The report on illegal mining in Karnataka, compiled by Lokayukta Santosh Hegde and his team, may spell the end of the first Bharatiya Janata Party government in south India. While the report is voluminous, here are a few details of what the Lokayukta and his team have found while probing the illegal mining scam. In the report the Lokayukta clearly makes charges against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Minister for...
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This land is mined by KumKum Dasgupta
It was the end of a long, tiring and humid day. Sitting near the bamboo gate of his 'precious' betel vineyard, 70-year-old Narayan Mandal said despondently, "I don't want to migrate, once again." Mandal, a resident of Gobindpur village in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district, is one of the many opposing the state government's ambitious $12 billion Posco steel project. For the last six years, three gram panchayats - Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gada...
More »New tribal minister opposes Posco project by Subodh Ghildiyal
Newly-appointed tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo on Thursday gave a boost to anti-mining activism by vetoing thePosco project in Orissa and also said that bauxite mining cannot be allowed just because the mineral deposits are under the houses of poor tribals. Deo, who as Congress MP successfully lobbied against bauxite mining in his constituency in Vishakhapatnam, hailed the decision to stop Vedanta in Niyamgiri hills and even vetoed...
More »Licence to loot by Ravi Sharma
A host of steel-manufacturing units are keen to set up plants in Karnataka, and all want captive mines. SOUTH KOREA'S Posco is not the only steel-maker keen to do business in Karnataka. The State's estimated 9,000 million tonnes of good-quality iron ore reserves, which is the second largest in India, the State government's assurances on a smooth land acquisition process, the availability of water and the promise of speedy regulatory clearances...
More »100% mining royalty for the displaced in the draft Mining Bill, feels Pranab Mukherjee led panel
-The Economic Times A group of ministers formed to approve the draft mining Bill, has agreed to earmark 100% of the royalty paid by major Mineral Mining companies , to compensate people displaced by such projects. The panel, chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee , which met on Thursday , also agreed to earmark 26% of the profit made by coal mining companies, in favour of people directly affected ,...
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