2. Jindal Steel Sees Revival in Demand as India Boosts Spending
3. CIL BCCL to set up 7 new washeries
4. JSPL to invest up to $20 mn to mine diamonds in Congo
5. Coal city planned to rehabilitate victims
6. Exercise much caution when investing large sums on mining projects-Behre Dolbear
7. Canadian miner awaits goldfields uranium approval
8. Mining in forest reserve must stop – WACAM
9. Floods in Australia hit mining and damage crops
10. Displacement and development san rehabilitation
11. 2009 sees alarming rise in tiger deaths in India
12. Indigenous peoples demand green careers and communities
13. 300 panchayats declared child-friendly
14. 'No school facilities for 16 lakh children with disabilities'
Mining – India
Not more ore exports: HC
17 Feb 2009, 0334 hrs IST, TNN
at Bhadravathi for lack of ore, and simultaneously allowing the export of the same ore at a throwaway price to a neighbouring country, the Karnataka High Court on Monday observed that even a single bucket of ore should not go out of the country when there is possibility of a value addition.
The HC also directed the state government to place before it the Lok Ayukta report on the Rs 150-crore mining bribery scam.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice P D Dinakaran also directed the state to place before it details of the new mining policy, method of its implementation and list of mining lease holders, apart from asking the Centre to furnish the rate structure and bill rates of exported ore.
"Produce before us the Lok Ayukta report. We want to treat it as the basic document and proceed thereafter. We want to know the stand of the government. We have a 240-page extensive judgment of this court against mining in forest areas. Still, we see mining-related cases. Two months ago, we visited the VISL plant (Bhadravati). It was locked on account of lack of minerals (ore). Employees have no jobs. We learnt it was the dream of Sir M Visvesvaraiah... but his dream has collapsed. A huge steel factory could not be run on account of lack of raw material. On the other hand, mining resources are being exploited by vested interests. Why cannot the state do anything in this matter?... Persons who do not have anything are indulging in ore exports at the cost of the nation's wealth, making neighbours (
The division bench made this observation before adjourning the hearing to February 24.
Earlier, advocate-general Udaya Holla told the court the report given by the Lok Ayukta has been placed before a 3-member committee for suggesting further action.
Shankar Munavalli, a former KPCC member from
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Not_more_ore_exports_HC/articleshow/4139335.cms
Jindal Steel Sees Revival in Demand as India
By Gaurav Singh and Debarati Roy
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.,
The company plans to increase annual steel production to 2.6 million tons in 18 months from 1.6 million tons, Finance Director Sushil Maroo told reporters today in New Delhi, where Jindal Steel is based.
To revive demand, the government announced two stimulus packages and the central bank lowered interest rates. Emerging markets will be the last to slip into the global recession and will be the first to recover as governments in
“With softening interest rates, the fourth quarter will be better than the third,” Maroo said, giving the company’s demand outlook. “Prices will remain stable.”
Jindal Steel last month reported a 2 percent increase in third-quarter profit to 3.25 billion rupees ($66 million).
Separately, the company expects to start iron-ore production at its mine in
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aFb1WpmX0dHc&refer=india
CIL BCCL to set up 7 new washeries
BS reported that Coal India Limited’s Bharat Coking Coal Limited is planning to set up 7 new washeries at an investment cost of INR 500 crore.
As per report, the washeries will be set up on the build, operate and maintain basis and are likely to be operational by the end December 2012.
The new washeries will have a capacity of washing 18.6 million tonne per annum of coal out of which 13.6 million tonne will be coking coal while the remaining 5 million tonne per annum will be non coking coal.
BCCL has already invited tenders for one of the washeries while the tendering process for the remaining 6 washeries is in progress. The tendering process is to be completed by the end of this fiscal. These washeries will not only help BCCL in better yield of coking and non coking coal but will also help the company to ramp up its production from the existing 26 million tonne per annum to about 35 million tonne per annum by 2012.
Besides, the renovation of BCCL's existing 7 washeries is underway at an investment outlay of INR 54 crore. The renovation process is likely to be completed within a year. These washeries have a capacity of washing 1.5 million tonne per annum to 2 million tonne per annum of coal.
