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Fresh blow to Vedanta’s green credentials [India]
…New Delhi rejected plans by London-listed Vedanta Resources to mine bauxite from a mountain sacred to a primitive tribe in eastern India,…Jairam Ramesh, the environment minister, insisted that the decision was based strictly on law…That was called into question two days later when Rahul Gandhi… told tribal activists: “I am your soldier in Delhi,” triggering debate over whether the move was politically motivated…the spotlight shifted back to Vedanta's chequered environmental record…after Sterlite Industries...was ordered to shut its Tuticorin copper smelter for flouting rules in a sensitive coastal area…New Delhi is considering whether to give Vedanta permission to take a $9.6bn (£6.1bn) controlling stake in Cairn India, which operates oil and gas resources in India’s northern state of Rajasthan…head of research at JPMorgan in India, said the court order appears to reflect the growing activism of India’s judiciary, now seeking more stringently to enforce the country’s oft-flouted environmental laws.