A Group of Ministers (GoM) will discuss on Thursday issues pertaining to illegal mining, a ban on iron ore exports, the new mining legislation and setting aside a share in the profits of mining companies for the development of tribal areas. Officials of the Ministry of Mines said Minister B.K. Handique was pushing for the Ministry's proposal to make mining companies in tribal areas shell out a part of their equity,...

tribal affairs minister Kanti Lal Bhuria has written to environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh that the committee the latter set up under National Advisory Council member, N C Saxena, is going beyond its purview to tell how the Forest Rights Act should be implemented. He has demanded that the committee should stick to looking at the role of the forest department in view of the Act. The letter, setting...

In continuance with the government’s effort to empower people of Naxal affected areas, the government is considering significant changes in two Central laws to meet the aspirations of locals. The two laws — Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas  Act, also called PESA, meant for scheduled tribe areas and Forest Rights Act (FRA) covering those living in forests —are said to contradict each other  while identifying rights of the locals. While PESA...

The Jagatsinghpur district administration has refuted the claims of National Forest Rights Act (NFRA) committee on presence of Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) at the Posco project site and also on seeking the consent of gram sabha for diversion of forest land for the project. Contrary to the observations of the committee, the district collector said, there is no proof of any villager cultivating the forest land for the last three...

Objective is to make the public “feel the Government and not to see it” Project cost for Coimbatore is about Rs. 2 crore Coimbatore will soon become an “e-district” with select services of four departments going online initially. Tamil Nadu E-governance Agency Director Santhosh Babu told The Hindu that Coimbatore was one of the six districts that would come under e-governance in the State soon. Revenue, Adi Dravida and tribal Welfare, Backward Classes,...