TO MINE OR NOT: The Supreme Court of India has asked the Madhya Pradesh government to explain why the mining activity in the state should not be restrained. Petitioner Ajay Dubey, secretary of Prayatna, a Bhopal-based NGO, pointed out that a number of mining leases were functioning illegally across the state. The state pollution board had also admitted that of the 5,069 mining leases across the state, 3,874 were operational and only 2,162 had necessary environmental clearances.
ACTIVISTS ACQUITTED: A UK court acquitted six Greenpeace activists charged with causing 30,000 (US $55,500) of damage by scaling Kingnorth power station in Hoo, Kent. The activists had climbed a 650-foot coal-plant chimney last year to paint "Gordon bin it" on it, aiming to pressurize Prime Minister Gordon Brown to disallow new coal plants.
While the defendants argued that the protest was lawful because it aimed to prevent damaging emissions, the judge has left it to the jury to examine whether the excuse was lawful or not.
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