Investment by the Universities Superannuation Scheme in a British mining company could damage an ancient forest sacred to an Indian tribe, activists say.
Survival International, a charity that supports tribal peoples, has been lobbying the main pension provider for academics to pull its investment from Vedanta for two years.
The company plans to open a bauxite mine on Niyamgiri Mountain in the state of Orissa, eastern India.
The Dongria Kondh tribe, about 8,000 of whom live in the area, have left the trees on the mountain untouched as they believe that a god inhabits the forest.
See http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410629&c=1.