-The Economic Times BHUBANESWAR: The Cabinet will soon consider amendments to the mining and minerals development and regulation (MMDR) Act, which will extend the reforms under way in the coal sector to minerals such as iron ore and bauxite, according to industry sources familiar with proposed changes in the 57-yearold law. The changes in the MMDR Act, which would stipulate that minerals other than coal, henceforth will also be allocated though...
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Boiling over -Madhuparna Das
-The Indian Express The lynching of a tea estate owner in Jalpaiguri last month has stirred up trouble in the already edgy tea gardens of north Bengal, where lockouts, labour unrest and poverty form a volatile mix. It's all quiet at Labour Lines, the workers' quarters of Sonali Tea Estate in Jalpaiguri. It has just been two days since Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, the 45-year-old owner of the tea gardens, was lynched by a...
More »Women on the Edge of Land and Life -Manipadma Jena
-IPS News SUNDARBANS: November is the cruelest month for landless families in the Indian Sundarbans, the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world lying primarily in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. There is little agricultural wage-work to be found, and the village moneylender's loan remains unpaid, its interest mounting. The paddy harvest is a month away, pushing rice prices to an annual high. For those like Namita Bera,...
More »Maharashtra government dismisses 166 ‘corrupt’ agricultural market committees -Aparna Pallavi
-Down to Earth Agricultural markets have turned into centres of political power, say farmers' organisations The new BJP government in Maharashtra has dismissed 166 agricultural produce market committees (APMCs), including the apex Navi Mumbai APMC, following thousands of complaints of irregularities and misconduct received against them. An order to this effect was issued on Monday, November 10, to the director of agricultural marketing in the state. Agriculture Secretary Sudhir Goyal informed that the...
More »Govt to bring in ordinance for auction of coal blocks to private firms
-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...
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