However, the company is also planning to develop three underground mines with a combined capacity of three million tonne per annum on a turnkey basis. Currently, the company is scouting for global mining firms, with proven expertise in underground mining, to develop and operate these mines. BCCL will soon invite global tenders for developing these 3 underground mines.
Meanwhile, BCCL has issued the letter of intent to a Chinese firm for developing the Moonidih-16 underground mines, a project being taken up at a cost of INR 400 crore. The Chinese firm expects to start operations on these mines within a period of 15 months. The Chinese firm has been asked to achieve a production of 3.5 million tonne of coal from these mines within 5 years failing which a penalty will be imposed on the firm.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/02/17/ODI4Nzk%3D/CIL_BCCL_to_set_up_7_new_washeries.html
JSPL to invest up to $20 mn to mine diamonds in Congo
17 Feb 2009, 1422 hrs IST, PTI
months for diamond mining in
"We have got the licence to mine diamonds in
The Navin Jindal-led firm, with primary interests in the steel and power sector, also said it would start mining iron ore from its mines in
"Production from
JSPL secured the rights to mine the world's oldest Le Mutun iron ore reserves in the African country in 2006. The O P Jindal group firm has lined up an investment of USD 2.1 billion to set up steel making facilities as also developing the mines.
The steel producer, which is undertaking capacity expansion, said it would be able to ramp up its capacity by a million tonne in next 18 months.
"We will ramp up our production capacity to 2.6 MTPA from 1.6 MTPA in next 18 months," Maroo said, adding the firm aims to achieve an installed capacity of 3-MTPA in next one-and-a half year.
Despite witnessing a slump in demand and fall in prices during the last quarter on account of the global industrial downturn, the company sees offtakes improving and prices stabilising in the January-March period.
"Steel demand would be better in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of this fiscal. Prices look to stabilise," Maroo said.
Mining – International
Coal city planned to rehabilitate victims
The government is considering establishment of a "coal city" near Barapukuria which would provide housing and occupation to people affected by the coalmine and become the centre focus for mining related higher studies.
The idea stemmed from the fact that the government in the past had ignored land and water related issues while approving the Barapukuria coalmine project. But such problems are affecting livelihoods of at least 15 villages around the mine. In future, the problem would deepen, as the mine would cause 4.2 square kilometres area to subside by two metres.
The government is thinking of ways to address such issues in consultation with the locals, who are affected the most by such development projects, says Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the prime minister.
"Only through people's consultation can any project get peoples' cooperation," he said, adding, "Such projects should improve peoples' lives, not worsen it."
The size of such a city would not be big and the government would try to utilise Khas land in that area for this purpose. It would acquire agriculture land as little as possible, he said.
The prime minister is open to the idea, he added.
A special committee would be set up to spearhead the idea and the government would take up survey work and environmental studies, and study best examples of coal cities in other countries.
"Land and surface water are directly affected in case of both underground and open pit mining," Chowdhury noted. "It's immoral to keep people in the dark about such consequence. People have the first right to know if the project would affect their livelihood."
This city may have a mining university and school and home to new industries. The emphasis of this city would be ensuring the livelihood of the first generation settlers.
Chowdhury, Environment Minister Mustafizur Rahman Fizar and State Minister for Energy Shamsul Haq Tuku visited the Barapukuria mining area last month and held open meetings with the affected villagers.
Many houses developed cracks and some pieces of land have subsided by one metre, while the sub-soil water table has gone down beyond reach of normal tube-wells. During the meetings, the villagers were asked if they would like to voluntarily move to a safer place nearby.
It was decided with the villagers that a committee will be formed with two representatives from each village adjacent to the mine. The committee would talk rehabilitation and compensation issues.
"Some people in Barapukuria are living amid life risk. We are trying to find out what could be done to avert this situation. They may be temporarily rehabilitated to a safe area. We can offer them choices, but we would leave it up to the people themselves how they would like us to solve the problem," Chowdhury pointed out.
The idea of the city is also prompted by further mining prospects in the northern region. While controversies surrounding the Asia Energy coal pit mining proposal in Phulbari have stalled new decisions on tapping mines resources now, the country's ever increasing energy crisis would compel the government to take hard decisions.
Other than Asia Energy, the government has given Petrobangla a licence to explore Dighipara coal zone and the Hosaf group [which is responsible for corruption in the Barapukuria coalmine and power projects] to explore Khalashpir zone.
