13/03/09

Mining – India 1
1. Recovery signs - Caterpillar orders show 18 month turn in mining 1
2. Gold’s dream run may end soon 2
3. World dependence on energy coal set to grow - Report 4
4. A plan missing in action 4
5. Deal Analysis: Sterlite - Asarco 6
6. India`s growth momentum is in serious trouble: Assocham 6
7. Coal India may invest up to Rs800 crore in Mozambique coal blocks 7
Mining – International 8
8. Asian markets down amid bad news from Japan, China 8
9. Benga project on track for 2010 production 9
10. Shuttington fury over opencast coal mine plan 11
11. Polluted water leaking into Kakadu from uranium mine 12
12. ARM's coal unit eyes new mine within 5 years 13
13. US government slammed over coal project 13
Other News – India 15
14. CAG should necessarily have powers to bite!!! - "Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri" 15
15. Migration to urban areas is good, says World Bank 16
16. ADB to provide $630 mln to Pakistan energy sector 17
17. Industrial growth shrinks 18
18. High prevalence of child marriage in India 19
19. UNPO Rep. Highlights Tibet at UN 20



Mining – India

Recovery signs - Caterpillar orders show 18 month turn in mining
US mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar said that its largest customers are looking for a return to growth in the mining industry in the next 18 months and view the price of copper as a key indicator of a turnaround.

US copper futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division have risen from USD 1.38 per pound at the start of 2009 to current levels above USD 1.65 per pound. When copper sinks below USD 1.10 per pound, more miners shut some operations completely and copper at USD 1.40 serves as a break even level for many producers.

Mr Chris Curfman president of Caterpillar's global mining division said that "It's really the copper price that we watch. At USD 2.00, I'd go on a camping trip. But it's got to get up to USD 1.80. Once I see that level I'll feel really comfortable."

Mr Curfman said that Caterpillar is close enough to the big copper producers to see at what price level they would become active again and USD 1.60 per pound seemed a threshold prompting some miners to put idle equipment back to work. When copper went to USD 1.65 last week, Baghdad copper mine put their trucks, which were parked, back in the dirt. Copper at USD 1.65 isn't all bad, depending on the ore quality. While some mining customers seem convinced that copper will slide as low as 90 cents, Mr Curfman thinks demand from China and other infrastructure building countries will keep the price from falling much further than its recent four year low around USD 1.27 per pound.

He said that if you talk to the copper producers, they think that because of China and India and the urbanization process, copper is going to come back. It's just a matter of how quickly. Given the rapid downturn in metals mining recently, the Peoria, Illinois based heavy equipment manufacturer was hit with an onslaught of delays and cancellations.

Mr Curfman said that they were substantial in North America and Australia as well as emerging markets where Greenfield projects were not being funded over the next year to 18 months. Caterpillar has several thousand delayed customer orders. Where possible, customers opted to delay rather than cancel for fear of losing their place in the queue when the industry does turns around. It's simply a delay, because a lot of people think this thing is going to bounce right back up. With mine plans running 10 to 20 years, some of Caterpillar's largest customers, like BHP Billiton are expecting 18 month delays on some mine projects and remain optimistic longer term.

He said that "We are seeing some cancellations. We are seeing a clump of orders still being sat on by most of our big alliances. They are reluctant to cancel for fear of losing their position on the order board, which are out 2010, 2011 and 2012. We're still negotiating with the big guys and still doing deals but for delayed activity. Still other customers are adding new orders, mostly among gold miners in Latin American.”
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/13/ODU5Nzg%3D/Recovery_signs_-_Caterpillar_orders_show_18_month_turn_in_mining.html

Gold’s dream run may end soon

2009-03-12 23:40:00

MUMBAI: Even though gold prices slumped a bit in the past weeks after its peak of $ 1,000 per ounce level, the yellow metal is unlikely to end its bull run now.

The gold prices are still bullish and it may go up further in the coming days. Experts said the shortfall in production and rising demand as a hedge against inflations are the driving forces of gold.

In another development last week Bank of England freed £75 billion into the market. This is part of £150 billion sanctioned by the chancellor, which is equal to some 10% of UK GDP. The US has doubled its money supply in the last seven years, and in Europe it is at a 30-year high.

The other big driver is that new sources of gold are genuinely scarce. The leading gold mining nation, South Africa, has halved its annual output since 1998. The days of finding marble-sized nuggets in California are long gone, with most of the world’s remaining gold existing only as traces in difficult regions.

Gold bulls therefore have a lot to support their argument that metal’s price will continue to rise — as well as circumstantial evidence such as record withdrawals from banks, runs on supplies of gold coins, record volumes of trade in exchange traded funds and the sheer tangibility of the metal at a time when banking products can seem opaque.

However, there are some fault lines in the bull run in gold. The first is the contention that growth in demand will continue to come from jewellery sales in emerging markets.

Jewellery still accounts for two thirds of all gold demand, with India the world’s largest consumer, devouring about one fifth of the world’s supply, twice as much as China and the US.

It is central to the 10 million weddings that take place in India every year, mostly in April and May, as part of the transactions that take place between families, and this accounts for the regular, annual pattern of price rises early in the year before falling back later in the summer.

This year, however, Indian imports have come to a standstill. Gold imports to India dropped to 1.8 tonnes in January 2009 against the 18 tonnes in the same period last year, and fell back to almost nil in February.

