With the monsoon below normal this year and particularly patchy across a few regions, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra are exploring cloud-seeding options to bring rains.

New Delhi The labour ministry is planning to move a Bill to amend the Mines Act in the Monsoon session of Parliament, which proposes an increase in penalties on mining companies by as much as 100% in case of death of workers due to any lapse in operations, a senior government official said on Thursday. The Bill will also enlarge the coverage of workers in special economic zones, territorial waters, continental shelf and other maritime zones, where oil explorations are being carried out.

"The Bill will address the safety issues of mining workers. We are trying to introduce the Bill in Monsoon session," a labour ministry official told FE.

The state government has decided to wait for Supreme Court decision on Presidential reference on allocation of natural resources before granting any mining leases for coal and other minerals to user industries with whom it has signed memorandum of understanding.

The Centre had approached the apex court this April to settle the issue, whether judiciary will have a say on policy decisions such as allocation of natural resources, after the court held that all natural resources should be allotted through auction route.

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday asked the state-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) to go ahead with land acquisition for the proposed Angul-Chhendipada-Tal

PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said he would refer cases of fraudulent granting of Environmental Clearances (ECs) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the state police crime bran

Says errant miners need to pay 24% interest rate until penalty payments

After the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and the Union mines ministry remained silent over excess mineral raising cases detected in Odisha, the state government has pulled its socks to recover the prices of the mineral raised beyond permitted quantity. The state steel and mines department has asked the state Director of Mines to instruct all mining circle heads to send 30-days notices to all such miners regarding payment of the mineral prices.

Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd, a step-down subsidiary of Rashtrya Ispat Nigam Ltd, informed the BSE that the company has got environment clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment a

For production of 3 million tonnes per annum of iron ore and 0.24 million tonnes per annum of manganese ore for its KoIha-Roida Iron and manganese mines

Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC) has locked upper circuit of 20% at Rs 36,377 on getting environment clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for its KoIha-Roida iron and manganese mines.

Leases with SC panel-nod yet to get legal approvals from Indian Bureau of Mines operations unlikely to start before October

Steel mills in and around Karnataka that are dependent on iron ore from state mines might have to wait for some more time to get fresh supplies, as the resumption of mining is likely to be delayed. Though the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed by the Supreme Court (SC), has approved 12 firms for resuming operations, following acceptance of their reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) plans, actual mining might start only by October.

PANJIM: The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) has demanded a collective assessment into the mining scam while it has also accused Manohar Parrikar-government of being ‘double corrupt’ than the Congress was alleged of during its regime.

“Congress believes that there has to be a collective assessment of the entire thing (mining scam)…Congress will not allow Parrikar to run away with illegalities…” GPCC spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu said alleging government’s nexus with the illegal mining.