Jaipur, March 28 -- In a major relief to approximately 8,000 mining leaseholders in Rajasthan who were facing imminent closure of operations by March 31, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted an extension of two months. The extension will allow mining operations to continue until a final decision is taken on the contentious issue of whether district-level authorities have the competence to grant environmental clearances independently or if such approvals must be affirmed by the state-level authority....