India will on Tuesday release its first assessment report on the impact of climate change on four sectors, including agriculture and water, in the country's four climatic hot spots like the Himalayas and the North East. "The first 4x4 assessment report will be released on November 16. Prepared by Indian Network of Climate Change Assessment, it will assess the impact of climate change on four sectors of the economy - agriculture,...

Vedanta, Posco and Sindhudurg. The issue is the same — the need for a well-thought-out policy relating to extractive and resource-based industry. The government’s withdrawal of mining permission to Vedanta on the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa’s backward Kalahandi district; the divided verdict by the Gupta Committee on the Posco iron ore project; and the environment ministry’s concern on 49 mining licences issued by the Maharashtra government for bauxite and iron...

Union minister of environment and forest Jairam Ramesh  has asked Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan to review the 49 mining leases given for excavation of iron ore and bauxite in Sindhudurg region. The move follows a TOI expose on the state government`s decision to approve the leases in the eco-sensitive district of Konkan Maharashtra. Ramesh`s letter to the chief minister, which attached a series of news reports that appeared in TOI...

More than six decades after Independence, the Tamil Nadu government has woken up to the demands of tribals living in Vettukkadu village, surrounded by the Mullaiperiyar river and thick jungles of the Western Ghats, by opening a part-time ration shop in their area. This is the first government project in the village, which is largely inaccessible due to its location between thick forests and the Mullaiperiyar river. No government scheme, including...

At least 14 people died in the last 24 hours in the 12 flood-hit districts of western UP, taking the toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 270. Nearly 5 lakh people across 1,032 villages have been affected, 47 villages have been marooned. On Wednesday, the Army was called out in Shahjahanpur district. Relief Commissioner KK Sinha said: "Ramganga and Garrah are in spate in Shahjahanpur and the Army has been...