He lauds them for their success in the fight against Vedanta mining project All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday told the Dongria Kondh tribals living in and around the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa that his work as their “sepoy” in New Delhi had just begun. Mr. Gandhi was speaking at a rally at Jagannathpur in Kalahandi district. He congratulated the tribals on emerging successful in their fight against the proposed...

National Advisory Council member and former bureaucrat N C Saxena headed the four member panel which recommended that Orissa Mining Corporation (the company that was to supply bauxite ore to Vedanta’s Lanjigarh plant) not be permitted to mine on Niyamgiri hill. ET spoke to Mr Saxena a few hours after the environment ministry accepted his committee’s recommendations. Excerpts from the interview: What are the implications of today’s decision? Some sections of corporate India feel that laws such as...

National Advisory Council member and former bureaucrat N C Saxena headed the four member panel which recommended that Orissa Mining Corporation (the company that was to supply bauxite ore to Vedanta’s Lanjigarh plant) not be permitted to mine on Niyamgiri hill. ET spoke to Mr Saxena a few hours after the environment ministry accepted his committee’s recommendations. Excerpts from the interview: What are the implications of today’s decision? Some sections...

The Government has asked the Meena Gupta panel to submit its report on POSCO's steel plant in Orissa by the end of September, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday. He also added that it is unfair to compare Vedanta's Niyamgiri bauxite mining project with POSCO's Rs540bn integrated steel plant. According to the minister, no tribal rights issue is involved in the POSCO project. “The POSCO project involves issues of other forest...

Halted by the government from mining bauxite in Niyamgiri in Orissa for the $1.7 billion aluminium project, Vedanata Resources on Tuesday said it has not violated any law and would look for alternate sources of the mineral. "Vedanta Resources Plc reconfirms that there has been no regulatory violations of any kind at the Lanjigarh Alumina refinery. We are not in possession of Niyamgiri mines and no mining activity will be undertaken...