-The Hindu Proposals formulated in response to Shah Commission report The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has prepared its response to the Justice M.B. Shah Commission report on illegal mining in Odisha. But its proposals to address the violations flagged by the Commission will now be put on the back burner as the Cabinet has decided to refer the matter to a Committee of Secretaries. In most of its proposals, accessed by...

-The Hindu     This is because new Environment Minister Moily has decided to invite comments from CMs The new Environment Minister Veerappa Moily's decision to invite comments from six Chief Ministers on the High-Level Working Group on the Western Ghats has put the final notification of the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) covering over 59,940 square km of the hills under indefinite suspension. Before Mr. Moily took over, the Ministry already prepared the draft notification...

-The Business Standard India has emerged as a "voice" in climate change and trade negotiations. The already industrialised countries say that India is obstinate, strident and unnecessarily obstructionist in crucial global debates. The problem is not that India is loud - this it needs to be. The fact is that, while ecological and economic globalisation are interlinked and irrevocable, there is a fundamental weakness in the overall rules that govern these...

-The Hindu If the Adani group is allowed to continue its development projects in Kutch simply by ‘compensating' for their ecological damage, the Centre will set a dangerous precedent that lets money power trump Environmental Regulations The Adani Group may be fined Rs.200 crore for a series of environmental violations committed by their waterfront development, port and power plant projects in the Mundra taluka of Kutch district. The waterfront development project, which...

-The Hindu The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General underscoring the blatant violation of conservation laws and Supreme Court orders in the diversion of forests for destructive non-forestry use confirms what former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said about the system: it's a bit of a joke. The compensatory afforestation mechanism instituted to balance the devastating loss of natural forests has failed abysmally. The CAG's report is proof that India's...