Meanwhile, the government has not yet reviewed the draft coal policy left by the caretaker government. Many people view the draft as an anti-investment document and the process of framing the draft policy is viewed as an excuse to delay development of the country's coal sector.
The country's lone coalmine in Barapukuria is presently producing 850,000 tonnes of coal, most of which is used for 250mw power generation at the mine site.
The country imports around three million tonnes low quality coal from
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=76179
Exercise much caution when investing large sums on mining projects-Behre Dolbear
A Behre Dolbear mining investment report suggests on-going world turmoil and political risks make the overall mining investment situation fluid and in many cases difficult to predict.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Monday , 16 Feb 2009
In management consultant Behre Dolbear's annual ranking of countries for 2009 mining investment, the lowest-ranking countries continue to be
However, the actual worst performer in this year's survey was
"
The company said is it "concerned about what the future holds for the mining industry. The instability of the credit, debt, and equity markets are almost unprecedented challenges for virtually all industry players. Buying and acquisition opportunities will abound for those private or state firms with healthy balance sheets."
"Chinese and other Asian firms will benefit greatly by the buyers' market that has developed for mining and mineral assets," Dolbear advised.
The survey suggested
Behre Dolbear advised that
Meanwhile, "
Nevertheless, Behre Dolbear cautioned that "all investments in South Africa need to be considered very carefully and then re-evaluated when the picture becomes clearer late in 2009.
Dolbear asserted "social issues continue to be the highest risk facing the development of mineral products in every country. The watchwords for the industry are ‘sustainable development' and ‘social license' which while sound in principle, have often been used by opponents of mining to delay or completely halt mining projects."
"Mexico, in Behre Dolbear's opinion, faces significant potential for social unrest with a de facto war raging between the narcotic cartels and the government. ...The battle has now reached the mine sites and will affect production once prices improve." The report also referred to concerns about the decline in petro dollar revenues, which could leave the Mexican government short of revenues during the global economic crisis.
Meanwhile, Australia, Chile and Canada continued to be rated the most stable in regard to social issues.
The report advised that India and Brazil will continue to develop in a positive direction, while China will remain "an aggressive acquirer of mineral assets." However, "Bolivia and Venezuela will continue to deteriorate and Argentina is posed to devolve significantly as government policies will drive out investment and capital."
Russia is expected to continue to chart its own course. However, Russia's ambitions "will be tempered by the dramatic decrease in the ruble and oil revenues, which are the government's major source of revenue," Dolbear said. "Its banking sector is vulnerable and significant capital outflows in a flight to quality will pose major challenges to the Russian government."
The report noted "the Middle East region has enjoyed significant mining, minerals and metals investments in the past few years. This trend should continue as many of the region's nations seek to diversify their economies."
Southeast Asia will also see continued interest in mining investment. Nevertheless, infrastructure and government hurdles will remain significant challenges.
"Behre Dolbear's advice remains to be very cautious where large sums of capital are invested. On-going world turmoil and political risks make the overall situation fluid and in many cases difficult to predict," the report concluded.
http://www.mineweb.net/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page72068?oid=78494&sn=Detail
Canadian miner awaits goldfields uranium approval
A Canadian mining company is awaiting approval from the Western Australian Government to mine uranium in the eastern goldfields.
Mega Uranium acquired the Lake Maitland resource, 110 kilometres south-east of Wiluna, in 2006 and wants to start producing uranium by 2011.
The company says the most economically viable transport option would be to transfer the ore by road to Kalgoorlie and then via rail to either Darwin or Adelaide for export.
The Minister for Mines is seeking advice from experts in the South Australian and Northern Territory to establish guidelines for mining, handling and exporting yellowcake in WA.
Norman Moore says the highest environmental, occupational health and safety and transportation standards will apply to any proposal to mine and export uranium in WA.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/17/2493457.htm?site=northwestwa
Mining in forest reserve must stop – WACAM
Last Updated: Monday, 16 February 2009, 6:32 GMT
Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) has called on the government to cancel the permit issued to Newmont Mining Corporation to mine in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve in Akyem area of Eastern Region.