Overall, demand for jewellery plummeted by 17% between the third and fourth quarters of 2008 and this trend will likely intensify in the coming months as the recession deepens.

The reality is that the combination of high prices and the effects of the credit crunch encourages people to sell precious items they already own, and in many cultures have put aside explicitly as a store of wealth.

Less significantly, there are also the beginnings of a trend for Asian upper classes and younger people to switch to diamonds and platinum.

Another flaw in the gold bull run is that demand will continue to be driven by investors seeking a safe haven asset. This is not the all-important factor commonly thought, as ten times more of the gold mined is used for jewellery than is hoarded in bars or exchange traded funds.

Demand for gold as an alternative safe investment has anyway probably passed its peak. Fear that the US government will nationalise some of its largest banks is now receding, and this has manifest itself for example in a slowdown into gold exchange traded funds.

The predicament of rival safe havens, notably the Swiss franc and the yen, also conspired to push gold up recently. These currencies traditionally benefit from low interest rates, but as rates have been slashed around the globe, they compare less well with the precious metal.

One of the oddities of the lust for gold is the mistaken belief that it is relatively stable. In fact, it has a similar level of volatility as equities — a 30-day volatility of 20.6% compared with 30% for equities.

By and large, investors have been waiting for president Obama’s financial reforms to deal with the crippled economy, parking money in gold simply until they direct it back into equity markets.

The super-wealthy Sheikhs and hedge funds will be first to identify better ways of using their cash. The price could then drop dramatically, just as last year oil collapsed from $147 a barrel in July to $40 in November.

While the fiscal stimuli may be prompting fears of inflation, concern should be focussed on deflation, which will drag gold down.

Workers everywhere are accepting reduced working hours and even reduced wages to make firms competitive and ward off redundancies as unemployment rises.

All this, of course, assumes that the markets and the financial system will recover in the next few years. If that takes decades, then the price may fall back this year, only to resume a long-term upward trend.

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Gold’s-dream-run-may-end-soon-15933-3-1.html

World dependence on energy coal set to grow - Report
Mining Weekly cited Mr Dr John Topper MD of Clean Coal Centre as saying that the world's dependence on coal for more than 40% of its power needs was not showing any signs of decreasing, but was instead poised to increase slightly in the next 20 years.

Mr Topper whose Clean Coal Centre in the UK operates under the auspices of the International Energy Agency said that the Fossil Fuel Foundation's Clean Coal Indaba in Johannesburg that coal was expanding on a global basis at a rate equal to, if not more than any of the other energy minerals.

He said that "So, getting coal to be used cleanly is becoming very much a focus area for many governments and many industries. Coal demand had grown considerably faster than the demand for oil, gas and other energy sources from 2000 to 2007. The biggest increase in the demand for coal had been from non Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, which was projected to continue to 2030."

He added that "India would become a huge importer of coal, owing to all the super critical coal fired power stations that India was building and China, which had been a small net exporter of coal, would become a significant importer. India was planning, through 18 projects, to introduce an additional 30,000 MW of capacity, more than H1 of which would be coastal, which meant that India would be importing the necessary coal. India, which had begun its new build program was experiencing difficulty in securing its coal supplies and was buying reserves in Indonesia."

Mr Topper said that he was expecting changes to the dynamics of the international coal trade, which would put upward pressure on prices. Currently, only 15% of the world's coal use was traded, with the rest sourced indigenously. He added that "Over 40% of the world's power comes from coal today. Most projections show that that is not going to decrease. If anything, it is going to increase slightly over the next 20 or so years."

(Sourced from www.mininweekly.com)

http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/13/ODU5NzU%3D/World_dependence_on_energy_coal_set_to_grow_-_Report.html

