To counter the BJP’s attack over the alleged malpractices in the allocation of coal blocks between 2004-09, seven Lok Sabha MPs of the Congress have urged the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to

The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on Thursday recommended de-allocation of two more coal blocks and deduction of bank guarantee (BG) of two more blocks.

Thursday’s action concludes the IMG scrutiny of 29 blocks in the first phase. The blocks deallocated on Thursday are: Bhaskarpara, allotted to Kumarmangalam Birla-promoted Grasim Industries and Mukesh Bhandari-owned Electrotherm, and Dahegaon Markardhokra IV block, given jointly to IST Steel & Power, Gujarat Ambuja Cement and Lafarge India.

Three more coal blocks de-allocated.

Sudhir Kant Sahay is honorary executive director of the company

Even as the Coal Ministry on Monday decided to cancel the allocation of the Gourangdih ABC block in West Bengal, owned by Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel Ltd. and Himachal EMTA, it delayed action against SKS Ispat, linked to Sudhir Kant Sahay, brother of Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, leading to speculation about political pressure on the issue.

Congress MP Vijay Darda, who is under the scanner for his alleged role in coal block allocation scam, wanted to shift the power plant from Maharashtra after his firm got the coal block.

On June 4, 2008, Arvind Jain, chairman of CII Chhattisgarh, wrote a letter to the divisional forest officer, Korba, saying that since coal blocks of a few companies fell in the area of a proposed e

The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has been accused of allocating over 1.86 lakh hectares of forest land for mining without the consent of gram sabhas as has been made mandatory under the Forest Rights Act.

In all, 1,82,389 hectares of forest land was diverted by the environment ministry between January 2008 and August 2011. The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) headed by T. Chatterjee, secretary of MoEF, has recommended diversion of four additional projects located in prime forest land in 2012. This includes 151,762 hectares for the Lara Super Thermal Power Plant in the Raigarh district of Chattisgarh and 766,393 hectares of forest land for the Talaipall Coal Mining Project in the Raigarh and Dharmajaigarh forest divisions of Chattisgarh.

PMO snubs former coal secretary for his bid to ensure transparency in allocation of coal blocks.

With a number states deciding to ban use and sale of gutka, the Union health ministry has urged the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to follow its counterparts in rest of the country in banning sale of such products in the state.

So far, states of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Delhi have implemented the provision as envisaged under Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulation and enforced enforce ban on manufacture, sale and storage of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine in their states. Chandigarh also followed the suit and banned the sale, manufacture and storage of gutka.