Bellary is only the tip of the rotting earthmound. Can a new proposed legislation clear the air? Two years ago, when the ministry of mines decided to use satellite imaging to survey projects, it unearthed several “unusual activities” across the country. “The amount of mining done and material being exported didn’t match in areas where certain companies had been given licences,” recounts a former senior bureaucrat with the mines ministry....

Paradip, Aug. 6: Reports of a tidal surge into the denuded forest pockets in the proposed Posco project area since Thursday night have caused concern among the local residents. However, officials have advised the villagers not to panic. “We have received reports of tidal waves’ ingress in some pockets of denuded forest areas. But there was no threat to the villages,” said Kujang tehsildar Vasudev Pradhan. “The forest used to check the...

In a bid to settle the land acquisition row, Noida Authority on Friday issued a notice to change Land Use in Noida. The Authority has identified two pieces of land which will be allotted to farmers as developed land equalling 5 per cent of the total acquired and a b a d iland. The Authority will first allot land to farmers of those villages where housing projects are currently under way. TOI...

-The Business Standard   The Supreme Court decision banning both mining and movement of ore in Bellary district in Karnataka, following the Lok Ayukta report, is excessive. The blanket ban penalises even those who did nothing wrong. While the outrage over the illegal profiteering of over Rs 12,000 crore by a politician-operator-bureaucrat combine is understandable, applying the brakes on all mining and related activity in the district is an undifferentiated response. The...

The Lokpal Bill is in danger of skidding off the rails. As it is introduced in Parliament, eminent activist Aruna Roy tells Shoma Chaudhury why we should not rush into it. THE LOKPAL BILL is now being debated in Parliament, almost 40 years after the idea was first mooted. Unfortunately, parented on one side by decades of wilful government inertia and, on the other, by the panicked hustle of ‘Team...