A statement signed by Mr Daniel Owusu Koranteng, Executive Director of WACAM, an environmental and social advocacy non-governmental organisation, said “if Newmont is allowed to mine in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve, it would displace thousands of farmers; destroy biodiversity, large hectares of cocoa and crop farms and cemeteries and leave a huge pit in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve.
It said the one-off payment of compensation of about eight Ghana Cedis for a cocoa tree destroyed would not be in the best interest of farmers in the long term, since they would be deprived of sustainable livelihoods.
WACAM was responding to a statement purported to have been issued by Chiefs; Birim North Youth Council Members; Assembly Members: Birim North Members of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Community Consultative Committee Members, attacking WACAM for issuing a statement on the Newmont’s Akyem Mine in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve.
WACAM accused Newmont of orchestrating the statement because it nominated the Company for the 2009 Public Eye Award and People’s Award, which are shaming awards for irresponsible corporate behaviour.
The 2009 Public Eye Award was organised by Greenpeace Switzerland and Berne Declaration. The award ceremony was held in Davos, Switzerland on 28th January 2009 and Newmont Mining Corporation won the 2009 Public Eye Global Award for irresponsible corporate behaviour, which is determined by a Jury of experts, and the 2009 Public Eye People’s Award for irresponsible corporate behaviour, determined through internet voting involving 10,331 voters.
WACAM said over 6,000 people from over 50 countries in the world have signed a petition against the intended mine in Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve in Ghana and that the National Coalition on Mining had expressed its opposition against mining in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve and prominent religious people like the Most Reverend Dr Aboagye Mensah, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, had added their voices against mining in Forest Reserves.
“Our generation is becoming a greedy generation, which seeks to consume every natural resource without considering the needs of future generation and we need as a people to put a halt to that,” WACAM said.
http://topics.myjoyonline.com/business/200902/26372.asp
Floods in Australia hit mining and damage crops
Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:14am GMT
By Michael Perry
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Flooding rivers and heavy rains cut off towns, stopped mining operations and damaged crops in three Australian states on Tuesday -- one week after devastating bushfires swept the country's southeast killing 200 people.
The tropical state of Queensland has been battling major floods since December 2008, with 62 percent of the state underwater, after a series of storms and a tropical cyclone.
The damage bill in Queensland is estimated at A$210 million (95.5 million pound) and the floods are not expected to subside for another month, emergency services in the state said on Tuesday.
Scientists say climate change will bring not only warmer temperatures to Australia, and as a result more droughts and bushfires, but also more extreme weather like tropical storms that cause floods.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to come under pressure to introduce a tougher climate policy later this year as a result of the nation's deadliest bushfires last Saturday and the subsequent flooding.
Thousands of cattle are estimated to have perished during the Queensland floods, which have also cut off roads and swamped properties across the state's remote northern regions.
"There have been losses (of livestock) and they are potentially in the thousands, but until people can get around nobody is putting a figure on it," AgForce chief executive Andrew Freeman told local media.
People in Queensland have been warned to be on the lookout for crocodiles and snakes in floodwaters.
A five-year-old boy was taken by a crocodile earlier this month after he followed his dog into floodwaters at Cape Tribulation.
He disappeared in the water and his brother saw a large crocodile near where he was last seen, a police statement said.
DAMAGE
Australia is the world's third biggest sugar exporter and sugar farmers in Queensland, who produce 95 percent of the crop, are facing substantial losses. The extent of the damage will not be known until floodwaters recede.
Heavy rain and flooding forced mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc to suspend iron ore mining and rail haulage on Tuesday over a large part of the Pilbara region in Western Australia state.
All operations at the company's Pannawonica, Brockman and Nammuldi mines have been halted, and pit mining at Tom Price and Paraburdoo have also been brought to a standstill, it said.
Flooding along the 80 km (50 mile) road separating Rio's two main ports at Dampier and Cape Lambert made it difficult to fully assess the impact the bad weather was having on operations that unload up to a half-million tonnes of ore daily.
A low depression storm off the east coast caused heavy rains on Tuesday in New South Wales state, flooding rivers and isolating towns. "Some of the towns are the wettest they have been in 20 to 30 years," said a weather official.
The outback town of Bourke, in drought last week, has recorded 232 mm of rain in recent days, more than two-thirds of its annual rain. While the coastal town of Bellingen was cut off on Tuesday after receiving 323 mm in 24 hours.
