1. Plastic makers file plea in HC against ban
2. Coal India to rework viability of 77 project
3. POSCO-India spent only Rs 176 crore in Orissa project
4. Closure of mines: HC notice to Government
5. Kalinganagar steel units seek help from OMC
6. Chhattisgarh government alleges Bharat Aluminium encroachment
7. Jodhpur to host mining meet
8. 'Economic progress' in Cambodia compromises human rights
9. Chinalco to pump billions into Rio Tinto mine projects
10. Mining majors to "pick and choose" acquisitions - E&Y's Lynch-Bell
11. Jameson Resources to acquire thermal coal mine in Canada
12. What has the common man got? Patil asks, and answers
13. India Ranks 13th in Terms of Budget Transparency: Survey
14. China claims victory at UN human rights panel
15. Oil refiners to pay $141m over pollution
16. 100,000 Northern Ireland children living in poverty
Mining – IndiaPlastic makers file plea in HC against ban
12 Feb 2009, 0349 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI
Wednesday approached Delhi High Court challenging the state government's blanket ban on their use in markets. They described the curbs as "arbitrary and illegal.''
Issuing notice to the government, a division bench comprising Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Siddharth Mridul sought a reply by March 19. The petition, filed by All India Plastic Industries Association and Rainbow Polymers, soughtquashing of the January 7 notification issued by the lieutenant-governor that imposed a blanket ban on plastic bags in shopping centres.
The manufacturers argued the government had "misread'' HC's earlier order and "practicability and feasability'' had not been considered. "The government step is contrary to the rules issued by the department of forest in June 2005,'' said the manufacturers, arguing the previous order left some leeway for bags of 40 microns thickness.
"Use of biodegradable plastic bags should be permitted. It is a chemically inert substance and not a bio hazard,'' the association pleaded, urging HC to revoke the ban.
The ban followed HC's August 7, 2008 order based on Justice Chopra committee report. HC had earlier also directed the government to close all plastic recycling units which are illegally operating in the city.
This petition may be followed by another one depending on the outcome of a meeting between the Chief Minister and the Confederation of All India Traders on Thursday. Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of CAIT, told Times City
Traders had analysed the available alternatives recently and had said that paper, jute etc were neither available in sufficient quantity, nor at the right price.
However, the city has mostly welcomed the ban and the government has been going easy on penalising people realising that habits are difficult to change and it may take some time for people to switch to other alternatives.
Interestingly, shopkeepers have been quite willing to go along with the ban and they are the ones who have been denying plastic bags to people, forcing them to look for alternatives. It's happening sporadically though but happening for sure.
Ever since TOI reported that the Adarsh Nagar market had become the first one in the city to fall in line, many other markets have complied. And now the pressure is on the customer to find an alternative.
Meanwhile, the government is putting in place a machinery for prosecuting offenders.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Plastic_makers_file_plea_in_HC_against_ban/articleshow/4114784.cms
Plastic makers file plea in HC against ban12 Feb 2009, 0349 hrs IST, TNN | |
Wednesday approached Delhi High Court challenging the state government's blanket ban on their use in markets. They described the curbs as "arbitrary and illegal.'' | |
| http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Plastic_makers_file_plea_in_HC_against_ban/articleshow/4114784.cms |
Coal India
Coal India (CIL) has set to rework the viability of 77 out of 127 projects in the 11th Five Year Plan, this may cause a fall in production of the target in the next three years, reports Business Standard.
CIL has a production target of 435 million tons (mt) in 2009-10 and 520 mt by 2012.
CIL has asked its subsidiary, central mine planning and design institute (CMPDI) to examine the viability of 77 projects on account of the implementation of the National Coal Wage Agreement-VIII, apart from that there would be an additional burden of Rs 5 billion because of the rise in salaries, the financial burden of about Rs 18 billion on the coal PSU.
Of the 127 projects of CIL in the 11th Plan, 50 projects have already been approved and CMPDI has been asked to examine the viability of the remaining 77 projects which are a mix of underground and open cast projects. CIL will try to meet its coal production target of 520 mt by 2012 and will also explore possibilities of alternative viable projects to achieve the targeted production.
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20090212110053196&dir=2009/02/12&secID=livenews
POSCO-India spent only Rs 176 crore in Orissa project
Closure of mines: HC notice to Government
First Published :
Last Updated :
On February 3, the forest department had directed closure of seven mines at Lakshmipura village, Sandur taluk,
Anil Lad and Sons Company, had challenged the February 3 order. Justice N Kumar issued an emergent notice to the forest department and directed that a report be filed on
The petitioner had contended that forest officials booked case against them on the basis of Lokayukta report, but the report was not accepted by the state government so far. Without accepting the report, the forest department had no power to book the case, the petitioner argued.