A plan missing in action

Ashish Kothari & Kanchi Kohli / New Delhi March 13, 2009, 0:05 IST

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) recently released India’s National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP). India is one of the world’s mega-diverse countries, containing an immense range of ecosystems and species, which form the basis of our very survival. However, nearly 10 per cent of our wild plant and animal diversity is sliding towards extinction, and a substantial portion of our original forests, wetlands, coastal and grassland habitat has already gone or is under severe pressure. With that, the livelihood of tens of millions of people too is threatened.
Any planning exercise relating to biodiversity, needs to assess its current status, the threats it faces, the actions already being taken, and what more needs to be done. Based on such an understanding, it must provide a comprehensive set of strategies, actions, along with steps, timelines and responsibilities. Does MoEF’s NBAP do this?
It certainly started off with this intention. From 2000 to 2003, the MoEF commissioned a Technical and Policy Group (TPCG) consisting of civil society and government experts, to prepare the action plan. A million-dollar grant was obtained by the MoEF for this purpose, from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), through the UNDP. The TPCG carried out one of India’s most widespread planning exercises, involving tens of thousands of people. The outcome was a draft action plan [called the Final Technical Report (FTR)] and over 70 state, local, eco-regional, and thematic plans. These outputs, however, fell prey to the government’s larger design of unbridled economic growth. Its recommendations for re-orienting the economy, and the governance of natural resources, were too radical for the powers that be. The FTR, meant to be the basis of India’s biodiversity strategy and action plan, was shelved, and hardly figures in the final NBAP.
The NBAP is based on the principles laid out in the country’s National Environment Policy (NEP), 2006. A highly-contested document, the NEP accords privilege to ‘development’ over conservation.
The NBAP contains 140 ‘actions’ for: Conservation of biodiversity in the wild, on farms and off-site, augmentation and sustainable use of bio-resources, managing alien species, dealing with climate change, integrating biodiversity into development, tackling pollution and toxics, building up databases, taking policy and legal measures, developing capacity and using appropriate technologies. Seen in itself, the NBAP could be taken as being a useful statement of intent.
But most of the NBAP’s ‘actions’ are only broad strategies at a level of generality that makes them impossible to implement. Shockingly, 40 per cent of these are picked up verbatim from a Macro-Level Strategy on Biodiversity that the MoEF published in 1999. It is, as if nothing was learnt in the interim 10 years for a number of key sectors. For instance, the NBAP makes a crucial recommendation to “integrate biodiversity concerns across development sectors (such as industry, infrastructure, power, mining, etc)”, but there is no elaboration of how integration can be achieved in each of these sectors. This is what the million-dollar GEF/UNDP grant was for…not to reproduce something already said years back. This is what the FTR did, outlining over 100 strategies and 300 speciic actions…but the NBAP largely ignores these.
Some of the new strategies added are highly questionable. For instance: “Ensure that survey and bioprospecting of native economically important biological resources is undertaken on a priority basis.” This is alarming in a situation where Indian biodiversity is already subject to heavy piracy, as witnessed in the turmeric, basmati, and neem-related patents by American entities. This is coupled with an unquestioning acceptance of modern biotechnology. The FTR had recommended a long-term, publicly transparent processes of determining whether we should go in for such technologies; this is ignored in the NBAP.
The NBAP is now India’s official stand, to be placed in the international arena. But it is a document designed to remain a non-starter, given its lack of specificity and the absence of public participation in its formulation. Most seriously, it ignores many innovative actions recommended in the FTR, such as eco-regional land-use planning and governance, ways to make economic sectors ecologically more sensitive, promoting agricultural biodiversity and food security through locally-managed foodgrain distribution systems, and others, that could have opened a path towards a more ecologically sustainable and equitable future.
The authors are members, Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ashish-kotharikanchi-kohliplan-missing-in-action/351662/
Deal Analysis: Sterlite - Asarco

Sterlite’s revised offer for US-based mining firm Asarco’s (not listed) copper assets, ring fenced from all other liabilities, has been accepted by the lenders and is now placed before the bankruptcy court for approval.
The deal is expected to be complete in the next 6 months. Competitive bids are still possible, and Sterlite has the option to match any bids, but has no obligation to do so.
The new offer includes an upfront payment of $1.1 billion and deferred payments of $600 million over the next 9 years (non interest paying and non recourse, $20 million each year and $460 million bullet payment in the 9th year).
This represents an effective cost of $1.4 billion against the street’s expectation of $1.5-2 billion. This is a substantial improvement over the previous bid of $2.6 billion and is better structured with a lower initial cash outflow.
Based on our copper price forecasts, the deal has a NPV of $350 million and would add Rs23 to our target price. It is marginally EPS decretive in FY10, but would add around Rs5, or 10%, to our FY11 EPS estimate.
Rich reserves
Asarco operated at a cash cost of $1.45/lbs of copper in the December quarter and in January at $1.37/lbs against the current copper price of $1.6c/lbs.
Also, it has 5m tonnes of copper reserves, which, on the current production of 200kt, represent 25 years of mine life. Smelter capacity is even higher at 270ktpa.
Management expects to increase production by 25% and reduce costs further to US$1.25/lbs, to bring Asarco to the second quartile of the cost curve.
On its standalone balance sheet, Sterlite has $2 billion of cash and doesn’t need to raise debt for this acquisition.
It has already provided for equity contributions of $500 million each for its energy business and the Vedanta alumina ventures and is still left with $1 billion for reducing minorities in Hindustan Zinc and Balco (estimated cost $1.5 billion).
Sterlite remains our top pick among metal stocks in India because of its strong cash rich balance sheet, low-cost profile, increasing market share and rising diversification of earnings.
The stock is trading at 0.7x P/BV, 1.6x EV/EBITDA and 5.1x PER on FY09E. Our 12-month price target is Rs540 based on a Sum of Parts methodology.

http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/13104108/Deal-Analysis-Sterlite--Asar.html

India`s growth momentum is in serious trouble: Assocham
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) president, Sajjan Jindal, commenting on the inflation and index of industrial production (IIP) released yesterday said that although inflation has fallen to accepted levels, continuing contraction in industrial production in the last few months is indicative of the fact that India`s growth momentum is in serious trouble.
On IIP data he said that 0.5% fall in India`s industrial output of January 2009 will not augur for well and also shows that Indian incorporations have fallen under severe pressure of slowdown at least for some time.
Despite severe shrink in manufacturing and mining, the data released by government is not as bad as was being anticipated in view of corporates cutting down on their inventories and as well downsizing there operations due to slackening demand, he added.
However, he exuded the confidence that the stimulus packages announced by government in the past will show its positive impact partially in next 4-5 months and push up manufacturing at levels acceptable at times of meltdown.
But it is certain, that India`s gross domestic product (GDP) for current fiscal will be much lower against the revised estimates and India should accordingly prepare for it as there will be loss of jobs and production, deficit will rise, expenditure will go up, there will be greater scope for public investments in areas of infrastructure and India`s corporate sector will have to further curtail its ambitious expansion programmes as most of these will have to be put on hold.
Assocham expected little improvement in index of industrial production and manufacturing etc. in next last 3-4 months as situation will remain as such and thereafter things will turn for better after July 2009 because by then, stimulation in demand will start appearing, he said.
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20090313121523194&dir=2009/03/13&secID=livenews

