-TheWire.in The MOEFCC's recent decision to exclude new-gen GM plants from the ambit of existing biosafety rules endangers our food system, food exports, farmers' rights over their crops and the country's biological heritage for the sake of corporate profits. Christmas came early for Big Biotech companies and their allied seeds multipliers as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) has recently, through an office memorandum, excluded the new generation genetically...

-Newsclick.in The new policy is skewed in favour of the mining industry as mineral-rich areas are populated by the most disadvantaged communities. New Delhi: In a move that could help enrich corporate entities at the cost of some of the most disadvantaged communities of the country, the Narendra Modi government has introduced a policy whereby public hearings will no longer be conducted for certain mining activities. According to a circular issued by the...

-IndianSpend.com Recent changes to environment clearance rules allow polluting industries to expand their operations and change their product mix without full central scrutiny. This may weaken the already poor compliance with environmental regulations and could even lead to industrial accidents like the 2020 Visakhapatnam gas leak, experts say. New Delhi: Recent changes in the environment clearance process for India's most polluting industries will allow them to expand their capacity and change their...

-The Hindu Environment Appraisal Committee which flagged concerns over project has now ‘recommended’ it ‘for grant of terms of reference’ for EIA studies The Environment Appraisal Committee (EAC) - Infrastructure I of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) has flagged serious concerns about NITI Aayog’s ambitious project for Great Nicobar Island (‘NITI Aayog vision for Great Nicobar ignores tribal, ecological concerns’, The Hindu, March 21, 2021). The committee has,...

Forest fires are not just confined to countries like the United States of America (California, 2020), Brazil (Amazon forest, 2019-2020) or Australia (2019-20); they happen every year across many states in India too. Media reports suggest that forest fires have taken place in the recent months in Odisha's Simlipal National Park, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, among other states. Forest fires have also been reported this year in Nagaland-Manipur border (Dzukou...