State mining departments turn tech-savvy to track mineral ores

The deprived lot

Nilam effect: heavy crop loss in coastal Andhra districts

India braces for cyclone Nilam

The deep depression at about 500 km south-southeast of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclone. The cyclone, which has been named Nilam, is expected to cross Nagapattinam in north Tamil Nadu and Nellore in south Andhra Pradesh by October 31 evening.

Tribal affairs minister asks Andhra chief minister to cancel bauxite mining leases

The Union tribal affairs minister, V Kishore Chandra Deo, has written a letter to the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, asking him to cancel bauxite mining leases. In a letter sent on September 28, the tribal minister said that all the proposed mining sites fall within Schedule Five area and violate the Constitution. He added that the leases also pose a threat to the survival and living of the tribals and will cause environmental damage.

Andhra Pradesh introduces lottery system for allotting sand mining leases

The Andhra Pradesh government has announced its much-awaited new sand mining policy. It has decided to do away with the existing system of public auction of sand reaches based on tenders. Instead, a new system of drawing lots for granting the sand leases will be introduced. As with the earlier policy, the new policy too bans inter-state transportation of sand and using machinery for sand mining.

Insurance becomes a hurdle

Sexagenarian Mohammad Shabbir, a resident of Kondapur village in Andhra Pradesh's Medak district, is always wary of visitors. “Your Arogyashri people are playing tricks on me,” he tells me, his voice sounding anxious. “They first asked for Rs 2,000, and when I sent it, they started sending me all sorts of stuff. First they sent me glass slides from the hospital, then they started sending me books!” Arogyashri refers to the state-sponsored health insurance scheme, which offers an annual cover of up to Rs 2 lakh per family.  

Universal health scare

A looming biomess

Promoting millets: the wheel need not be reinvented

The Central government launched the Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Promotion (INSIMP) in 2011-12 to promote millets as “nutri-cereals”. The scheme aims to catalyse increased production of millets in the country. In doing so, it aims to enhance India's nutritional security.