Apart from the lease area, we have not encroached upon forest land and are not carrying out any illegal mining in the forest land. If our boundary comes within the area of forest land, we are not responsible for the same, the petitioner pointed out. The petitioner sought the quashing of the criminal case registered against them by the forest department.
IA seeks reopen of HAL airport Interlocutory Application (IA) was filed in the High Court seeking direction to the Central government for reopening the HA L airport for domestic passengers.
The petition challenging levy of UDF is listed for hearing on
G R Mohan, a city-based advocate stated in the IA that Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAAPA) was developing an area of 14,627.63 hectares for housing and industrial purposes. So, in future there will be traffic chaos in and around the BIAL.
The petitioner further submits that as per the study report by Airports Authority of India, BIAL has less than 35 per cent of the terminal area when compared to other similar type of airports in the world. So it was necessary to reopen the HA L airport for use by domestic flights, the petitioner argued.
Bifurcation order of SCDCC Bank stayed The High Court has stayed the bifurcation of South Canara District Central Co-operative (SCDCC) Bank by setting up a new bank in Udupi district.
Kishen Hegde, director of Shiriyara Vyavasaya Sahakari Bank had challenged the order of Registrar of Co-operative Societies on
Justice D V Shailendra Kumar stayed the order of the co-operative department and issued emergent notice to the government.
Without considering the financial arrangement and closure of accounts, the bank was bifurcated, the petitioner argued.
The majority of members in the general body meeting of SCDCC Bank had opposed bifurcation without taking into confidence the members. The government has passed the orders which is against the Co-operative Societies Act, the petitioner has pointed out.
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Kalinganagar steel units seek help from OMC
The recession hit industries located in the Kalinga Nagar area of Jajpur district, have appealed to the state government and the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to come to their rescue for keeping their units operational.
They have sought supply of iron ore and chrome ore at fair and reasonable rates and acceptance of the H-1 rate in the auctioning of ores by OMC to overcome the raw material sourcing problem.
The desperate call by 11 industrial units in the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex (KNIC) follows the 25 percent erosion in the capital base by these companies in the third quarter. While Jindal Stainless has taken a hit of about Rs 500 crore, Visa Steel suffered a loss of Rs 24 crore and Rohit Ferrotech incurred a loss of Rs 47crore during this period.
Purushottam Kandoi, president, Kalinganagar Industries Association (KIA), said, “the KNIC units incurred heavy cash loss during the third quarter with about 25 percent erosion in their capital base. Unless, the OMC, the main supplier of iron ore and only supplier of chrome ore to these units, comes to their rescue the last quarter of the current fiscal will be worse.
He said, OMC management has been fixing workable rates of the ores deviating from the three year old practice. However, it needs to assess the ground realities faced by these units before fixing the raw-material price.
Alleging that OMC is maintaining the disparity in the rates for same grade of ore in the different sectors, Kandoi said, it is charging Rs 1709 per tonne of iron ore at Daitari when it is sold at Rs 1152 per tonne in the Barbil zone. Such discrepancy should go since the selling rate of the finished goods is same throughout the state and these units must be served from the nearest source.
These units have so far invested more than Rs 15,000 crore employing about 30,000 persons. Out of the total investment, the bank loans are about Rs 12,000 crore. While the Union government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are relaxing the norms to help the steel industry face recession, the OMC is going back on its promise to provide required raw material to them.
Seeking highest level of political intervention to resolve the issue, Kandoi said, they have made a representation to the chief minister Naveen Patnaik about the problem. Unless urgent action is not taken by the government, the industrial units in Kalinganagar will be forced to lay off the employees, he warned.
http://business-standard.com/india/news/kalinganagar-steel-units-seek-helpomc/12/00/348737/
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ The Chhattisgarh government today accused the London-listed Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) of construction of its proposed 1200Mw power plant in Korba on the government land allegedly encroached upon by the company.Chhattisgarh government alleges Bharat Aluminium encroachment
Chhattisgarh Minister for Revenue Amar Agrawal told the Legislative Assembly that the company had encroached on 1036.52 acres of government land in Korba where it had a aluminium complex.
The Chief Executive Officer of Balco, Pramod Suri told Business Standard over telephone that the company had not encroached any land and the construction of power plant was going on in the area under the legal possession of the company.
Leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey had raised the issue and sought information about land allegedly encroached upon by Balco in Korba district, asking whether construction on the encroached land has started.
