Two large industrial projects, one poor state, two likely different outcomes — and a long-haired, flamboyant environment minister-turned-crusader starring in both. No, this is not your latest blockbuster but it has the makings of one. As reported Monday, Posco, the South Korean steelmaker, cleared a major regulatory hurdle in its bid for a massive steel project in Orissa. An environment ministry panel gave clearance for an initial steel production capacity of...

After visits to 17 states, a committee set up in April last year to check out the implementation of India’s Forest Rights Act, meant to fix “historical injustice,” wasn’t very happy. The law, which came into full effect two years ago, was intended to assert the rights of forest dwellers more firmly. “The overall finding of the committee is that, with notable exceptions, the implementation of the FRA has been poor,...

Every time Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says no to a project, his critics give him a new label: Green fundamentalist, anti-business, anti-growth, obstructionist, Luddite and Dr. No. The job has rarely attracted so much attention, but Ramesh has turned a sleepy and apathetic ministry into a controversial one in recent months. His pronouncements have stopped projects worth billions of dollars, creating powerful enemies in industry and business. His political colleagues have...

In a bid to win the hearts of forest-based communities, the government will decriminalise the collection of traditional 'livelihood items' from the Forests. The move comes even as a joint committee set up by the environment and tribal affairs ministries found several state governments guilty of using the three-year-old Forest Rights Act to distribute forest land to individuals. The committee, headed by Naresh Saxena, development expert and former secretary to the government...

The implementation of a landmark forest rights Act, which in 2006 overturned several colonial-era laws in India that denied forest dwellers entitlements to land and other resources, has been “terrible”, an official panel has said.   The national committee, established in April last year by the tribal affairs and environment and Forests ministries, visited 17 states in seven months and released its report on Monday. “Our site visits show the implementation has been...