After farmers threatened to commit suicide protesting grant of mining leases in Bichwa and Tekadi villages in Saoner tehsil, two mining officials visited Bichwa to take stock of the situation. TOI on February 17 reported how four affected farmers from Bichwa threatened to commit suicide after forcible acquisition of farm land for dolomite and manganese extraction. Conservationists also said mining activity will pose threat to tiger corridor, especially against the backdrop...

While inflation has been hitting people hard across the country, the rate of price rise has been the most in Kerala, Orissa and Meghalaya, as per government data released today.     In all three states, the consumer price index (CPI) overall stood at 108 in January from a base of 100 in 2010, suggesting inflation of 8 per cent. Incidentally, even richer states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi and Punjab reported a...

In a move that could spell the end of Reliance Group's Mumbai Special Economic Zone (MSEZ), the Maharashtra government on Friday issued a notification to denotify the land acquisition process for the project that saw stiff opposition from villagers. State Revenue Minister Balasaheb Bhausaheb Thorat told The Hindu that the remark “land earmarked for acquisition” would be removed from all the land titles for the total SEZ area of 16,900...

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme completes five years this year. A week before the budget, CNBC TV18's Gopika Gopakumar travels to the interiors of Maharashtra to find out how the NREGA scheme is getting implemented. Pandurni village, in Nanded District of Maharashtra, is in high spirits. It has won the award for best performance in implementing the rural employment guarantee scheme for 2009-10. Around 1,500 people from this village are registered...

A day before the Group of Ministers meeting on environment clearances, the Environment ministry has expressed willingness to increase the coal mining area to 74 % in 28 blocks, which fall in forests, as against 65% earlier. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh is expected to inform the GoM that he was willing to allow coal mining in 28 coal blocks, which fall in 'No-Go' areas by redefining its boundaries. This means that an...