Coal India may invest up to Rs800 crore in Mozambique coal blocks
news 12 March 2009

Coal India Limited will exploratory rights to two coal mining blocks in Mozambique, involving investment of up to Rs800 crore, as part of a bilateral programme between the government of the African country and the Government of India.
''We have promised to create a modern technology centre and a professional training institute in Mozambique,'' PS Bhattacharyya chairman of CIL said, adding that of the two blocks A1 and A2, the former is the most promising and has both thermal and coking coal assets.
Early estimates suggest that the two coal blocks at Motaize (in Tete Province) have over one billion tonnes of coal reserves.
The concession agreement, which will formally be announced during the Indo-Mozambique working group meeting later this month, may involve an investment of Rs700-800 crore by CIL in coal mining and production in the two blocks in a span of 5 years.
According to early estimates, it may develop a production capacity of 5 million tonne a year in the first phase. The mines will be developed as a joint venture with either the Mozambique government or its nominee.
The local partner will hold a minority stake of 10-15 per cent. CIL can export 85 per cent of the produce from the assets to India.
CIL will, also invest in a mine technology hub and set up an institute in the lines of Indian Institute of Mines and spend Rs100 crore towards distributing artificial limbs in the war ravaged country.
The agreement follows wide ranging talks by the Indo-Mozambique Coal Working Group in April 2007.
The two sides drew up a roadmap for future co-operation based on development of a coal project as a hub. Subsequently, several visits were also exchanged by the representatives of Coal India Limited and the government of Mozambique.
http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_c/Coal_India/20090312_coal_india.html

Mining – International

Asian markets down amid bad news from Japan, China



HONG KONG, (AFP) - Most Asian stock markets slipped on Thursday amid more grim economic news from Japan and China, with the broad market index in Tokyo sinking to a 25-year low.
Japan's Nikkei-225 fell 2.41 percent after the government said the economy logged its worst performance in nearly 35 years, contracting 3.2 percent in the three months to December, or 12.1 percent on an annualised basis.
"The figures are not good," said Prime Minister Taro Aso. "The economy is worsening."
China also announced that factory output and retail sales were slowing down, sparking fears that the global crisis is taking more of a toll on the world's third-largest economy than first thought.
The news from China led Sydney to close down 0.3 percent, as mining shares suffered on the weak Chinese industrial output figures.
But Hong Kong bucked the downward trend across much of Asia, gaining 0.6 percent.
TOKYO: Down 2.41 percent. The Nikkei-225 shed 177.87 points to 7,198.25.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares slipped 21.35 points, or 2.96 percent, to 700.93, levels last seen in December 1983.
Investors took profits despite news that Japan's economy shrank at a 12.1 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter of 2008 -- less than first thought -- as it was still the worst performance in nearly 35 years.
The revised figure "is hardly something to cheer about," said Rabobank International chief Asia strategist Jan Lambregts.
Financial shares were hit hard. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial dropped 3.6 percent to 396 yen, Mizuho Financial shed 2.8 percent to 171 and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial lost 5.0 percent to 2,680.
HONG KONG: Up 0.6 percent. The Hang Seng gained 70.87 points to 12,001.53.
Investors were cautious amid the new gloomy news from China, as fears mounted that Beijing would be unable to meet its target of eight percent economic growth for 2009, dealers said.
Banking heavyweight HSBC rose 1.7 percent to 36.20 dollars -- its third consecutive gain after plunging more than 24 percent Monday -- as investors welcomed its 17.8 billion US dollar rights issue.
Conglomerate Swire Pacific closed up 2.92 percent to 45.75 dollars, despite reporting its net profit for 2008 had dropped 77.5 percent. Airline Cathay Pacific, which is 40 percent-owned by Swire, rose 0.4 percent to 7.44.
SYDNEY: Down 0.3 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 sagged 8.9 points to 3,235.5.
Banking and mining stocks led the downward trend, as mining giant BHP Billiton closed down 0.5 percent at 30.35 after China revealed a slump in industrial output. BHP rival Rio Tinto rose 0.7 percent to 50.17.
ANZ Banking Group slipped 2.2 percent to 12.86 and Westpac was 1.6 percent weaker at 16.60.
But National Australia Bank rallied 2.6 percent after slashing its dividend for the first time in 18 years in a bid to shore up its balance sheet in the face of global recession.
SHANGHAI: Down 0.24 percent. The Shanghai Composite shed 5.14 points to 2,133.88.
A slowdown in retail sales growth in January and February -- to 15.2 percent from 20.2 percent in the same period last year -- sparked concerns that domestic demand in China is on the wane.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=43131

