Govt.-controlled organisation will continue to accept kendu leaf The Odisha government has handed over trade rights of kendu (tendu) leaf, an important minor forest produce, to residents of six villages in Kalahandi district. “Residents of six villages in the Kegaon range of the Bhawanipatna kendu leaf division are free to …
BHUBANESWAR: Above a third of Odisha’s households have to trudge half a km and more every day to get their quota of drinking water. What is worse, their number has been on the rise, the latest House-listing and Housing Census 2011 has found. Indicating an abysmal state of affairs, the …
The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has found that the Naveen Patnaik government has ‘misused' the Land Acquisition Act for acquiring land for several big industrial projects, including the proposed mega steel plant by South Korean steel major Posco. “Emergency Provisions of Section 17 (4) were misused and applied arbitrarily …
Vedanta Aluminium Ltd has sought a level playing field by seeking a waiver on public hearings on grounds that they were conducted twice — in 2003 and 2009 — to build the refinery and smelter. The union ministry for environment and forest had early last month asked the Anil Agarwal-owned …
Read executive summary of the updated EIA report for expansion of the Vedanta's aluminium refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha. Environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan has ordered that the preliminary nod given by the MoEF to the company be held in abeyance. Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), Lanjigarh is operating 1 MMTPA …
Bhubaneswar: The CBI has placed before the Supreme Court its report on the investigation into alleged corruption in utilisation of Central funds by six districts of Odisha for the rural job guarantee scheme under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. The report in a sealed cover was …
Though the Orissa government is quite prompt in signing a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with different MNCs and corporate houses for execution of different mega projects in the state, somehow due to the cumbersome procedure of the state administration in acquiring the land as well as handling issues …
Birds of Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary were studied from January 2009 to June 2009, based on observational method. A total of 123 birds were recorded representing 49 families of 15 orders.
Mining major Vedanta Aluminum Limited's (VAL) plans of expanding its one million tonnes per annum refinery at Lanjigarh in Odisha has hit an environmental road block. An expert committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest ((MoEF) has asked the company to carry out a fresh environmental impact assessment (EIA) …
New Delhi: Vedanta has suffered another setback in its fight-back to expand the aluminium refinery in Orissa after the Union environment ministry had struck down its environment clearance for violations. The Cuttack bench of the Orissa High Court backed the environment ministry and ordered that Vedanta would have to apply …
Bhawanipatna: The recent causality by Dengue outbreak in Odisha is frowning upon with several deaths being reported from various places of the state. Though not as grim as in the most affected areas like Anugul and Jharsuguda, the situation in Kalahandi–one of the backward areas of the country–does not speak …
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Monday geared up its machinery to tackle drought-like situation in more than 30 blocks in eight districts. Scanty rainfall has affected kharif crop in some pockets of 15 districts in the State while the situation is alarming in the 30 blocks, according to preliminary reports …
With Orissa Mining Corporation Limited (OMCL) claiming that the rejection of forest clearance to its bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri hills is aimed as a rebuff to the Supreme Court’s green signal for the billion-dollar venture, the Ministry of Environment and Forests met the charge head-on. In a detailed affidavit …
BHUBANESWAR: Exhibiting dry paddy saplings in the Assembly, Opposition Congress and BJP members on Thursday demanded declaration of drought in the State without waiting for eye estimation report on kharif crop status. Participating in the adjournment motion on drought situation, Congress member from Kantabanji Santosh Singh Saluja showed a bundle …
IN A setback to Vedanta Alumina Ltd, the Orissa High Court on July 19 upheld the Centre’s decision to stall expansion of the company’s refinery in Lanjigarh. The court, however, said the company can apply for the environmental clearance for its expansion afresh. The Union environment ministry in October last …
With the Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme (OTELP) entering the second phase, the Government on Thursday decided to take up 530 watershed projects with an investment of Rs 556 crore. While the livelihood support programme was implemented in 30 blocks of seven districts, this has been extended to another …
Bhubaneswar: In a glaring instance of step-motherly attitude, the Centre has ignored the repeated requests made by the Odisha government to release a special package of Rs 4,500 crore for Special Plan for backward Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput (KBK) region. On the other hand, it has granted a package of …
New Delhi:Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) on Monday challenged in the Supreme Court Jairam Ramesh’s last decision as the environment minister to withdraw clearance to Vedanta’s alumina project and bauxite mining in Niaymgiri hills in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts. A bench of by Justice R V Raveendran sought the Centre’s …
Controversy over the issue of environmental clearance to Vedanta for bauxite mining in Niyamgari hills in Odisha has deepened further. Maintaining its stand on the rejection of Environmental clearance to the company the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has filed an affidavit before the National Green Tribunal on Thursday. …
CUTTACK: The expansion plan of Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL) for its refinery and captive power plant at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district has hit a major roadblock. The Orissa High Court on Tuesday upheld the Centre