“The state government had registered 10 cases against the company in Korba between
The Minister said Balco had started building chimneys and other structures for its proposed 1200Mw thermal power plant on 19.46 acres of the encroached land.
Balco, a public sector undertaking, was disinvested during the of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime in February 2001 in which the London-listed Vedanta Plc acquired a majority stake.
| Discuss | Text: |
JAIPUR: The city will be hosting the first international conference of Mining Engineers Association of India (MEAI) on "Advanced Technology
in
| |
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jaipur/Jodhpur_to_host_mining_meet/articleshow/4099760.cms
Posted By: Peter Frankental at Feb 11, 2009 at 14:43:45 [General]
Posted in: Ways and Means
Tags:
, , , , ,
What price "progress"? It is a question that has plagued politicians for generations. Do government policies which aim to create jobs and stimulate economic growth make some abuses of people's rights along the way acceptable?
Amnesty International's line is solid. Economic progress is fine with one caveat - human rights should never be compromised. Every company has a responsibility to respect human rights - especially for the people affected by its operations.
A few business leaders have argued that such protections impinge on free trade and competitiveness, but the two need not be at odds. Indeed Amnesty International has been working hard for years with a number of states, multinationals and global bodies to show the benefits of adopting a human rights approach to business.
Companies from Unilever to Sony and from Nokia to GlaxoSmithKline now have a human rights dimension in their codes of conducts.
Meanwhile, here in the
The problem is that a large number of companies and countries still have a lot of catching up to do. Take the case of a construction and mining company and its collaboration with the country of
The incident centres around the ownership of the land. The company 7NG say it belongs to them, having struck a deal with the local authorities back in 2005. However, they failed to inform or consult the villagers about the change in ownership. And the whole matter is further complicated by the villagers' own strong claims to the land under
But the bottom line is that irrespective of who does or does not own the land, the abuse of human rights that followed is unacceptable.
On 24 January this year, 7NG, supported by the
At around 3am, an estimated 250 police, military police and workers hired by 7NG blocked access to the community before dispersing the population with tear gas and threats of violence.
Three hours later bulldozers moved in and levelled the village, while officials from the
Can this be called "progress"?
The two sides had been in dialogue about a compensation package and seemed to be edging closer to a settlement. The talks stalled in early January and the forced eviction followed within days.
Since then only 30 of the families have been offered alternative accommodation by the authorities and even that is over 10 miles from the city centre where most of them work as street vendors. The housing in the new site also has no clean water, no electricity, sewerage or basic services.
Sadly, this story is not an isolated one. Forced evictions are one of the most widespread human rights violations in
In 2008, at least 27 mass forced evictions affecting over 20,000 people were reported in the media and by local organisations. Some of these were made homeless; others were relocated to inadequate resettlement sites with poor infrastructure, lacking basic amenities including sanitation, and with very limited access to work opportunities.
Last year, 150,000 Cambodians were known to live at risk of being forcibly evicted in the wake of land disputes, land grabbing, and agro-industrial and urban redevelopment projects.
It is a similar tale across
If "progress" is to be made then the business world needs to begin to open its eyes to the communities it operates in and acknowledge their responsibilities to uphold fundamental human rights.
If some companies can do this in some countries, then why not all companies everywhere? Isn't it time for the business community to demand a level-playing field, where all companies are required to operate within a framework of acceptable standards? Otherwise those companies and states that abuse human rights will gain a competitive advantage. This is a nettle that needs to be grasped by business and government alike.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/peter_frankental/blog/2009/02/11/economic_progress_in_cambodia_compromises_human_rights
Article from: 
CHINESE Government-backed aluminium group Chinalco will take a majority stake in key
Michael Lynch-Bell, an optimist on economic and resource recovery, says the "big boys" are likely to make acquisitions and have an array of great quality mid-tier assets to choose from. He sheds some light on
Ernst and Young's Michael Lynch-Bell says major mining companies want to make acquisitions and can afford to "pick and choose" between mid-tier mining companies as there is little competition for these, while many of them have great assets.
Lynch-Bell, E&Y's partner in charge of global mining and metals, said during an interview with Mineweb at the Mining Indaba in
He said some of the majors would find other ways of doing these deals such as using their own cash or paper to conclude it. Majors could afford to take their time and pick and choose between mid-tier projects as there were few companies, such as Vale and BHP Billiton that had ample cash and little debt.
Further demonstrating this point he said when a potential investor asked him today whether it was the right time to invest in mining , he replied "yes". This was because one could now take time to evaluate projects and complete due diligences as you had time on your side.
