illegal iron ore export scam worth Rs. 2500 crore and carried out searches at 17 locations, including in the premises of associates of jailed Mining baron G Janardhan Reddy, on Saturday. Acting on the orders of Supreme Court which asked the agency to probe the scam, the agency registered five cases and a preliminary enquiry against firms and exporters allegedly related...

-The Hindu In an atmosphere of mistrust of the government, only an independent safety regulatory mechanism can counter the scaremongering against civilian nuclear power I work at an institution funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (which, however, does no nuclear research: the DAE funds a wide variety of institutions and areas in science). About a year ago, I had an e-mail from a journalist who wondered why scientists (including colleagues at...