A forest panel examining any potential violation of forest laws for a proposed steel mill by South Korea's POSCO in Orissa has recommended temporary withdrawal of existing permits, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Monday. The long-delayed plant in India's eastern state of Orissa has been stalled by protests and environmental reports spearheaded by Jairam Ramesh, who has scrapped many big-ticket projects including some by London-listed miner Vedanta Resources Plc. POSCO is...
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Govt threatens to scrap 85 ‘ineligible’ telecom licences by Shalini Singh
Under unrelenting pressure to act against corruption, the government on Monday swung into action. It said it would slap show-cause notices on 85 licence holders asking why their licences should not be cancelled for violating eligibility norms. It will also ask the ministry of corporate affairs to check if Swan Telecom acted as a front, as alleged by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The companies facing show-cause include Uninor,...
More »Ashish Bose, Demographer interviewed by Shobhan Saxena
In 1985, Ashish Bose coined the term BIMARU while preparing a report on national population growth rate for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. At the time, he was a professor at Delhi's Institute of Economic Growth. Ever since, BIMARU has been used to describe the four northern states that are seen as symptomatic of what's wrong with India.Shobhan Saxena asks Bose, 80, if Bihar is proof that BIMARU is history. Bihar...
More »Climate change conference begins today in Cancun by Meena Menon
Focus may be on forestry issues and reducing emissions from deforestation This beach resort, swarming with tourists and sports utility vehicles and having opulent hotels and evident unsustainability, may not be the ideal place for a climate change conference but the real issues of climate change are too critical not to be debated anywhere. The United Nations Climate Change Conference that gets under way here on Monday may not result in much...
More »State fails to expedite land titles distribution to tribals by Ashish Tripathi
Considered a potent weapon for combating Naxalism, the distribution of land titles to tribals and forest workers under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, is not moving at a satisfactory pace in UP in comparison to other states. This, despite chief minister Mayawati's repeated orders to expedite the process. The Naxals mislead tribals living in abject poverty. The latter are also exploited by forest officials and police. The FRA recognises...
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