Lynch-Bell said there was reason to be optimistic about mining investment and resource prices and that he belonged to the camp that believed the economic slump was only temporary. He believed an economic recovery would start towards the end of this year.
The basis for his belief was that emerging countries such as China and India would continue their infrastructure spend and that China would announce additional infrastructure stimulus packages to help economic growth.
"
Lynch-Bell said the world might also see the Chinese buying equity in the bigger mining companies as the top ten miners were cheap and had proven reserves. This would obviously be more beneficial than investing in exploration projects, though Chinese direct investment in bigger mining projects would continue.
Direct investment in equity that could give
The mining expert is of the opinion that mining equity prices have hit their bottom as the market value of companies was now lower than the financial value of their assets. The PE ratio of the mining sector ranked almost at the bottom of all business sectors and this related to a general pessimism about the sector and economic recovery.
Lynch-Bell said the first signs that his optimism about commodity prices and economic recovery was warranted would be when coal, iron ore and copper prices recovered,
"We need all this to come together to then feed through to equity prices."
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=78291&sn=Detail
Hurt and
The towns of Hurt and
Chatham Mayor George O. Haley said he wants to bring the town’s resolution up to par with the other towns’ more detailed documents.
“Their resolutions were a little more comprehensive than ours,” Haley said.
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and mill a uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill six miles northeast of
A year later, the situation has changed. Senate bill 525, which called for a study, was tabled in the House Rules Committee in March 2008. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission approved a study in November to be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences or a comparable institution.
Also,
Eloise Nenon, a founding member of Southside Concerned Citizens, asked the Chatham Town Council during its regular meeting Monday night to pass a resolution calling for a study to determine whether uranium can be mined safely in the commonwealth, as well as a companion study to examine issues other than scientific aspects.
Nenon wants the resolution to be broader than those passed in
Haley said he would discuss Nenon’s request with the town manager and report back to the council. Haley said he is anti-uranium mining but supports a study to determine whether it can be done safely.
Besides public health and environmental issues, Haley said he is also concerned about the aesthetic effects uranium mining and milling would yield.
“What are we going to look like physically when this takes place?” Haley said.
Delegate Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, who heads the Coal and Energy Commission’s Uranium Subcommittee, said the study process will be open and honest. Ware said the towns’ resolutions will not fall on deaf ears.
“There is no question that we are highly interested in and attuned to the views of those who are the most directly affected,” Ware said.
Ware said the
The study will take about 18 months.
Jameson Resources to acquire thermal coal mine in Canada
Jameson Resources (ASX:JAL) has announced that it has completed its due diligence in relation to an option to acquire 100% of the development rights to the Basin Thermal Coal Mine (“Basin” or the “Project”) in British Columbia, Canada, from Compliance Energy Corporation (CEC). CEC holds an exclusive mining agreement to develop the Project.
With the due diligence successfully completed, the company has paid the initial Option consideration to CEC, being the payment of C$1,000,000 cash and the issue of 7,407,408 shares in the Company.
Jameson has also executed a formal Share Sale Agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of NWPC Pty Ltd (NWPC), and issued 5 million fully paid ordinary shares and 15 million performance shares to the shareholders of NWPC.
A recommissioning study to start production under the existing 250,000 tpa mining permit will commence immediately. Pending a successful outcome of the study, production could be fast tracked to commence before the end of 2009.
The Basin Coal Mine has an existing NI43-101 resource of 19 million tonnes of raw thermal coal. The resource is confined to a 17 metre main seam (5 times the Australian coal seam average) extending over a 1.5km strike length. A second seam of 7 metres underlies the main seam but has not been included in the resource. Significant exploration upside remains both along strike and down dip. In addition only limited exploration has been undertaken along the eastern flank of the
Clean coal specifications will have a calorific value of 6080kcal/kg, 12-16% ash, total moisture content of 10% and 0.5% sulphur. Basin is the closest mainland coal project to the western Canadian ports and has good rail and road access with significant available capacity. Existing infrastructure including logging roads, loading facilities and rail will significantly reduce the capital cost for the recommencement of operations.
Basin’s operating costs are estimated at approximately US$50 per tonne, well below current spot prices for thermal coal. Based on the current coal price the Project could generate cash operating margins of around US$40 per tonne Prospective buyers of thermal coal include international utilities and local cement manufacturers. A number of potential overseas and domestic off-take partners have already expressed an interest in the Project.
Jameson is now in the process of finalising a capital raising of $1,500,000 placement.
