Union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena on Sunday said the Orissa government should immediately order CBI probe into the multi-crore mining scam in the state to probe its “honesty.”
The minister also pleaded for cancellation of the controversial Orissa Mining Corporation-Vedanta contract for supply of bauxite from eco-sensitive Niyamgiri hills and resolution of raw material issues for the Posco project.
“I have a written a letter to the Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik to take due cognisance of the large-scale illegal mining, which not only impacts the ecology but also leads to colossal loss of state revenue through a series of tax evasions in the whole value chain of the mined mineral. I have suggested him to recommend for CBI inquiry to bring the culprits to book,” Mr Jena told this newspaper.
In the letter sent to the CM on Friday, the minister said the current level of royalty results in approximately 5 per cent of annual mineral wealth coming to state in the form of royalty.
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Mughal-era haat reopens on border
MANOJ ANAND
Shillong
July 24: In what has been seen as a significant step in improving trade relationships between India and Bangladesh, the commerce ministry reopened hitherto defunct Mughal-era border haats (weekly markets) on India-Bangladsh border in frontier state of Meghalaya.
Union commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, who inaugurated the historic weekly market in presence of Bangladesh minister for commerce Muhammad Faruk Khan, said that the opening of the border haat at Kalaichar in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya would add a new dimension to the economic cooperation between two countries.
“The opening of the border haat will promote the well-being of the people of the north-eastern region, particularly Meghalaya,” said Mr Sharma.