-The Indian Express Alarmed by ministerial turf wars thwarting his GoM's bid to "expedite" environment clearances and coal supply to eight power projects identified by the Prime Minister's Office, Sharad Pawar is learnt to have sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "intervention" to ensure the GoM's decisions are "implemented in a time-bound manner". Pawar was made chairman of the GoM on environmental and developmental issues relating to coal mining and other development...

-The Hindu The Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) seems to be helping to raze green speed-bumps - ruffling the feathers of environment and tribal activists in the process - with environment clearances having been issued for more than Rs. 45,000 crore worth of projects in its first two months of existence. In the next few months, the CCI expects to spur revisions in clearance provisions for high-rises, SEZs and roads, and form...

-Civil Society Online Accreditation is the act of granting credit or recognition. It is to be preceded with a process where facts, figures and professional ethics are scrutinized so that the desired certification of competency, authority or credibility is presented. Only the best suited with the requisite track record are to find themselves in the approved list. In India, the much talked about and well critiqued initiative wherein consultants undertaking the responsibility...

-The Hindu   The government does it purely on the strength of a certificate issued by the district administration Even as the recent affidavit submitted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) before the Supreme Court in the Vedanta case has caused dismay among tribal communities and activists for the dilution of its stand on diverting forest lands of tribal communities, the Ministry has gone a step further and allowed diversion...

-The Hindu Activists oppose diversion of forest land citing continuing non-compliance of several requisites The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is reconsidering its clearance for the controversial Kalu Dam in Thane district. About 999.328 hectares of forest land in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats region is up for diversion for the drinking water project for Mumbai and Thane. Work on the project had...