"Both sides of the town are flooded," said the manager of the Diggers Tavern in Bellingen.
(Additional reporting by James Regan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE51G1CR20090217
Other News – India
Displacement and development san rehabilitation
By Ratnadeep Banerji
Displacing millions of people for the heck of development happens a casual affair for the state. But this draconian decree sets up upheaval whose repercussion devastates a throbbing societal edifice. The pariah, minority and the weaker section of the society including women and children get smothered into oblivion. The state rehabilitation remains a sham, a far outcry falling upon the deaf ears of the state and the crème-de-la-crème. Besides the bugbear of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has wreaked havoc. In this volume, Lyla Mehta pores concerns and empathy over gender, displacement and development at a critical juncture when the blunders of the past have squarely proven its imprudence and futility. This volume having contributions from devout social workers has two impending aims. First to apply gender analysis to development-induced displacement and resettlement in the Indian context. Second, the book projects the glaring injustices inflicted upon the society.
Every year, over 500,000 people are displaced for the sake of infrastructure construction, hydroelectric and irrigation projects, mines, industrial complexes, super-thermal and nuclear plants. The estimate of total displaced people hitherto is between 21 million and 50 million. Displacement-induced displacement has raked in contentious politics in India today. This is an outcome of the seeming appeasement policy for the cry-foul raised by the displaced people.
Medha Patkar in her foreword to the book says, “development” as a magic word securing maximised extraction harnessed to the expropriation of natural sources, and with consumerism and modernism as the basic paradigms proposed and imposed on the majority, the eviction of both urban and rural communities has reached an unprecedented scale’. In January 2006, during protests against creation of SEZ for Tata Steel Plant, twelve adivasis including two women and a young boy were shot by the police in Jajpur district of Orissa. Then followed Nandigram in 2007 when peasants were shot for resisting appropriation of their land. During the imposed displacement ‘not only is their cultural milieu bulldozed and snatched away, but the so-called environmental and social assessments rarely capture their environmental, social and cultural loss,’ says Medha Patkar.
Budhiben rouses to be an iconic figure of hapless women victims lost in the fray. She was a zealous adivasi activist entrapped in the submergence zone of the Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat. She was instrumrntal behind cogent protests against forced evictions in the early 1990s. Budhiben met a tragic demise in 1994 under the morbid snare laid by both state-sponsored and gender-based violence. And so the book is dedicated to ‘Budhiben and her struggle for justice’.
This volume has a contribution from Ramkuwar – ‘We will never forgive the Government’ that stands a personal testimony of her travails and irreparable damage inflicted upon her and her adivasi community. She alleges that her community had been tricked –‘The officials had lied to us….We lived in ignorance for a long time….The Government officers had never ever mentioned that we were entitled to land’. Dana Clark has devoted her chapter on the World Bank resettlement policy adopted in 1980 to ‘provide substantive and procedural protections for people who are displaced from their homes and livelihoods by World Bank-financed projects’. India till this day has rampant gender-bias subverting resettlement plans that get flawed at the very outset. Hari Mohan Mathur in his contribution argues that ‘women are often forced to bear a greater burden through displacement than their male family members’. Hari Mohan examines the gender biases in a range of resettlement policies and programmes in India and of international agencies.
Usha Ramanathan in her contribution says, ‘A word on eminent domain’ castigates upon the sanctity of the colonial Land Acquisition Act of 1894 being a non-justifiable draconian act. ‘Eminent domain’ is the power bestowed upon the State that it may exercise over all land within its territory. She reproves the very notion of ‘eminent domain’ as an obnoxious malaise pervading the state.
What is development if one section of society is shorn off its resources and is subsequently usurped by a more affluent section? Should we remain mute witness to our steadfast nemesis or become discerning citizens to strive towards building a welfare state. The book enthuses a fresh lease of hope and a corrective methodology to surmount our erstwhile pitfalls. This book might also ennoble policymakers and administrators to ‘embrace new visions of development to be able to resist displacing options’. Till then development shall remain a veritable wild goose chase and prove futile.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=278&page=23
2009 sees alarming rise in tiger deaths in India
New Delhi (IANS): Six tigers have been killed by poachers since the beginning of 2009 and more have been killed by enraged villagers, estimates an NGO. The Indian government had itself raised an alarm about the dwindling number of tigers in the wild last year, saying there were only around 1,400 left.
Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) says that apart from the six tigers killed by poachers this year in different parts of the country, a few more have died in conflicts but the number of incidents is yet to be verified.
Between 2005 and 2008, at least 20 tigers have been poisoned to death and 10 died in accidents, the NGO said.
Tigers straying out of deep jungles into fringe areas of the forests are in danger from poachers; they also get killed in road accidents and in conflicts with people.
Environmentalists say that confrontation with people has emerged as the most immediate threat to these cats after poaching, as shrinking habitats force them to venture out of the forest for food.
In a small hamlet in the Sarpduli forest range just outside Uttarakhand's Corbett National Park, a tiger mauled to death a woman who went inside the forest to collect fuelwood Feb 4.
Angry residents in Garjia village, where the victim lived, blocked roads demanding that the tiger be captured dead or alive, and were reassured only when authorities captured it two days after the incident.
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, at least three people were mauled to death by a tiger, which had travelled some 160 km crossing several villages and towns from its home in the forests of Pilibit district to Faizabad district.
Residents in the Kumarganj area of Faizabad had been living in a state of fear for two months. On Feb 7, the tiger was shot near the Kamakhya Devi temple in the area where it had attacked one of the villagers, but it escaped into a nearby forest, and till date it is not clear if the animal is alive or has died from its wounds.
The wildlife warden in Corbett says he is helpless when residents get together to kill stray tigers or demand that the authorities capture it dead or alive.
"What can we do when people protest over killing of a villager by a tiger? If we know in advance when a tiger moves into a fringe area, we try to push it back into the reserve. But the tiger comes back and the problem persists," says D.S. Rawat, wildlife warden in the Corbett National Park.
"This time we have been lucky (referring to the Garjia incident). Although we faced strong opposition from people who demanded that the tiger be killed, we managed to relocate the cat to the Nainital zoo. The tiger will be kept there under close observation before visitors can see it," Rawat told IANS.
He said that another tiger was relocated from Teda village, a few kilometres from Garjia in the Sarpduli forest range Jan 10.
"Poachers take away every part of the tiger's body and do not leave any evidence at the site: so poaching cases do not get noticed," says S.N. Buragohain, director of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, some 200 km from the state's main city Guwahati.
"Such incidents come to light only when tiger parts are seized from poachers and they confess to the crime," says Buragohain.
Since 2002, at least 42 tigers have died in Kaziranga, a reserve of about 730 sq km. The reasons for death include old age, accident, infighting and poaching, among others. The cause of death of 13 tigers could not be established, Buragohain added.
A veterinary expert requesting anonymity said he had examined at least four carcasses which might be the result of revenge killing, but the cause of death could not be ascertained due to the advanced state of decay.
The government has set up 37 tiger reserves, spread across 19 states in India. But the current level of protection is proving inadequate for the animals. Last year, the central government's National Tiger Conservation Authority estimated that only about 1,400 tigers roam the wilds in India nowdays, down from an estimated 15,000 just two decades ago.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200902170933.htm
Indigenous peoples demand green careers and communities
By Staff reports
Story Published: Feb 16, 2009
Story Updated: Feb 16, 2009
WASHINGTON – American Indian leaders in the emerging green economy traveled to the nation’s capitol to lobby representatives, network and work together to demand good green jobs, careers and communities for Indian country. Representatives from the Navajo, Acoma, Oglala Sioux, Ojibwe, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations participated in the Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference in Washington D.C. recently.
“We are here to ensure that indigenous communities and nations will be a part of the emerging green economy,” said Jihan Gearon, Native energy organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network and member of the Navajo Nation. “More so than mere participation and tokenization, we are here to ensure that in this emerging economy, our communities truly benefit and lead. There are numerous opportunities in Indian country to do so.”
The Navajo Green Economy Plan is one such example. The plan would generate hundreds of green jobs across the Navajo Nation and support local, community led, owned and operated initiatives such as small and large scale renewable energy development, green manufacturing textile mills, weatherization projects, weavers coops, traditional and organic agricultural markets and green jobs training programs.
