-The Hindu The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is set to take place on June 20 at Rio de Janeiro, 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit on Environment & Development. World leaders, experts, and U.N. agencies are expected to take stock and reaffirm global commitment to sustainable development. The summit is taking place against the backdrop of threats of catastrophic climate change, unprecedented environmental degradation and widespread market...

In September 2010, a large public meeting was held in Guwahati to discuss the impact of large hydroelectric projects in the Northeast. In attendance was Jairam Ramesh, then the minister of environment and forests in the government of India. Ramesh heard that the people of Assam were worried that the hundred and more dams being planned in Arunachal Pradesh would reduce water-flows, increase the chance of floods, and deplete fish...

-The Telegraph In the time of a harsh summer, the Union power ministry is set to turn up the heat some more on the Jharkhand government for its inability to sort out land acquisition issues for a power plant in Hazaribagh that holds the promise of easing the state’s power woes in the near future. Awarded to Reliance Power in 2009, the 3.960MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) will be the...

If the environment ministry's draft proposal for 'inviolate forest areas' is accepted, large swathes of healthy forests, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and wildlife corridors, would be out of bounds for all mining activities, and not just coal excavation. The ministry's draft lists criteria for identifying forest patches where mining should be banned following the GoM on coal's decision to junk the no-go policy of the environment ministry. The...

-The Hindu Says it is well protected from tsunami or other natural disasters The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is well protected from tsunami or other natural disasters, the Centre submitted before the Madras High Court on Tuesday. It made the submission while the First Bench of Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam was hearing a batch of petitions seeking various reliefs, including a direction to the Union government and others to...