-Outlook The real story of a ‘decisive' UPA blowing away the eight-year cloud around POSCO's project Bend It Like Moily Seven reasons why UPA's pre-poll green clearance for POSCO is more about spiel than steel POSCO got green clearance after the sudden removal of MoEF Jayanthi Natarajan, who was reluctant to sign on the file. The nod came days before South Korean President Park Geun-hye's visit;...

-The Financial Express Veerappa Moily says environment will be protected but won't be biased against industry. After POSCO and Tawang, environment minister M Veerappa Moily has cleared the state-owned NHPC's 520 MW Teesta-IV hydro-electric project in Sikkim, thus having approved three big projects in three days, which were stuck despite having clearances from all other statutory and related bodies. Veerappa Moily, who approved the Teesta project on January 9, said at the Express...

-The Hindu The decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to revalidate the environmental clearance issued to South Korean steelmaker POSCO for the proposed steel plant in Odisha is based on a piecemeal approach, rather than a comprehensive and cumulative assessment of all parts of the project. It cannot claim to rely on sound judgment. What distinguishes the proposal from the welter of projects before the Ministry is its...

-Outlook Bhubaneswar: Optimistic about progress of POSCO's Rs 52,000 crore steel project, Odisha government today said it would sign a fresh tripartite agreement with the South Korean steel major as the validity of the original MoU lapsed three years ago. "The state government will sign a fresh agreement with POSCO and POSCO-India for setting up the proposed mega steel mill near Paradip," Steel and Mines minister R K Singh said while describing...

-The Hindu     Environment Ministry rejects Vedanta's plan to mine Niyamgiri The Union Environment Ministry has taken a decision in two high profile cases, rejecting the forest clearance for Vedanta's bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri Hills of Odisha, and renewing the stand-alone environmental clearance for POSCO's eight million tonnes per annum steel plant. The rejection of Vedanta's proposal to dig in the Niyamgiri hills came after 12 village councils of Dongriya Kondh tribal groups...