-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Almost two out of every five large projects in the country are held up due to absence of clearance by the ministry of environment and forests, putting pressure on the government to remove green roadblocks. According to ministry-wise data compiled by the government for projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore, nearly 38% are related to MoEF, which many view as the most powerful inspector, followed by...

-The Hindu     This was an eco-sensitive zone, involving massive infrastructure, they say Ahmedabad: Around 50 environmentalists from across the country have written to the Union Environment Ministry that Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, Statue of Unity, envisaging a 182- metre statue of Sardar Patel inside Narmada river, 3.2 km downstream of Sardar Sarovar Dam and Shoolpaneshar Sanctuary, was working without environment approval. This was an eco-sensitive zone, involving massive infrastructure. Work had...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses of the Centre, Atomic Energy Regulatory Body (AERB) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on a petition alleging that the regulatory body gave clearance to Kudankulam nuclear power plant ignoring the court-asserted safety aspects of the plant. A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and A K Sikri issued notices to the respondents on an appeal filed...

-The Hindu Mining companies have received favourable impact assessments even as they do great damage to the environment because regulators are willing to look the other way Last week, world leaders concerned about economic development got together at the International Monetary Fund, and gave a series of most instructive interviews. Our Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said that his problem was the slowing down of India's economic growth and reduction in government revenues....

-Economic and Political Weekly   Much work remains to be done if the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act has to mark a meaningful shift for India's adivasi communities. Chitrangada Choudhury (chitrangada@csds.in) Chitrangada Choudhury (chitrangada@csds.in) is a multimedia journalist and researcher, and currently with the Publics and Policies program at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi. Among the worst excesses committed in India's six decade-old democracy, the forcible displacment...