Farmers in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack Vilasrao Deshmukh as Union Heavy Industries Minister, after the Supreme Court ruled he misused his authority to protect a Congress legislator's money-lender father who charge exorbitant interest rates. "Local legislators are getting police protection with the help of top leaders and are exploiting the debt-trapped farmers who are committing suicide," Kishor Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti,...

Twenty-four hours ahead of the hearing in the Bombay High Court, the environment ministry has upheld its order asking Lavasa Corporation Limited to stop all work in its hill township project near Pune. Work at the 25,000-acre planned city was put on hold by a showcause order issued on November 25. The ministry had said that final order on the showcause will be issued by December 31, provided Lavasa “co-operated and...

Deshmukh protected Congress MLA's family member from normal process of law: Bench ‘Cases involving misuse of public office for private gains shake people's confidence'Taking serious view of the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh (currently the Union Industries Minister), interfering in a criminal investigation against a family of a Congress MLA, the Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed an exemplary cost of Rs.10 lakh on the Maharashtra government.A Bench comprising...

Ministry of Environment & Forests has upheld its show cause notice on Lavasa Corporation and asked that there be no construction at the Pune site till end of December.The Ministry of Environment & Forests will give a final view on the controversial hill town project, which has been accused of violating green rules, by then.The interim order says no work on site can continue. The Ministry order has listed at...

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday stayed Environment Ministry's direction to Lavasa Corporation to stop construction. However, Lavasa Corporation voluntarily agreed not to carry out any work till December 14. On November 25, MOEF issued a show-cause notice to Lavasa, demanding an explanation as to why it did not obtain clearances as per rules under Environment Protection Act, amended by notifications in 1994 and 2004. MOEF also asked the corporation,...