The Orissa High Court has stopped operations by those mines that are operating on deemed renewal. The court has directed not to operate mines on deemed renewal without its permission.

A division Bench comprising chief justice V Gopal Gowda and justice BN Mohapatra, while admitting a PIL, has directed not to operate mines on deemed renewal without its permission till the disposal of the case.

The Odisha High Court has issued notices to the state and union government over the controversial deemed extension clause of Mineral Concession Rule (MCR), 1960, which allows miners to operate their mines even after the lease expiry under special cases.

The High Court, admitting a petition filed by Biswajit Mohanty to strike down the clause, has issued notices to state and union government. It has also issued an interim order saying that miners cannot operate the mines under the deemed extension clause without the leave of the court.

After de-allocating three coal blocks- Utkal-D, Manadakini-B and Baitarani West allocated to Odisha PSUs, the Coal ministry has sought details of joint venture (JV) arrangements with private players and mode of selection of the JV partners.

The coal ministry in a recent letter to Odisha chief secretary B K Patnaik, sought to know if the state PSU that was allotted coal block entered into an JV arrangement with private companies and whether legal opinion was sought for such an arrangement.

The Karnataka Iron and Steel Manufacturers’ Association (KISMA) on Tuesday urged the State government to expedite the resumption of operations at all ‘A’ category mines, so that the steel industry gets adequate supply of iron ore.

Addressing reporters, KISMA president Vinod Nowal, who is also the CEO of JSW Steel, said the steel industry had been facing a severe shortage of iron ore in the State. Against the total annual requirement of about 35 million tonnes (mt), the industry has been getting 15 mt, he said.

‘The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay recovery of entry tax dues amounting to more than R350 crore, payable on goods imported by companies for their plants and services in Orissa between 2008 and 2012. Companies including Vedanta Aluminium and Tata Steel have been slapped notices over these dues.

A bench headed by Justice HL Dattu, while issuing notice to the state government, refused to grant interim stay against the Orissa High Court’s order that upheld the state’s decision to tax the import of capital goods under the provisions of the Orissa Entry Tax Rules, 1999. However, the state government said it will not take any coercive action against the firms.

Odisha chief secretary BK Patnaik today appeared before the Supreme Court along with state steel and mines secretary Rajesh Verma and Aditya Prasad Padhee, principal secretary to Chief Minister, for contempt of court in a matter related to granting of iron ore mines to Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL).

The SC has asked the state government to file its reply in three weeks. The court in March had allowed the appeal of Bhushan Power & Steel and directed the state government to act according to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two parties, signed on May 15, 2002.

Shares fall 2% after recommendations of scrapping 42 iron ore mining leases in Goa

PANJIM: Officials of mining firms which were hauled up before GSPCB for having indulged in excess iron ore extraction, on Tuesday refuted the charges claiming that they had not exceeded limits set out in the environment clearance (EC), granted to them by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).

During the hearing before the Goa State Pollution Control Board, the firms said that the figures produced by petitioner Goa Foundation, are contradictory. GSPCB is hearing the defence of officials of 43 mining firms, accused of extracting iron ore beyond the permissible limit. The hearing will continue till November 23.

The debate over nuclear energy will go on, but the issue with the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is one of the several illegalities on which it is founded.

In 1988, India inked the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant deal with the former Soviet Union. Two key elements in it were: the highly dangerous and toxic “Spent Nuclear Fuel” (SNF) would be shipped back to the Soviet Union; and the massive volumes of fresh water required to cool the plant would be supplied from Pechiparai dam, in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) formally granted approval on May 9, 1989 on this basis. But there was no further progress until 1997.

Iron ore mining operations have been restarted in Karnataka's Bellary and Chitradurga districts, a year after these were suspended, following a Supreme Court directive. After securing all statutory approvals, two Category A mines have resumed mining, offering hope of regular iron ore supply to the ore-starved steel industry.

According to officials from the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi), two mining lessees, R Praveen Chandra in Chitradurga and B Kumar Gowda in Bellary, have commenced mining. Nadeem Minerals, which has a mine in Bellary, is likely to restart mining next week. Together, these mines would bring about 1.5 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore to the auction platform in about two weeks.