Environment ministry has said that Moratorium on mining in Karnataka will not be lifted until the state government provides a report on the cases booked against violators and the action taken on the adverse Lokayukta report. The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) in its January 18 meeting had allowed JSW Steel Limited, Bangalore to divert 200.73 hectaresof forest land for extraction of iron ore and manganese in Kumaraswamy range, Sandur taluk of...

After wrangling with the coal ministry over green concerns, the environment ministry has cleared eight more CIL projects that have been stalled for about a year. The development comes close on the heels of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh softening his stance on "no go" status for coal blocks falling in environmentally sensitive areas during the meeting of a Group of Ministers (GoM) on Coal last week, where he assured that...

A day before the Group of Ministers meeting on environment clearances, the Environment ministry has expressed willingness to increase the coal mining area to 74 % in 28 blocks, which fall in forests, as against 65% earlier. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh is expected to inform the GoM that he was willing to allow coal mining in 28 coal blocks, which fall in 'No-Go' areas by redefining its boundaries. This means that an...

Has Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who till recently was known for his green ‘overdrive’, toned down? Conditional clearance to several high-profile projects, including Posco and SAIL, is a pointer to how his ministry has softened its stand. Ahead of a meeting of the group of ministers (GoM) tomorrow, on the ‘no-go’ issue related to coal projects, 16 coal projects, that have been stuck for a year now, are set to get...

A leading Indian biochemist has urged the environment and forests ministry to lift the Moratorium on Bt brinjal, the country's first genetically modified (GM) food crop developed using a technology supplied by the US multinational seed giant Monsanto. 'The Moratorium is not affecting the multinational companies but India's own scientists who are ready with more than a dozen GM crops, including (Vitamin-A rich) golden rice,' said Govindarajan Padmanabhan at the Indian...