Investments worth Rs 100 crore in silica sand mining and beneficiation in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh are in jeopardy due to the state government’s insistence on acquiring the mineral-bearing land for developing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), protests the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi). The Institute of Indian Foundrymen wrote to the Union mining ministry early this month, urging its intervention. There is no alternative area nearby for mining...

Farmers in areas surrounding Panvel, where the new airport will come up, are anxious about their future. They are worried if the government will be able to deliver on the promises it will make during the Land Acquisition process. Hence, rather than raise the current issues, they want the government to first fulfil the promises it made to farmers whose land CIDCO acquired in 1970 to develop the Navi Mumbai...

The Navi Mumbai airport has finally got the green signal, with a compromise being worked out after one and a half years of tussling between the Environment Ministry on the one hand, and the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Maharashtra government on the other. The decision was announced jointly on Monday by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, his Civil Aviation counterpart Praful Patel and the new Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. While the...

Given the mind-boggling figures thrown up by the CAG report on the 2G scam, the gains seem rather modest. But in the year gone by, former telecom minister A Raja's finances have shown a healthy growth with regard to both income and investments. His political career may be headed south, but Raja's finances are in the pink of health. Not only has his personal income increased from Rs 11.47 lakh to...

While the Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka is embroiled in a land scam, farmers are up in arms against the acquisition of their lands for industrial use in Mysore district. They have alleged that the government was acquiring 25,000 acres of land. Dismissing their allegation, authorities have come out with a statement saying that they were acquiring 8,520 acres in the district as a mutual consent of farmers. The clarification has come...