Rising energy demand could tilt India's energy basket towards fossil fuels from coal to oil, natural gas.
Roads, railways, and coal together are likely to account for 70 per cent of the government's takings from the upcoming second edition of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), set to run from FY26 to FY30. In comparison, these three sectors are estimated to have contributed 66 per cent in the first edition of the NMP - FY22 to FY25.
After one stop-work order on the Rs 54,000-crore Posco project, a four-member panel appointed by the Union ministry of environment and forests has dealt a body blow to yet another big-ticket investor in Orissa, the London-based Vedanta Resources Ltd.
Talking to PTI Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said, "The two-day nationwide strike by the joint forum of central trade unions has begun this morning". About the impact of the agitation, she said that the entire coal belt (mining area) is affected in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. She also said that there is a good response in industrial areas of Assam, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The AITUC official noted that the banks and insurance sectors are affected all over India, while steel and oil sectors are also seeing partial impact due to the strike. Kaur said that she has got preliminary reports that markets are closed in Odisha.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
In order to keep the interest of new and small players intact, the coal ministry is offering only small- and medium-sized coal mines in the second round.
It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that not a single Muslim is part of the Union Cabinet.
This adjustment is aimed at helping workers cope with the rising cost of living, a labour ministry statement said.
These are the 15 seats to watch out for in Rajasthan where assembly elections will be held on November 23. The state has 200 constituencies.
While the gold policy covers every aspect, from sourcing gold to trading and investing in it, experts assert that the policy is incomplete if mining of gold in India isn't promoted.
Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday clarified that he was misquoted on his purported remarks regarding the United States semiconductor firm Micron.
In a step towards diversifying its resource base and securing green energy minerals, India is poised to launch its first-ever offshore mineral auction in the first quarter of 2024, announced Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi during the launch event of the National Geoscience Data Repository portal. The government plans to hold auctions in March, offering 10-15 blocks for bidding. Meanwhile, the ministry of mines is currently developing rules and regulations for offshore mining.
'... that it once again shies away from renewing its commitment to strategic divestment,' points out A K Bhattacharya.
The office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written to the Union environment and forests ministry urging it to clear Vedanta's proposed Niyamgiri mine in Orissa. The mine cannot go ahead without official clearance from the environment ministry.
With challenges such as raising the legal age of marriage for women, combating malnutrition among women and children, and addressing women's safety issues, the new ministers face a formidable agenda.
More than legal and illegal mining of sand, the issue which stares us in the face is sustainable sand mining, says Gopal Krishna
Forest and tribal rights activist Alok Shukla will on Friday receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize -- 2024 for successfully leading a community campaign that saved 4.45 lakh acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in Chhattisgarh.
Under current laws, a company cannot sell mines but only transfer leases when it is acquired by another firm.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inducting four new faces from Karnataka into his ministry, and chemicals and fertilisers minister D V Sadanda Gowda resigning ahead of the reshuffle, the state's representation in the Union council of ministers now stands at six.
Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The reservation would include a 10 per cent horizontal quota for Agniveers in the posts of constable, mining guard, forest guard, jail warden, and special police officers.
The strong message from the prime minister is of continuity of policies he considers right with strong emphasis on execution, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
The Union home ministry wants state governments to take proactive action against illegal mining as it has become a national security threat. In a recent meeting with the states, the home ministry said that windfall profits from such mining of minerals and sand were being used by the mafia to aid extremist elements.
India has about 9 per cent of the total gold reserves in the world, yet imports gold worth more than Rs 65,000 crore. The government plans to reduce gold and diamond imports by Rs 20,000 crore.
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
Sourcing bauxite from other states to add Rs 600 crore to cost.
The Union mines ministry on Wednesday said its profit sharing plans are not focussed on any corporate houses like Tatas and Jindals, but aims at providing compensation to the people displaced by mining projects.
These three blocks figure in the 'Schedule I' list of those coal mines, which are being auctioned afresh
A new law has been put together to actually take control of the mining sector away from the government, specially the Union government, and make regulation by an independent authority the basis of mineral development in India.
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.' 'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
The government was going in the "wrong direction" and it was "highly condemnable" that it did not discuss the proposed changes with trade unions and other stakeholders, says BMS, trade union arm of the RSS.
Select committees on Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill and Coal Mines Bill recommended their approval without any change
According to coal ministry officials, the Bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014 was brought in October this year in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision cancelling 214 coal blocks.
In seeking visa approvals for engineers from China, the company has reasoned that India lacks the expertise to set up such a solar facility.
Under attack over illegal mining issue in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said stern action was taken whenever such incident was reported in the state.
The Prime Minister's Office has asked the Coal Ministry to monitor closely the process of allotment and auction of coal mines to ensure that there is no disruption in the production of dry fuel.
India and Canada have mutually beneficial political and economic linkages. The two countries should get together and find a solution. The expulsion war should, in the meantime, be a guarantee against any deterioration of the situation, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the first Indian head of mission to be ever expelled by any country.
The Trinamool Congress leader had been languishing without a portfolio for over four months.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