Benga project on track for 2010 production
0 COMMENTS |
By: Carla Thomaz
13th March 2009
TEXT SIZE
Emerging midtier mining company Riversdale Mining is expecting the bankable feasibility study of its Benga coal project, in Mozambique, to be completed by the end of this quarter, with full production and first shipment expected by the end of 2010, says Riversdale Mining CEO Michael O’Keeffe.
The company is developing its Benga opencut coal project in the coal-rich Moatize basin of Mozambique, and expects that it will be exporting six-million tons of hard coking coal and two-million tons of thermal coal from the Port of Beira by the latter half of 2010.
Riversdale is one of several companies exploring the coal reserves in Tete, regarded as one of the last large unexploited coal basins in the world. The com- pany’s Mozambique tenement areas comprise 22 licences and are in excess of 250 000 ha, positioning the company as the largest tenement holder in the Tete Moatize area, with an extensive area capable of supporting long-life operations. The tenement is held in joint venture with Indian steel giant Tata Steel, which holds a 35% interest.
The Benga coal deposits account for around 5% of the area in Tete, for which Riversdale holds exploration licences. Drilling at the Benga tenement is intended to provide improved technical, structural, and coal-quality definition in prepara- tion for mining. The total coal resource in Benga is estimated to be 2,1-billion tons. Of this, 1,76-million tons is less than 500-m deep, which is suited to opencut mining. Being so near to the surface will make it among the lowest-cost coking coal in the world.
“The Benga exploration effort is to now shift from resource assessment to mine development drilling, specifically orientated to providing detailed data for mine design, scheduling and, ultimately, for the production of proven and probable recoverable mine reserves,” says O’Keeffe.
Based on the initial washability analysis results, the potential coal products, after beneficiation, include the export of hard coking coal at 10% ash, secondary thermal coal product, consisting of an export thermal coal (about 20% ash) and a domestic thermal coal (about 35% ash).
The company is also currently drilling the 946 lease, which is contiguousto the Benga project and has multipit potential with sea freight advantages into Brazil, India and Europe. The region is within economic reach of the East African coast, with access to the Port of Beira by means of a railway line from Moatize. This line is currently being rehabilitated and is scheduled to be operational from mid- 2009. Riversdale South Africa finance manager Steve Thomas adds: “There’s a huge amount of money that’s got to be expended on the railway lines and port.” The government of Mozam-bique and the World Bank fund- ing have committed to the development of key infrastructure.
Coal exports by the various operators in the region are expected to exceed the rail capa- city of the Sena railway line, which links the coal basin to the Port of Beira, and the port’s terminal capacity. As a result, Riversdale is investigating the option of using coal barges to ship the coal to the mouth of the Zambezi river, and then load it onto floating platforms, which are taken onto the high sea and transferred to the holds of large ocean vessels.
Riversdale Mining has appointed mineral processing solutions company Sedgman to undertake a design and implementation agreement for a coal handling and preparation plant at the Benga coal project. The agreement will cover all coal handling infrastructure requirements for the initial 800-t/h facility and the expansion of the total plant to 3 000 t/h. The agreement includes all materials, plant and equipment associated with the construction of new facilities.
Riversdale intends building the initial facility in 2009 to support the company’s hard coking and thermal coking coal project with a view to scaling up the facility to handle up to 3 000 t/h by 2012. O’Keeffe adds: “The appointment of Sedgman and the planning for the coal handling and preparation plant are another important step for Riversdale Mining and Tata Steel and reaffirm the commitment we have given the government of Mozambique.”
Edited by: Shannon O’Donnell

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/benga-project-on-track-for-2010-production-2009-03-13


Shuttington fury over opencast coal mine plan
Mar 12 2009 by Mike Malyon, Coventry Telegraph
ANGRY villagers in North Warwickshire are furious over plans for a nearby opencast coal mine.
An application from UK Coal Mining Ltd is currently being consulted on by Warwickshire County Council as part of its Minerals Strategy where they have to indicate where they will allow coal mining.
Previously, the county council had refused to indicate an opencast coal site, but this time it has been included.
The site being earmarked is just outside Shuttington and the proposal met with unanimous opposition at a recent meeting of the parish council.
Mick Stanley, who represents the area on the county council, said: “I attended the meeting and made it clear that I will resolutely fight this application.
“It would destroy house values and devastate the countryside.
“We will fight this tooth and claw all the way.”
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2009/03/12/mine-plan-sparks-anger-in-village-92746-23125592/


Polluted water leaking into Kakadu from uranium mine
• Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin
• March 12, 2009
THE Ranger uranium mine inside the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park is leaking 100,000 litres of contaminated water into the ground beneath the park every day, a Government appointed scientist has revealed.
Alan Hughes, the Commonwealth supervising scientist appointed to monitor the mine's environmental impact, confirmed at a Senate committee hearing that about 100 cubic metres a day — the equivalent of 100,000 litres or three petrol tankers — of contaminant were leaking from the mine's tailings dam into rock fissures beneath Kakadu.
There have been more than 150 leaks, spills and licence breaches at the Ranger uranium mine since it opened in 1981.
The mine's owner, Energy Resources of Australia, has been repeatedly warned about its management of the mine, with a previous government-appointed scientist declaring in 2004 that ERA was "complacent" about protecting workers and people living near the mine.
The mine was originally scheduled to cease mining last year but there are now plans to tunnel under flood plains from an open pit in a move that would extend mining to 2021.
Mr Hughes told a Senate committee late last month that ERA is responsible for recovering the contaminated water that has washed downstream, and that his office had asked the miner for more information about the leak. "We understand that they (ERA) intend to extend their monitoring program in the vicinity of the tailings dam," Mr Hughes said.
Tailings are piles of crushed radioactive rock left over after the mining process.
Mr Hughes said the extra data collected would provide "a better idea of what actually is occurring in that area". "At this stage, I do not see any significant reasons for concern."
British mining giant Rio Tinto last month refused to rule out selling its 68 per cent stake in ERA after reports that several Japanese companies were interested in buying it.
Environmentalists and the Greens say the company should be forced to halt plans to expand the mine until it explains how it intends to recover the water and meet its obligations to rehabilitate the world heritage-listed area, 250 kilometres south-east of Darwin. "The Ranger mine has a long history of cutting corners with worker and environmental safety standards and this latest leak means permanent pollution in Kakadu," said the Australian Conservation Foundation's nuclear campaigner, Dave Sweeney.
"Federal authorities should require ERA to end their expansion plans, phase out current mining, get serious about cleaning up the mountain of mess it has already caused and get out of Kakadu."
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said Mr Hughes' until now unreported revelation about the extent of the leak during a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment was "astonishing".
http://www.watoday.com.au/national/polluted-water-leaking-into-kakadu-from-uranium-mine-20090312-8whw.html

