The Central government suffers an annual loss of Rs1,800 crore on account of thousands of coal mafia, which involve themselves in illegal mining across different states, an official said on Sunday. “Thousands of coal mafia (gangs) active in coal-producing belts, including that of Coal India Ltd (CIL), plunder about six million tonnes of coal annually. Going by current prices in the domestic market, this amounts to Rs 1,800 crore a year,”...

Khap-sanctioned honour killings in north India may have hogged all the headlines but such sordid incidents have been reported from all over the country, a recent study has concluded. While there has been a spate of incidents in western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, incidents have also been reported from other parts of the country. "We have been receiving complaints from states like Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Andhra...

Proposal to set up mega food park in each State Three boards to be set up to promote processing of fisheries, soybean and guar gum Food processing industry accounts for 14 per cent of the total industrial output The Food Processing Ministry will give priority to farmers, self-help groups and women for providing grant-in-aid in setting up food processing enterprises. It has also identified Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir...

THE Indian Bureau of Mines, in its Indian Minerals Yearbook–2005, notes that Chhattisgarh has 28 different types of minerals, with coal and iron ore being the most abundant. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in its comprehensive book Rich Lands, Poor People: Is ‘Sustainable' Mining Possible?, says that around 16 per cent of India's coal reserves, 10 per cent of its iron-ore reserves, 5 per cent of its limestone...

Shortfall in sowing of paddy, pulses and coarse cereals Union Agriculture Ministry officials are keeping their fingers crossed for the southwest monsoon to revive in parts of northern and central India before putting in place a contingency plan for kharif (paddy) sowing. So far there has been a shortfall in sowing of paddy, pulses and coarse cereals compared to last year, which was a drought year, resulting in a kharif output deficit...