“With millions of federal dollars ready to be distributed across the country to support green jobs, we are prepared to support our local community and in doing so lead the nation in creating sustainable and just societies,” said Kelvin Long, member of the Navajo Green Economy Coalition and the Navajo Nation.
American Indian lands, as well as indigenous territories worldwide, have been historically and systematically targeted for fossil fuel – coal, oil and gas – development, which has resulted in the contamination and depletion of water, land and community health. Solutions to energy independence and climate change in the U.S., such as nuclear power and clean coal, pose the threat of exacerbating these negative effects.
“Green jobs must not include jobs for industries that will drag out the use of dirty and unsustainable energy,” said Petuuche Gilbert of Acoma pueblo in New Mexico, a community affected by uranium mining. “In this new economy, we must break the cycle of being marginalized people and forced to choose between economic development and preservation of our culture and lands. We are against renewed uranium mining. Nuclear is not green.”
Tribal lands have an estimated 535 billion kWh/year of wind power generation potential, about 14 percent of U.S. annual generation. Tribal lands also hold an estimated 17,000 billion kWh/year of solar electricity generation potential – 4.5 times total U.S. annual generation. As Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth and member of the Ojibwe Nation points out, “The reality is that the most efficient, green economy will need the vast wind and solar resources that lie on Native American lands. And we are prepared to lead.”
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/39674152.html
300 panchayats declared child-friendly
17 Feb 2009, 0602 hrs IST, TNN
KANCHEEPURAM: Hand-in-Hand (HiH), a public charitable trust, involved in poverty alleviation and child labour eradication programmes, recently
declared 300 panchayats in Kancheepuram child-friendly. The trust, incorporated in 2002, is active in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Its vision is to reduce poverty by creating enterprises and jobs. Hand-in-Hand works for the abolition of child and bonded labour by mainstreaming exploited children into government schools. It also works for the empowerment of women by organising them into self help groups (SHGs) and promoting micro-enterprises.
At a recent function where the announcement was made, labour secretary P Shankar, and former vigilance commissioner Dr Shantha Sinha, who heads the National Child Rights Commission, were present. About 238 panchayat presidents and 228 children who had benefited from the trust's programmes also participated.
The Hand-in-Hand Women's Development Project is being implemented in 18 districts of Tamil Nadu. So far, it has facilitated the formation of 27,000 SHGs covering 400,000 women. The primary focus is on training, capacity building and encouraging thrift, savings and credit among group members. Loans are also disbursed for income generating activity for family or group enterprises.
'No school facilities for 16 lakh children with disabilities'
A new forum under the banner of 'Disability Rights Watch Group' was launched yesterday to monitor the present condition of the people with disability and help implement the CRPD (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) in the country.
The forum was launched formally at the initiative of the National Forum of Organisations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD) at the National Press Club in the city.
“This watch group has been formed as a shadow watch group of the government committee, which was formed under its obligation for signing the CRPD which was effective from May 3 of last year,” said Forum Director Dr Nafisur Rahman.
It will help ensure the comprehensive rights of the people with disabilities, he added.
People from all walks of life including experts and rights activists, acid survivors, lawyers, development workers, indigenous people, two wheelchair users Mahua Paul and Antara Ahmed and one hearing impaired person Khaled Osman are the members of this group.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad President Ayesha Khanam called for enacting laws for implementing the convention in the country.
Otherwise, the government would not feel it necessary to ensure the rights of people with disabilities, she added.
Although there is government instruction for building infrastructure accessible to people with disabilities, but most of the government organisations do not comply with this instruction, said Rasheda K Chowdhury, former adviser to immediate-past caretaker government.
She suggested for awareness among the policymakers and media people in this respect.
Forum Chairman Khandaker Jahurul Alam chaired the launching ceremony.
He said, “There are 16 lakh children with disabilities in the country who are now waiting for going to school, but we do not have the capacity,” he said.
Prof Abul Kalam Azad, Prof Abdul Mannan, Prof Shuvagata Chowdhury, Advocate Syeda Rezwana Hasan, Supreme Court lawyer Dr Naim Ahmed, columnist Jaglul Ahmed Chowdhury, Prof Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed and CM Shafi Sami were present on the occasion.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=76257
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