ARM's coal unit eyes new mine within 5 years
Thu Mar 12, 2009 2:03pm GMT
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African diversified miner African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) expects to launch another mine in South Africa within five years to possibly supply state-owned utility Eskom and for export.
ARM's coal unit Chief Executive Mangisi Gule told Reuters in an interview his firm expects to produce a bankable feasibility study for seven potential coal mines by the end of April.
"We could see another mine starting production within the next five years... we are chasing the time when Eskom's power stations will come on stream and which we would like to help supply," Gule said.
Eskom is constructing two new 4,800 MW power stations, due to start production in 2015 and 2016. The utility has said it may need to build another two by 2020 to meet growing demand.
http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE52B0G220090312

US government slammed over coal project
Basic accounting error led government department to miscalculate ongoing project costs
Danny Bradbury, BusinessGreen, 13 Mar 2009

The Department of Energy (DoE) acted irresponsibly in withdrawing support for a seminal clean coal project last year, according to a report issued by the General Accounting Office today.
The document, which examines the restructuring of the FutureGen project in January 2008, found that a basic accounting error led the department to miscalculate ongoing project costs. This led it to drastically alter the nature of the project, delaying its operation by three years.
FutureGen, which was meant to begin operation in 2012, combined integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
The initiative was designed to be an experimental one for emerging clean coal research, but construction prices had been escalating as material and labour costs increased. The DoE decided to withdraw support for the industry alliance that was partially funding the programme in January last year.
"Contrary to best practices, DoE did not base its decision to restructure FutureGen on a comprehensive analysis of factors, such as the associated costs, benefits, and risks," says the report.
"DoE made its decision based, in large part, on its conclusion that construction and material costs for the original programme would continue escalating substantially in the definite future and that lifecycle costs were likely to double."
However, the DoE's own Energy Information Administration has pointed out that significant cost escalation for building power plants does not continue in the long run.
The department also made a fundamental mistake in assessing ongoing project costs. It said that costs had doubled from original estimates, using that as the key justification for withdrawing funds from the alliance.
But when it compared its original 2004 estimate of the project's cost with the alliance's 2006 estimate to reach that conclusion, it did not take into account that the first estimate was in constant 2004 dollars, whereas the latter was in inflated dollars. Had it acknowledged this difference, the project cost would only have increased by 39 per cent ($370m), according to the GAO.
The DoE restructured FutureGen, changing its status from a research and development project to a commercial demonstration. This allowed existing commercial coal plants to bid on the funding, and let them use traditional coal-burning methods to provide the carbon dioxide for CCS initiatives.
"DoE has no assurance that the restructured programme is the best option to accomplish the goal of promoting the accelerated and widespread commercial advancement of CCS," the GAO said this week.
Several other viable options had been presented by the DoE's Fossil Energy division. The report comes at a significant time for CCS technology. Hal Quinn, CEO of the National Mining Association, testified before the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment this week, arguing that CCS was crucial in the fight against climate change and urging Congress to speed up the development of CCS technologies.
"Our current economic crisis reminds us all the more of the importance of structuring any actions responsibly so we can meet both our environmental and our economic goals," he said.
As of last month, the department had made no decisions on funding applications received for the restructured FutureGen initiative.
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2238432/government-slammed-coal-project

Other News – India

CAG should necessarily have powers to bite!!! - "Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri"
CAG, or the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, has been consistently criticizing the government for alleged misappropriation of funds, faulty record
Click here to view related Website: Arindam Chaudhuri
Publish Date: 2009-03-11
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In the current Union Budget, while the UPA government was increasing the allocation for its flagship NREGA program – from Rs 16,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore, resulting in a hike of an incredible 87% – it was again surreptitiously trying to ignore the CAG report. The CAG, or the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, has been consistently criticizing the government for alleged misappropriation of funds, faulty record maintenance systems and rampant corruption that have become synonymous with NREGA and similar other government initiatives. For example, for the financial year ended March 2007, out of an outlay of Rs 12,074 crores, all that was spent was Rs 8,823 crores for NREGA. Not just this, the CAG report also indicted the government for making available only 37.05 man-days of work against the promised 100 man-days. For the year 2007-08, the more shocking revelation that was made by CAG was that while the government had allocated more that Rs 51,000 crore to NGOs for implementing welfare schemes, the government literally doesn’t have any record about where or whether that money has at all been spent. Not just this, CAG further states that India has been rather comfortably sitting on foreign assistance worth Rs 78,000 crores, which has not been utilized even when India continues to pay mammoth commitment charges to World Bank and ADB!! These are a few instances where CAG has exposed the cover-ups of the government and gives an idea about why, in spite of all the money spent in India on various rural development and poverty alleviation programs, India’s rural urban divide continues to just widen.

