-The Times of India   The farmers from Bichwa and Tekadi in the district have thwarted an attempt to sell Mining leases which have already been suspended by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). The state government had granted lease for manganese and dolomite mining over 17.25 hectares in Bichwa and 11.5 hectares in Tekadi to one AD Kuhite of Nagpur on March 22, 1996. The 20-year lease period expires on August 10, 2016. However,...

-The Times of India   UP Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra has recommended registration of a case and a CBI and Enforcement Directorate probe against former state minister Babu Singh Kushwaha under the Prevention of Corruption and Money Laundering Act.  The Lokayukta has found him prima facie guilty of large-scale anomalies in allotment of mines and other financial irregularities and forwarded a report to chief minister Mayawati for necessary action.  "There were three specific...

The Supreme Court-appointed committee investigating illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka is tying up loose ends in Bellary district and will be submitting its final report early next month. The court's forest bench is to hear the case again on February 3.  The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), whose investigations prompted the Supreme Court to suspend mining in iron ore-rich areas of the state, affecting nearly a fourth of the country's production,...

-The Times of India   The Karnataka high court on Friday allowed investigation against external affairs minister SM Krishna and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy responding to a private complaint about illegal mining. Partly allowing their petitions seeking the quashing of the complaint, Justice N Ananda ordered the continuation of Lokayukta investigations in respect of Krishna dereserving forest land for mining and Kumaraswamy favouring a firm. The judge observed: "The dereservation was in contravention of...

The corruption paranoia, blamed for the policy paralysis at the Centre, is threatening to take a toll on Bengal by clouding the timetable of the much-delayed Jindal steel plant at Salboni. Banks and financial institutions are unwilling to give loans to the project because of uncertainties surrounding the mining sector. The Jindal project may require loans totalling Rs 10,000 crore in the first phase to build a 3-million-tonne plant. The proposed Salboni...