Interview with A.R. Ansari, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

New Delhi: Even as the central government is pushing states for mandatory implementation of open access (OA) for bulk power consumers, an analysis by a regulators’ body has revealed that contrary to expectations, the consumers in 12 states have had to pay more for power under the new regime.

OA at various levels is the hallmark of electricity reforms and the regime has been effective in 20 states since January 2009 on an optional basis. Under the OA regime, bulk consumers enter into bilateral deals with discoms and stay outside the ambit of the regulated tariff system.

New Delhi The government is set to consider a proposal for a complete ban on private-public joint ventures (JVs) for developing mineral blocks allocated to state-run corporations and public sector undertakings under a special dispensation. The move would hit the plans of Adani Mining, Moser Baer, Vedanta, Monnet Ispat and the Jaypee Group, among others, in the minerals and metals business.

The fisheries sector in Jharkhand has been witnessing a phenomenal growth after Jharkhand became a separate state bifurcating Bihar in 2000. When in 2001-02, the production of fish in the state had been only 14,000 metric tones. In 2010-11, eighty government fish firms produced 71,886 metric tones.

The fish seed production was increased from 32 crore to 67 crore, along with construction of 116 new fish seed hatcheries in private and government sector. The department of fisheries aims to produce fish of 1,40,000 tones during 12th plan.

Environmentalist Vandana Shiva on Chipko movement

The Naxalites are expanding their tentacles into the tiger territory. Thirty per cent of India’s tiger reserves are already under their control.

Indian forest officials, from the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, present at the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), complained of increasing Naxal infiltration in India’s heartland. The tiger reserves comprising Valmiki in Bihar, Palamau in Jharkhand, Indravati in Chhattisgarh, Buxa in West Bengal and Simplipal in Orissa are some of the reserves bearing the brunt of the Naxal menace.

With the Union Cabinet not taking up the much-anticipated amendments in the Lokpal Bill on Thursday, the fate of the anti-corruption legislation is now in a limbo. UPA strategists had earlier decided to bring a couple of amendments in the legislation and place it for passage in the Rajya Sabha after getting the Cabinet approval, but some points of disagreements still remain.

New Delhi West Bengal has the highest number of red category industries causing high pollution, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while 43 industrial clusters have been identified as "critically polluted", the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Environment and Forest Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said during Question Hour that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IIT-Delhi had conducted a survey based on Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) for assessment of pollution load of industrial areas.

A day after Maoists killed six CISF personnel and a driver inside the biggest iron ore mining facility in the country, the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) complex here remained unguarded. Locals dropped in, “examined” the damaged Bolero, went through belongings of the deceased, noted the bullet marks and clicked photographs and made video films, even picking up the occasional empty shells.