Tata Power gets mining license project in Russia worth $4.7 mn

Tata Power on Friday said it has won a mining license in Far East Russia and it aims to deploy the coal mined for its Mundra, Trombay power plants in India. In the release, the company added, it will also look to export to Far East Asian markets.

The company in its statement to BSE said its Russian subsidiary Far Eastern Natural Resources LLC, has been awarded the mining license of a thermal coal mine in Kamchatka province in Far East Russia. The subsidiary was awarded the license for $4.7 million in an auction process.

“The coal mine has high-quality thermal coal reserves of over 380 million tonnes, which the company aims to deploy for its facilities in Mundra and Trombay, as also sell in Far East Asian markets,” the company said in its statement. The company added it will carry out a detailed exploration to formulate a plan and work out a capex plan to implement the project in a phased manner to reach a stable throughput of 8-10 million tonnes per annum.

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Courtesy: Business Standard

Environment ministry may empower state bodies to grant green clearances

New Delhi: The union environment ministry has proposed to transfer some of its powers to state-level bodies while deciding on green clearances to projects related to non-coal mining, irrigation and townships.

Environmentalists slammed the proposal as an abdication of responsibility by the environment ministry which would lead to arbitrary decisions making by state-level bodies, potentially weakening environmental regulations.

Under the draft notification published on Monday, the Harsh Vardhan-led ministry proposes to amend Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2006 regulations to transfer its powers to grant environment clearances to non-coal mines, river valley and irrigation projects and townships till a certain threshold to the state-level environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA).

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Courtesy: Hindustan times

Bill to acquire tribal land for dev. schemes passed

The Chhattisgarh Assembly on Thursday passed the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code (Amendment) bill which would facilitate the government to acquire tribal land for various development schemes.

The bill, presented by Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey, was opposed by Opposition members during discussions in the House.

After tabling the bill, the minister said that the amendment in the previous Act will ease the process of land acquisition in the tribal areas for various welfare schemes. Congress member Mohan Markam while opposing the amendment said that the fifth schedule in the tribal area protects the interests of tribals but the new amendment would create distress.

The tribals provided their land for Lohandiguda and Nagarnar projects but unfortunately they have not received any benefit, he said.

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Courtesy: The pioneer

Bill to acquire tribal land for dev. schemes passed

The Chhattisgarh Assembly on Thursday passed the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code (Amendment) bill which would facilitate the government to acquire tribal land for various development schemes.

The bill, presented by Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey, was opposed by Opposition members during discussions in the House.

After tabling the bill, the minister said that the amendment in the previous Act will ease the process of land acquisition in the tribal areas for various welfare schemes. Congress member Mohan Markam while opposing the amendment said that the fifth schedule in the tribal area protects the interests of tribals but the new amendment would create distress.

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Courtesy: The Pioneer

834 factories across Maharashtra shut down in 2 years for causing pollution: MPCB

In response to an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act filed by citizens’ group Watchdog Foundation, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) released a statement that it has shut down 834 polluting factories over the last two years.

These factories, located in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area, were asked to shut down after investigations by the MPCB revealed that they had violated the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

P Anbalagan, member secretary, MPCB, said, “We asked these factories to shut down as a last resort, after they repeatedly failed to comply with environmental laws. We were forced to take this action on the basis of the severity of the violations.” He also added that there are over 90,000 factories in the state, which meant that less than 1% of the factories were found to violate pollution control laws.

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Courtesy: hindustan times

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