Corruption in coal block allocation: CBI seeks life term for former Union minister, 5 others

The CBI on Wednesday urged a Delhi court to award life imprisonment to former Union Minister Dilip Ray and five others convicted in a corruption case pertaining to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block. Ray, then the Union Minister of State for Coal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999, was convicted […]

The coal blocks allocation cases Explained: allegations, investigation, and what next

Last week, a special CBI court convicted Dilip Ray, Minister of State for Coal in the A B Vajpayee government in 1999, for his alleged involvement in the coal block allocation scandal. Hearings on the quantum of Ray’s sentencing are set to begin on Wednesday, While convicting him, the court observed that Ray “abused his […]

Chhattisgarh: 13 village Sarpanchs write to Javadekar against allowing bidding for 5 coal blocks

Sarpanchs of 13 villages from Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district have written to Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar against allowing private bidding for five coal blocks in Tamnar. The sarpanchs have stated in their letter that the decision to operate the coal blocks goes against the gram sabha’s stand and an NGT […]

‘Delay in implementation of emission standards from coal plants is hurting health of our children’

A video released by doctors and citizens’ groups from all over India shows that missed deadlines of the implementation of emission standards of coal power plants every year causes irreparable damage to the health of the children. According to the video, missed deadlines each year causes an estimated 88,000 cases of childhood asthma, 1,40,000 cases […]

Hyderabad: DGGI arrests city Infra firm director in ITC fraud

The officials of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Hyderabad Wednesday arrested the director of a private limited company for fraudulently availing and utilising input tax credit (ITC) by issuing fake invoices without any supply of goods or services. The accused was remanded in judicial custody till October 6. The Hyderabad headquartered infrastructure company, […]

Commercial coal mining: ‘Govt considering land acquisition under CBA Act, then leasing it to pvt miners’

The central government is considering a proposal to acquire land under the Coal Bearing Areas (CBA) Act, 1957 and then lease it to private players to expedite the development of coal blocks allocated for commercial mining, according to senior government officials. Currently, the CBA Act is used for acquisition of land for use by state-owned […]