-Outlook AP Initiates Economic Empowerment of Women Through Sand Mining Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has launched an initiative of entrusting sand Mining to women self-help groups, which is essentially expected to curb the thriving sand mafia. The move will ensure economic empowerment of women as part of the government's 'Pedarikam pai gelupu' (victory over poverty) drive and make sand available at a reasonable price to customers. The income generated from sand Mining and...

-The Indian Express The central empowered committee of the Supreme Court has asked the Rajasthan government to immediately stop Mining activities allowed around Sariska in "blatant violation" of the court's orders and name the officers responsible so that "appropriate action" can be taken against them. The decision to allow Mining activities within one kilometre of the Sariska tiger reserve and Jamua Ramgarh sanctuary was taken at a meeting chaired by then acting...

-The Hindu Study says 10 per cent of Rajasthan's population migrates seasonally in search of work Jaipur: As many as 5.79 million people in Rajasthan, or 10 per cent of the State's population, migrates seasonally in search of employment, says a new study on migration and labour. Approximately 4.38 million households thus send a person or more to other States in search of work seasonally, it adds. The number of migrants per household...

-The Hindustan Times The government plans to put up coal mines for bidding by private steel, power and cement companies and introduce changes in the law to enable commercial Mining in the future, signalling its intent to fully open the sector to private players. The new auction-based system will replace the earlier controversial policy of allotting coal blocks based on recommendations of a panel of bureaucrats, which the Supreme Court had struck...

-The Hindu In many cases, forest clearance was not obtained, says committee The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has found large-scale illegal Mining of iron and manganese ore in the forest lands of Odisha. In its report submitted to the apex court in a public interest writ petition seeking a ban on illegal Mining in Odisha, the CEC, quoting the figures of the Odisha government, said, "As per the details given by...