Bellary is only the tip of the rotting earthmound. Can a new proposed legislation clear the air? Two years ago, when the ministry of mines decided to use satellite imaging to survey projects, it unearthed several “unusual activities” across the country. “The amount of mining done and material being exported didn’t match in areas where certain companies had been given licences,” recounts a former senior bureaucrat with the mines ministry....

Paradip, Aug. 6: Reports of a tidal surge into the denuded forest pockets in the proposed Posco project area since Thursday night have caused concern among the local residents. However, officials have advised the villagers not to panic. “We have received reports of tidal waves’ ingress in some pockets of denuded forest areas. But there was no threat to the villages,” said Kujang tehsildar Vasudev Pradhan. “The forest used to check the...

The Supreme Court while reserving verdict on Thursday on the validity of the Uniform System of School Education has extended till August 10 the time limit for distribution of textbooks printed under the USSE to enable teachers to commence classes. A three-judge Bench of Justice J.M. Panchal, Justice Deepak Verma and Justice B.S. Chauhan, hearing the State's appeal against the Madras High Court judgment quashing the amendment Act, reserved verdict at...

Nandkumar Naitam is relieved after a month of “torturous” anxiety. “I thought it over again and again,” the 20-year-old tribal youth says. “I thought that if I couldn’t get a rifle, I’d pick up my traditional weapon, the bow-and-arrow.” It was a desperation that Nandu, as he is fondly called, shared with his 5,000-odd fellow special police officers (SPOs), who till a month ago formed the Chhattisgarh government’s frontline against the Maoists...

In what appears to be a setback to the Posco's dream 12-million ton steel project, the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday issued notices to the union ministry for environment and forest (MoEF), Orissa government, Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) and Posco India asking about the circumstances under which environmental clearance was given to the South Korean company's proposal for the largest FDI project and a captive port in Jagatsinghpur...