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On 16 August, the government gave the green signal to blend 5 per cent ethanol with petrol, even as it hiked the price of ethanol from Rs 21.50 to Rs 27 per litre. And while the Planning Commission is examining the issue of ethanol blending and pricing in detail before it submits its final report later this year, this interim measure has left all sides dissatisfied.

In May, a few bankers walked into the headquarters of Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Resources in London with a blind suggestion to take over Cairn India, the 62 per cent subsidiary of London-headquartered Cairn Energy. Agarwal gave them the go-ahead to begin talks. But who would approach Bill Gammell, the overpowering CEO of Cairn Energy?

It took us a day to trek to the Niyamgiri hill to Lakhpadar village in Orissa, where Lado Sikaka is back home. Picked up a few days earlier by the Rayagada police on charges of being a Maoist supporter, the Dongria Khond Niyamgiri Surasksa Samiti (NSS) member was allegedly beaten up by the policemen.

As companies begin to look at corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as an integral part of their business strategy, rather than as a tool to
meet their social commitments, the scope of the activity has gained in importance for corporates.

Businessworld and Ficci joined hands in 1999 to recognise the companies that have been making a difference to the society, environment and stakeholders throu

If all goes according to plan, in 2010-11, the country is expected to add 21,441 MW of fresh power projects

Land as a resource in any country will always be in short supply as it cannot be created, unlike other resources such as capital or labour. As the Indian economy grows, more land will be required to support the industrial growth, which will further increase the gap between supply and demand.

It is said that for a nation to be able to breathe, it must have at least 33 per cent of its area covered by forests. By that measure, India looks to be in trouble, with a total forest cover of 21.02 per cent, according to the India State of Forest Report 2009 put out by the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

If Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has his way, the state could boast of 50,000 MW of new power plants by the end of 2020 — investments over Rs 1.75 lakh crore could come into the state, which is rich in natural resources but ranks 11th in terms of per capita income in India.

Even bad times have their uses sometimes. One of the positive fallouts of the recent oil price rise was its impact on oil exploration. The oil industry has been trying hard for a while to get oil from the deep ocean. But the procedure was expensive, not to speak of the risks involved. Oil prices soared at the end of 2007, and deepwater drilling became a worthwhile exercise.