Not just with respect to social initiatives, but CAG also has been consistently raising flags against various other expenditure and non-expenditure issues, which are imperative for the economy. Consider this! Even when the terror threat is looming large in India, and especially in prime metropolitan cities like Delhi, the CAG report reveals that a substantial portion out of an earmarked Rs 6,000 crores for the modernization of Delhi Police was returned. In addition to this, Rs 4,287 crores was returned last year by the Ministry of Defense for its inability to judiciously spend the money on acquisition of fighter aircrafts, warships, helicopters and artillery – thanks to India’s archaic and snail-paced bureaucratic process. All this at a time when the armed forces have been crying hoarse to the government to acquire more defense hardware. And the list goes on…

In fact, CAG is one of the very few organizations in India which works rather independently and is unabashed in its criticism of the government when it comes to misappropriation or wastage of money. Over the years, as coalition politics and regional based politics became even more compulsive, incumbent governments as well as the opposition have been giving too much stress on increasing allocations in budget to appease concerned vote banks. And once such populist allocations are made and announced in the budget, no one cares a damn where that money is heading


http://www.bignews.biz/?id=795951&keys=Arindam-Chaudhuri-CAG-India


Migration to urban areas is good, says World Bank

BS Reporter / New Delhi March 13, 2009, 1:03 IST

Taking a dig at India and other countries that believe economic activities must be spread geographically to benefit the poor, a new World Bank report has called for concentration of production, mobility of people and economic integration to lift rural people out of poverty. Population shift from villages to cities is natural and should be encouraged, it said.
This contradicts India’s policy of countering migration by setting up industries in backward areas and offering temporary employment through schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.
“The world’s most geographically disadvantaged people know all too well that growth does not come to every place at once,” said Indermit S Gill, director of the World Development Report (WDR) and chief economist, Europe and Central Asia. “Markets favour some places over others. To fight this concentration is tantamount to fighting prosperity,” Gill added.
Giving India’s example, where more than 60 per cent of the nation’s poor live in the economically backward states, the report calls for policies that promote mobility of people, products and ideas. Instead of worrying about the size of metropolises, the report calls for policymakers to focus on improving the basic infrastructure to make sure these places work well like Tokyo or New York.
Giving example of Mumbai, the report says despite its attempts to discourage inflows of people, who were attracted to economic opportunities, Mumbai has twice as many people as in 1980s. Half of the city’s population lives in slums as the government has not created the requisite infrastructure.
The standard practice in cities with limited land is to raise the permitted Floor Space Index (FSI) over time to accommodate urban growth, as in Manhattan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. However, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai went the other way by lowering the permitted FSI, which has resulted in a vicious circle of supply shortages and high land prices.
The report lays special importance on 3Ds – density (of population closer to economic activity), distance (reducing transport cost) and divisions (less divisions or barriers to trade) — to make economic hubs.
In India, new economic activity in the industry and services is now concentrated along India’s metropolises and coastal cities, increasing the central region’s economic distance from density. While people want to move closer to opportunities, mobility has not been helped by ethnic and linguistic divisions, coupled with policies that seek to revive growth in lagging areas through subsidised finance and preferential industrial licensing.
Instead, the government should provide improved education, health and other social services across the country to prepare quality human resource which can migrate to economic hubs for better opportunities, Gill said.
The report criticised India’s special economic zones (SEZs), which are not as well located as in China. China has located its SEZs in coastal areas and has promoted migration of its people to these areas as well as foreign investment, and leading to greater connectivity to foreign markets.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/migration-to-urban-areas-is-good-says-world-bank/351703/

ADB to provide $630 mln to Pakistan energy sector


www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-13 16:08:38
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ISLAMABAD, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to provide about 630 million U.S. dollars to Pakistan in the next three years for the development of its energy sector, state radio reported on Friday.
The assistance will be used for power generation of renewable and hydropower energy and power transmission stations, Radio Pakistan said.
The ADB will also provide technical assistance in clean energy development initiatives, reports said.
Pakistan is facing shortage of power due to lack of power development and burgeoning energy requirement.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/13/content_11007104.htm


Industrial growth shrinks
Ashok Dasgupta
Manufacturing and mining sectors pull down growth
NEW DELHI: For the second month in a row and the third time in four months, the growth rate in industrial production slipped by 0.5 per cent in January mainly owing to shrinking output by manufacturing and mining sectors as compared to a relatively robust 6.2 per cent growth achieved in January last year.
According to the IIP data released here on Thursday by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the manufacturing sector, having a weight of nearly 80 per cent in the index, clocked a fall of 0.8 per cent in January, while mining output also shrank by 0.4 per cent. Electricity generation, however, reported a much lower growth rate of 1.8 per cent as compared to 3.7 per cent in January 2008.
The lower industrial growth for two consecutive months — for the first time in a span of 16 years — appears to be a clear reflection of the fact that the spurring effects of the stimulus packages are yet to percolate down to the two major sectors of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). “All three stimulus packages have not picked in. The industrial production figures would not reflect their impact,” Chief Statistician Pronab Sen said.
In the event, with industrial growth declining during October, December and January, the partial recovery witnessed in November 2008 is being dubbed as an aberration.
For the first ten months (April-January) of the current fiscal, industrial growth works out to three per cent as compared to a growth of 4.8 per cent for the whole of 2008-09, as per the official advance estimates. In such a scenario, achieving a GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 7.1 per cent during the fiscal year is under question.
Another silver lining, as per the revised data for December, is that the fall in industrial production was by a mere 0.63 per cent and not a steep two per cent as was initially estimated. In effect, the revised numbers for January too could be better than projected now. “Given the last three-four months’ trends, it [January data] could result in upward [movements] after revised estimates come [in],” Mr Sen said.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/13/stories/2009031354991400.htm


High prevalence of child marriage in India

A large proportion of women in India are married when they are still children and researchers have warned that such unions carry high risks of unwanted pregnancies and female sterilisation.

