-PTI India is likely to be the second largest consumer of coal, surpassing the United States, in the next five years, says a report. “China and India would lead the growth in coal consumption over the next five years... while India will become the largest seaborne coal importer and second-largest consumer, surpassing the United States,” according to a report by International Energy Agency (IEA). The report further said that coal demand is expected...

-The Hindu ICAR “shielding errant officials” by delaying the report In a damning indictment of the way some Bt cotton varieties were developed and commercialised in the country, a committee headed by Prof. S.K. Sopory, Vice-Chancellor of JNU, found that indigenous Bikaneri Nerma (BN) Bt cotton variety was contaminated by a gene patented by Monsanto. Having found lapses in the “BNLA106 event”, the committee has held as “invalid” the data obtained from bio-safety...

-The Economic Times The environment ministry has simplified the procedures for granting clearances to special economic zones as it seeks to shed the anti-industry image. A recent order issued by the environment ministry states that the environmental clearance process for SEZs will now follow the system laid out for National Industrial and Manufacturing Zones under the National Manufacturing Policy 2011. Under the new system, the central and state governments will delegate power to...

-The Hindu India’s investment in renewable energy was $10.4 billion in 2011 India is among the fastest growing economies in the area of renewable energy. Global players have either set up shop or are poised to enter the renewable energy area, spurred by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in the 11th Plan. The Government is getting ready to launch the second phase of this mission in the Twelfth Plan. According to Ernst...

-Frontline Farmers protest against the Central clearance for coal bed methane exploration in Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, as they fear it will devastate agriculture in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts.  THE woes of the delta farmers of Tamil Nadu are far from over. While the Cauvery tangle continues unresolved, they fear the proposed multi-crore project for commercial exploration and exploitation of coal bed methane (CBM) in the Mannargudi block of Tiruvarur district will prove...