Other News – India
What has the common man got? Patil asks, and answers
Feb 12th, 2009 | By Sindh Today | Category: India
New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) Detailing the broad sweep of social sector programmes initiated in the last five years, President Pratibha Patil Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance government has acted on nearly all the commitments made to the people through the national common minimum programme (NCMP).
“People measure government not on the basis of what it says but on the basis of what it does. In a democracy, government is measured on a simple maxim - aam admi ko kya mila (what has the common man got?” Patil said, addressing the joint session of parliament here, the last before the general elections.
“Today, after close to five years in office, my government believes that it has acted on nearly all the commitments made to the people through the National Common Minimum Programme.”
Patil referred to the Right to Information by which the government had been held accountable to citizens for governance, the Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act where historical injustice to tribes and traditional forest dwellers was corrected to confer land rights and the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act which ensured reservation to students of Other Backward Classes in educational institutions.
“The commitment to inclusive development articulated in the NCMP has been translated into laws, policies and programmes by my government. A right to work for people in our rural areas was guaranteed through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGPA). The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, will facilitate provision of social security to 430 million unorganised workers.”
Patil delved in detail over the NREGPA, which now covers the whole country and made it a point to mention that this was the first such intervention anywhere in the world where a country guaranteed employment for a specified number of days to any category of citizens.
“In 2007-08, nearly 34 million rural households were provided employment under this programme. Out of those provided work, 55 percent belonged to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and 49 percent were women.
“This programme is keenly watched all over the world as an Indian innovation in combining the twin objectives of providing for consumption expenditure of the poor as well as improving rural productivity and income.”
Patil also maintained that results of the programme in the last three years showed increased agricultural productivity, reduced migration and increase in wage rates for agricultural employment across the country.
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/62613.htm
NEW DELHI - India has been ranked 13th in a survey of 85 countries in terms of public access to budget information and openness of the government in divulging financial information.
According to the survey,
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http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=5939
China
BEIJING (AP) —
Commenting on a U.N. human rights report published Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said most countries had endorsed
"A majority of countries spoke highly of
"A few countries attempted to politicize the review and made some accusations. They were rebuked by most countries," Jiang said.
Her comments came a day after China — in its first examination before the U.N. Human Rights Council — refused virtually every suggestion made by countries including Britain, Mexico and Germany.
Rejected proposals — which were not mentioned in the report — included those to end torture and the sentencing of people to labor camps without trial, to abolish the death penalty, to guarantee freedom of religion and to respect ethnic minorities.
The newly established Human Rights Council had replaced an earlier body, the U.N. Human Rights Commission, in a procedure designed to open every country to scrutiny.
Rights groups, however, expressed disappointment over the result, saying
Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a network of activists within
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gyIE3ffLm5T2s7VqogD3UHoMJc0QD969VRG00
Oil refiners to pay $141m over pollution
100,000 Northern Ireland
There were calls today for child poverty to be tackled as the Government confirmed that almost 100,000 children in
The Office of the First and Deputy First Minister released the figures as families struggle increasingly to cover the cost of basic household bills and more and more jobs are axed as the UK falls deeper into recession.
According to the OFMDFM figures, the number of children living in ‘relative poverty’ — based on a measure of households in a country on below average income — has fallen by 39,000 since 1998/99, with the most recent estimate in 2006/07 standing at 96,000 — equating to 22% of all children in the province.
The department also said that the number of children living in absolute poverty has fallen by 82,000 since 1999 and that by 2007, 52,600 (12%) of children in
However, Barnardo’s
The
She said: “These are families that struggle to put food on the table, where children shiver in the depths of winter as they can’t pay escalating fuel bills. These are not stories from the 19th century, but are stories of real children and families I have met.
“While I welcome that there has been some progress, according to the figures released by Government, it is too little. And I am concerned that these statistics were compiled before the current economic downturn.
“In October 2008, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child highlighted
“The Northern Ireland Executive has made a commitment to end child poverty. The Committee of First Minister and deputy First Minister has produced a report — which I contributed to — with more than 40 recommendations on how to end children poverty. That report, combined with the Government’s own Lifetime Opportunities Strategy, is the template for action.”
Members of the public have been urged to put pressure on MLAs by taking part in Barnardo’s Child Poverty Campaign.
“The number of children living in poverty in
“Nationally, Barnardo’s is committed to ensuring that the Labour Government honours its promise to halve child poverty by 2010 and is calling on the Chancellor to invest £3bn in the next budget — if it doesn’t, Labour will have failed to meet its own target in tackling this social injustice.”
The Barnardo’s Child Poverty Campaign will be visiting Castlecourt shopping centre in
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