UNICEF defines child marriage as marriage before 18 years of age and such practice has been increasingly viewed as a violation of human rights. Marriage at a very young age carries grave health consequences for both the girl and her children and it is well documented that adolescent mothers are more likely to experience complications such as obstetric fistula.

Researchers from UK analysed data from a national family health survey that was conducted from 2005 to 2006 in India. The survey involved 22,807 Indian women who were aged between 20 and 24 at the time of the survey. Of these, 23 percent were married before they were 16, 44 percent were married when they were between 16 and 17, and 2.6 percent were married before they turned 13.

Women who were married as children remained significantly more likely to have had three or more childbirths, a repeat childbirth in less than 24 months, multiple unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy termination, and sterilisation. Nearly all the women who were married before they reached the legal age of 18 reported that they used no contraception before they had their first child.

India introduced laws against child marriage in 1929 and set the legal age for marriage at 12 years. The legal age for marriage was increased to 18 years in 1978. While the practice of child marriage has decreased slowly, its prevalence remains unacceptably high, and rural, poor, less educated girls and those from central or eastern regions of the country are most vulnerable to the practice.

The findings indicate that child marriage affects not only adolescents aged 16 to 17 years, but also large numbers of pubescent girls aged 14 to 15 years, and show that existing policies and economic development gains have failed to help rural and poor populations. They attributed the high numbers of sterilisation in young women married as children to them having their desired number of children at an earlier age. But it was also indicative of inadequate fertility control, which was evident from the high numbers of unwanted pregnancies among these women.

The researchers warned that sterilisation might reduce condom use in such couples, which would heighten the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Child-marriage prevention programmes should be broadened to include interventions for women married as children and men who might pursue children for marriage.


http://doctor.ndtv.com/news/news.asp?id=3693

UNPO Rep. Highlights Tibet at UN
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Human Rights NGOs call for high-level UN engagement on Tibet
Tensions remain high in Tibet as Tibetans commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the foreign occupation of their homeland and the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet to India in March 1959. The anniversary comes just one year on from major popular protests against Chinese rule that spread across the Tibetan plateau and sparked an ensuing brutal clampdown by Chinese security forces. In response, human rights NGOs working on or concerned about the situation in Tibet today call on a high-level engagement by the UN human rights mechanisms and mandates, including that of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to help alleviate the human suffering in Tibet.

“We call upon the High Commissioner for Human Rights to immediately launch an independent UN inquiry on the current situation in Tibet by working together with the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Committee Against Torture,” said Stewart Watters, Government Relations Director of the International Campaign for Tibet Europe, based in Amsterdam.

At the current session of the UN Human Rights Council, reports on the deplorable human rights situation in Tibet have been released by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Campaign for Tibet and the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy. These reports found evidence of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, the use of torture, enforced disappearances, a failure to disclose the details of detainees and the lack of due process and a severe military crackdown on all forms of dissent, both in religious institutions and in public life.

“The question now is whether the UN human rights mechanisms shoulder their responsibilities to protect the human rights of the Tibetan people. We are disappointed that the reports of certain mandate holders to the current session of the Council paid little attention to the sheer scale of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances in Tibet,” said Mr. Tenzin Norgay of Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

In December 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the government of the People’s Republic of China to resolve the situation in Tibet through a ‘sincere’ dialogue with the Dalai Lama, while China turned down as ‘inconvenient’ requests for visits to Tibet by UN human rights experts, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights. At its CAT Review in November 2008, China brushed off any criticism of its conduct in Tibet and during the UPR session in February 2009, also rejected any recommendations related to Tibet as attempts to “politicize the issue”.

The barring of foreign journalists from Tibetan areas of present-day China further raises suspicions about the use of military forces against Tibetan civilians. On 9 March, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China demanded an end to detentions of journalists reporting on Tibet and called on China to “live up to its promise of openness in all of China, including TAR and other Tibetan areas."

Given the highly credible reports of gross and systematic violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms are being committed by Chinese authorities with impunity, it has now become crucial for UN human rights mechanisms to respond by launching the highest level of engagement with the Chinese leadership so as to ensure access by UN human rights observers to investigates the human rights crisis in Tibet.

“If, in this hour of need, the UN human rights mechanisms and experts do not fully, jointly and urgently respond to protect the human rights of the Tibetan people then they have failed to recognise the gravity of the situation confronted by the Tibetans for the past 50 years of alien domination by China” said Mr. Ngawang Choephel, President of Tibetan U.N. Advocacy based in Geneva.


Tibetan U.N. Advocacy, Switzerland
International Campaign for Tibet – Europe, Netherlands
Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization, Netherlands
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy, India
Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitie entre les peoples (MRAP), France
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland
International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Netherlands
Society for Threatened Peoples International, Germany

http://www.unpo.org/content/view/9349/89/